A little history about Psilocybe
Currently the genus (Psilocybe) has about 20 species. At the same time, American and Asian species are poorly studied. Species of this genus are cosmopolitan and are widely distributed on almost all continents. Mushrooms of the genus saprotrophs. They settle on the soil, dead branches and stems of plants, are found on sawdust, many live on sphagnum bogs, peat, and manure. They are found in the forest on forest humus. A characteristic feature of many mushrooms is their habitat in marshy soil. Therefore, they belong to helophytic species.
They have their own uses. In some manuscripts of the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries, which describe the disappeared culture of the Aztecs, there is a mention of Indian ritual rites, in connection with which they used mushrooms that cause hallucinations. The hallucinogenic properties of some mushrooms were known to Maya priests in ancient Mexico, who used them in religious ceremonies. These mushrooms have been consumed in Central America for a very long time. The Indians consider them divine mushrooms. Even stone images of mushrooms, revered by the Indians as a deity, have been found.
However, they have their own uses. In some manuscripts of the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries, which describe the disappeared culture of the Aztecs, there is a mention of Indian ritual rites, in connection with which they used mushrooms that cause hallucinations. The hallucinogenic properties of some mushrooms were known to Maya priests in ancient Mexico, who used them in religious ceremonies. These mushrooms have been consumed in Central America for a very long time. The Indians consider them divine mushrooms. Even stone images of mushrooms, revered by the Indians as a deity, have been found.
A hallucinogenic substance called psilocybin has been isolated from mushrooms belonging to the genus. Currently, this substance is synthesized abroad and used to treat certain mental illnesses. However, substance psilocybin becomes a very dangerous hallucinogenic drug if it is not used for medicinal purposes, without medical supervision.
By now psilocybin found in some fungi from the genera paneolus, stropharia, anellaria. About 25 species are now classified as hallucinogenic mushrooms, of which 75% are representatives of the psilocybe genus, for example Psilocybe caerulescens, Psilocybe semilanceata, Psilocybe pelliculosa, Psilocybe cubensis.
But psilocybin in hallucinogenic mushrooms there is another substance that also has a psychotropic effect – psilocin, similar in structure to psilocybin. In mushrooms of the genera Stropharia and Psilocybe, as well as in the genus Paneolus, indole derivatives (tryptamine, etc.) have been found, which have an anticoagulant effect on fibrinogen solutions.