This morning whilst walking Minnie(a dog) I found that Psilocybe season had kicked off in Melbourne Australia, and it looks to be a promising season indeed!!!

Minnie(a dog)

Nice!
What kind of mushies?

Hard for me to say with my limited expertise,

I pretty sure there not Cyanescens or Subaeruginosa, so at a guess id say there some kind of Cubensis or Sub Cubensis, can anyone help out here?

I'll show you some pics later in the year of specimen I believe to be Cyanescens and Subaeruginosa...

They look like a Sub variety to me.... Perhaps they are P Eucalypta

Congrats on SWIYs find!

Easiest way to find out is to do a spore print. Very easy to do and saves lives from wrong identification

If SWIY could maybe upload some pics of the prints and describe the color from what SWIY thinks... as pictures can be a little misleading with flash, contrast, etc...
Multiple pictures of prints would do nicely.

From what SWIM sees so far, they dont look like a cyanescens, mainly from the way the cap waves when still closed... most likely a cubensis or sub cubensis... but spore print and close up pics would be better...

ElusiveMind

This is a pic of some of the prints, not easy to see high def in this pic, tho the spore is blackish purple... I ate or 'threw' them away before i got the chance to do prints... I'll get more soon and post pics of prints for people anyway...

Well the blackish purple spore print is a good sign to begin with. Will say they aren't a cubensis species as they all have a ring around the stem called an annulus... or a cyanescens either... hmmm.... SWIM is more familiar with PNW mushrooms and various cubensis species.

Here is a list of species that typically grow in Australia ( Shroomery Link )

The stem from some pictures look very similar to Psilocybe subaeruginosa but the cap doesn't usually act like that ( bottle cap shape)....
And its not a Panaeolus active species either cause all the active ones have jet black spore prints with NO purple....

I'd say probably Psilocybe subaeruginosa but a better spore print is def needed for conformation.... (aka dont go eating stuff before identification...)

For a good spore print
1) take a sheet of tin foil or white paper that is big enough to hold the entire mushroom cap
2) take a clear class bowl and cover the mushroom over with it while on the paper
3) check every so often to see if a good full print (every hour or two... sometimes is done in 30 mins)
4) Take multiple pictures of the spore in good lighting (near natural light) with flash and without flash to make sure colors are clear
5) Upload

Pce,
ElusiveMind

PS. good luck on your other adventures this season

Thank you for your help and knowledge ElusiveMind!
I think your right and they are subaeruginosa, there just out so early!
I'll post the spore pics soon.

POST SOME SHROOMY PICS PEOPLE!!!

I still think they are Ps. Eucalypta

Pretty much the same as Subaeruginosa

A wet summer has seen the season start early down this side of the globe

According to wiki (and the study sourcing this claim)


Wiki Link
( "this species" being Ps. Subaeruginosa ... its good to see another SWIMMER with a careful eye )

So we are both right

Either way, it is great to see the season starting earlier on the other side of the equator. Hope it will be just as good for the PWN

ElusiveMind

(for the 'mushroom porn' lover)
More of the same...
Post some spore prints soon...
And more happy snaps of some other varieties.

Very nice finds Are these from the same patch or in a different area? ( Good to know some spore prints are on there way too )

ElusiveMind

Hey guys, i am a mushroom enthusiast here in Melbourne, and can confirm that they are psilocybe subaeruginosa. Most common round these parts. The season has come early this year, so happy hunting my Australian friend!

Thanking, ElusiveMind, Tizzy and antichode... you guys got the info!
I'm not best spore printer but i think you can see this...

Hahaha, don't worry that comes with practice. And as a hint, always use 3-4 mushrooms from a patch cause sometimes (as SWIY found out), the mushrooms print doesn't work as well. Also, leaving it for around 24-48 hours with a jar or something over top of it (to keep moisture it to help encourage spores to drop) will do it well.

But from what I can see, I see the brown and a hint of purple. Very hard to see with the images but if it's the same on SWIY's end its all good. Another easy way to tell is take some standard pencil crown colors and draw a small shaded patch next to the print (without disturbing it). It's easier to tell when there is something to compare it too as sometimes (not really with psi.) with other mushroom species different SHADES of spore print colors tell them apart (aka. chestnut brown, light brown, chocolate brown, brown-black, etc)

Hope the PNW's season will be as good. When do these mushroom usually grow down there? (As SWIY said they were appearing earlier than usual)

Pce,
ElusiveMind

more P.subaeruginosa

And Elusive, they started around now last year,(22 April 2010) well that is when i found my first ones...
I found them this year on around the 20th of march 2011. ps. I will adopt your spore print technique and get around to doing some proper prints soon...

Very nice pictures!!!

Hmmm, almost a month early it seems when you found the first ones. Hopefully that translates into a similar earliness in the PNW

Pce,
ElusiveMind

Mouthwatering!
Those are some tasty looking mushies you've found yourself there Dreemmaster! Ain't nature grand?