My experience is that they like old alder or hardwood chips that are kind of disintegrating, crumbling with leaves into the duff under alders or rhodedendrons or other hardwoods. Blackberries are immaterial.

I personally choose to look for them in ecosystems like that where there is another quality as well: privacy and low traffic. I like to find private patches that other folks are not likely to find, I like to pick in peace, I don't like looking over my shoulder or explaining what I am up to, and I don't like to stress that idiots have found my patches and are tearing up the pins that I have left to mature a bit more. That means I typically hunt in the private, out-of-the-way spots (there are tons of those - I don't have enough time to search all the "right" hidden ecosystems just in my neighborhood) and so there are often also blackberries or wild roses or other prickly underbrush or overgrowth where I am looking. I often wear gloves and carry clippers.

Other hunters may look in hardwood chips in more groomed habitats at more well-landscaped parks (under the rhodies, in the parking strips around offices parks, on campuses, etc) and there are plenty of cyans to be found in those places, you just need to be more discreet and careful. The first Cyans I ever found were in a groomed garden bed in a popular park. They were right next to a waterfront walking path that has hundreds of walkers a day.

You will probably NOT find them:

- In dirt with zero chips or wood debris mixed in.
- In cedar or softwood chips.
- Under evergreen trees.

Look HERE for a couple of examples of nice finds in Seattle from the last week.

PS learn what Galerinas look like, they are poison and share the habitat.

Thanks I know of some blackberries growing in an oak grove with lots of small oak limbs disintegrating as well as that nice shiny glossy maple leaf looking ivy in some of those shroomery pics..

Can anybody tell me when the end of the cyan season is?.. I have looked and looked and have only found info stating that it's done after a heavy frost. If this is the case then the season may have ended before it started here as the last couple nights here have seen a very heavy frost. This will be the fifth year for me going home empty handed and frankly I am beginning to become quite discouraged. I've covered about 35 miles of hiking looking for them in all the "right" locations/ecosystems in the last two weeks with not even so much as a pin..

Ive been going out alot and found only lots of galerinas and some amanitas. No cyans yet. Also I am in vancouver and there has definatily not been any frost at all here yet..where in BC are you?

I am in Vic.. It was -2 here last night and I had to scrape the windows of my car to go hunting this morning..lol. Also heaps and heaps of galerinas everywhere here.

-2? Wow I am surprised it is so cold on the island.

Yeah I was surprised myself, I saw it on one of those clock tower/temp displays downtown on my way home from work around 1am.. Don't know how accurate those actually are but judging by the ice on my car(had to really riff on my door to open it and scrape all my windows..) in the morning I would asume it was very close. Have you found em in Van very late in the season? Like mid to late November?

I know people that have found them in november yes.

If they are in some woods and covered with leaves they will be somewhat protected and may come through a light frost or two but they are not gonna make it too long after it starts freezing regularly. They turn from mushroom to just mush.

Checked out one of my better spots today there were hundreds of pins that will need another few days or so. I did manage to find a few ready for consumption. Sorry, I didnt have my camera with me, so no habitat pics. Looks like more than a good dose for this weekends halloween festivities. Notice all the blueing.

Ice House you are getting me excited with your dirty pictures!
I am sooo close to being up there, I just hope I can find some patches!

I am excited to try cyans and maybe some azures or libs I've only ever had cubes.
I've heard the experience is different, we'll just have to wait and see I guess

nice! what kind are they Ice?? I kind of recognise these caps

That is one hell of a find, Ice House. I need to start finding some good locales to get some of these beauties.

Psilocybe Cyanescens

Thanks man I thought the cap was more wavy and brown in color, less tan... Ok then let's go to hunt before the frost takes them away from us!

OK, soooo, I'm gonna be short on words here except to say, if you want to get a good grasp on how big this patch actually is, just look out to the outer edges of the photos and see how far out the patch extends and take note of the size and density of the clusters. This is probably the biggest single patch i have ever seen. Its going to take me a few days to selectively harvest all of them. Oh! the drying box is 30" x 30".

enjoy!

!!! That is GLORIOUS !!!

That's AMAZING Ice House! That is a ridiculously huge patch for any strain.

I'm sporulating! It's gonna be a good night!

That is one hell of a MASSIVE cluster of cyanascens, there Icehouse. They also grow near to me. How do you rate these to dmt in terms of visuals, icehouse?

you are a god ice house.

I just got back from hunting and I am sure that all I have found so far is gallerinas..I still have some more places to check though.