Psilocybe zapotecorum
R. Heim · Psilocybe sect. Zapotecorum
Zapotec mushroom · Corona de Cristo
A large Latin American species used ceremonially by the Zapotec, growing in wet ground and swampy forest. Notable for staining an intense blue-black on handling, more dramatically than almost any other species.
Potency
- Psilocybin
- 0.2–1% of dry weight
- Psilocin
- 0.05–0.3% of dry weight
- Total tryptamines
- 0.3–1.2%
- Relative to cubensis
- 1.27×
Somewhat stronger than cubensis. Assay data is limited and the species complex is taxonomically messy.
Dose ranges for this species
| Tier | Dried | Psilocybin | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Threshold | 0.24–0.79 g | 1.9–6.3 mg | Mild body load, slight colour and texture enhancement, mood shift. |
| Light | 0.79–1.38 g | 6.3–11 mg | Clear perceptual change. Surfaces breathe, emotions amplify, time distorts mildly. |
| Common | 1.38–1.97 g | 11–15.7 mg | Full psychedelic effect. Strong visuals with eyes closed, altered thought, emotional intensity. |
| Strong | 1.97–3.94 g | 15.7–31.5 mg | Ordinary self-reference goes. Marked visual distortion, time stops behaving. |
| Heavy | 3.94 g and above | 31.5 mg and above | Complete disruption of the ordinary sense of being a person in a place. |
Scaled from the standard dried-cubensis tables by this species’ representative alkaloid content. Because that content varies between flushes, treat every figure as an estimate and start below it. Open the full calculator.
Identification
Easiest way to tell: Dramatic blue-black staining and a rooting stem, in wet ground in Latin American forest.
- Cap
- 2–12 cm, convex to plane, often with an irregular wavy margin and a small umbo. Straw to reddish-brown, staining blue-black where damaged.
- Gills
- Adnate to sinuate, pale becoming dark purple-brown.
- Stem
- 5–20 cm, often long, sometimes rooting, whitish, staining intensely blue-black.
- Ring
- Usually absent; occasional fibrous veil remnants.
- Flesh
- Stains rapidly and intensely blue-black, often turning almost entirely black in age.
- Spore print
- Dark purple-brown
- Bruising
- Intense blue-black
Habitat
- Substrate
- Wet clay soil, Swampy ground, Stream banks, Subtropical forest floor
- Regions
- Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina
- Season
- Rainy season
A wet-ground specialist. Often gregarious in large clusters.
Cultivation
Sources
- [1]Stamets, Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World (1996)