Blue Meanies Mushrooms: A Guide to the Potent Panaeolus cyanescens

Published on the DoubleBlind website: https://doubleblindmag.com/blue-meanies-mushrooms-panaeolus-cyanescens/

“‘Blue Meanies’ is the common name for Panaeolus cyanescens. The name says a lot about this species; they turn dark blue when picked and can certainly pack a punch. Panaeolus cyanescens are one of the more potent psilocybin-containing mushrooms, despite their unassuming stature. P. cyanescens produces small medium-sized brown to white mushrooms that are easy for amateur enthusiasts to overlook. 

Mushrooms from the genus Panaeolus are very common; they grow globally in tropical and temperate environments. Panaeolus cyanescens is a tropical/subtropical grassland species, often found in dung—just like another familiar mushroom we know. If you were not aware of Blue Meanies, you could easily miss a patch while foraging for the more popular Psilocybe cubensis. The former is believed to contain two to three times the psilocybin found in cubensis.”