Gymnopilus purpuratus

Gymnopilus purpuratus
Gymnopilus purpuratus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Basidiomycota
Class:	Agaricomycetes
Order:	Agaricales
Family:	Cortinariaceae
Genus:	Gymnopilus
Species:	G. purpuratus
Binomial name
Gymnopilus purpuratus (Cooke & Massee) Singer

Gymnopilus purpuratus Mycological characteristics
	gills on hymenium
	cap is convex
	hymenium is adnate or adnexed
	stipe is bare
	spore print is yellow-orange
	ecology is saprotrophic
	edibility: psychoactive

Gymnopilus purpuratus is a species of agaric fungus in the family Cortinariaceae.^[1] It grows in clusters on dead wood, tree stumps and wood chip mulch. It is widely distributed and has been recorded in Argentina, Australia, Chile, New Zealand, the UK and Germany. It has a broadly convex cap covered in small dry reddish brown scales, a stout yellow stem beneath reddish brown, wine-red to purple vertical fibres, and a thick rusty orange spore print.

The mushroom stains greenish, blue and purple were damaged, and is psychoactive. A chemical analysis carried out by in 1993 found that this species contains 0.34% psilocybin, 0.29% psilocin and 0.05% baeocystin.

Description[]

Convex dry scaly cap and colourful fibrous stipe.

The cap ranges from 1.5 to 6 cm across, is convex to obtuse, and is reddish brown with a dry scaly surface which is sometimes cracked in age. The stem is brown-red and covered by fibers and has blue-green spots where the stem is damaged. The gills are crowded, yellow to orange, and adnexed. The stem is dusted with rusty orange spores and has a cottony scanty partial veil.

Stems with a bluing reaction after being cut.

See also[]

List of Gymnopilus species

List of psilocybin mushrooms

References[]

• Guzmán-Dávalos, Laura; Mueller, Gregory M.; Cifuentes, Joaquín; Miller, Andrew N.; Santerre, Anne (Nov–Dec 2003). "Traditional infrageneric classification of Gymnopilus is not supported by ribosomal DNA sequence data" (PDF). Mycologia. 95 (6): 1204–1214. doi:10.2307/3761920. JSTOR 3761920. PMID 21149021.
• Mushroom Observer: Name: Gymnopilus purpuratus (Cooke & Massee) Singer
• Hesler, L. R. (1969). North American species of Gymnopilus. New York: Hafner. 117 pp.

External links[]

Media related to Gymnopilus purpuratus at Wikimedia Commons

• Gymnopilus purpuratus chemical analysis
• Painting of Cooke's type specimen, Agaricus purpuratus, collected in Kew Gardens; in his Illustrations of British Fungi (Hymenomycetes), to serve as an atlas to the "Handbook of British Fungi", vol. 8 - Biodiversity Heritage Library