# Psilocybe azurescens
**Psilocybe azurescens** is a species of bluing, psilocybin-producing mushroom in the basidiomycete genus *Psilocybe*, described in 1995 by mycologist [Paul Stamets](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-stamets) and chemist Jochen Gartz from material collected in the Pacific Northwest of North America[1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=93624) • [2](https://www.psilosophy.info/resources/growing-psilocybe-azurescens.pdf). It is native to Oregon and Washington, grows on lignin-rich woody debris, and is noted both for a high tryptamine content and for its intense indigo-black bruising reaction[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9400892/) • [4](https://www.fungipedia.org/media/kunena/attachments/8935/PsilocybinMushroomsoftheWorld.IdentificationGuidebyPaulStametsz-lib.org.pdf).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | *Psilocybe azurescens* Stamets & Gartz, 1995; holotype preserved as WTU F:019095 at the University of Washington Herbarium[1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=93624) |
| Classification | Fungi; Basidiomycota; Agaricales; Agrocybaceae; *Psilocybe*[1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=93624) |
| Native range | Oregon and Washington; grows cespitose to gregarious on deciduous wood chips and in sandy soils rich in lignicolous debris[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9400892/) • [4](https://www.fungipedia.org/media/kunena/attachments/8935/PsilocybinMushroomsoftheWorld.IdentificationGuidebyPaulStametsz-lib.org.pdf) |
| Reported alkaloid content | Up to 17.8 mg/g psilocybin and psilocin in one DNA-authenticated chemical analysis[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11856550/) |
| Genome | 71.4 Mb across 1,088 contigs (N50 230,470 bp), average GC content 46%; carries a complete psilocybin biosynthesis gene locus[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9400892/) |
| Distinctive reaction | Flesh can become indigo-black from bruising, attributed to its high indole content[4](https://www.fungipedia.org/media/kunena/attachments/8935/PsilocybinMushroomsoftheWorld.IdentificationGuidebyPaulStametsz-lib.org.pdf) |
## Taxonomy and description
The species was formally described as *Psilocybe azurescens* Stamets & Gartz sp. nov., with the Latin description published in 1995[2](https://www.psilosophy.info/resources/growing-psilocybe-azurescens.pdf). NCBI lists the current name as *Psilocybe azurescens* Stamets & Gartz, 1995, with rank species and the holotype specimen WTU F:019095[1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=93624). The Burke Herbarium, which holds the type institution's collection, lists the name as accepted[6](https://www.burkeherbarium.org/imagecollection/taxon.php?Taxon=Psilocybe+azurescens).
The original description places the species among the lignicolous (wood-associated) psilocybin-containing taxa of temperate North America, with a habit of cespitose to gregarious growth on deciduous wood chips or in sandy soils rich in woody debris[4](https://www.fungipedia.org/media/kunena/attachments/8935/PsilocybinMushroomsoftheWorld.IdentificationGuidebyPaulStametsz-lib.org.pdf) • [7](https://www.basidiumequilibrium.com/psilocybe-azurescens/). Stamets's identification guide describes the bruising reaction as unusual among *Psilocybe*: the flesh can turn indigo-black, which the guide attributes to high indole content[4](https://www.fungipedia.org/media/kunena/attachments/8935/PsilocybinMushroomsoftheWorld.IdentificationGuidebyPaulStametsz-lib.org.pdf).
## Chemistry and potency
Psilocybin, the chemically stable phosphorylated precursor of psilocin, is the genus's principal tryptamine, and *P. azurescens* was selected for genomic study precisely because it shows a high psilocybin content[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9400892/). A 2025 review of DNA-authenticated specimens reported that *P. azurescens* presented up to 17.8 mg/g of psilocybin and psilocin, a figure the authors compared with the 15.543 mg/g of psilocin measured in the central European *P. serbica* var. *bohemica*[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11856550/).
**Comparative rankings.** Stamets's 1996 book *Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World* summarized comparative alkaloid data across dozens of *Psilocybe* species, and in that comparison *P. azurescens* ranked highest for combined psilocybin and psilocin content among the species tested; no peer-reviewed, large-sample chromatographic study of the species' potency has been published since[8](https://buyshroomz.com/psilocybe-azurescens-potency/). In a newer AOAC International study of reference materials, which grew six *Psilocybe* species in controlled cultivation, *P. zapotecorum* showed the greatest mean psilocybin content, ranking above *P. azurescens*, *P. cyanescens*, *P. natalensis*, and *P. subaeruginosa*, while *P. stuntzii* had the least.[9](https://academic.oup.com/jaoac/article/109/1/37/8019671) The same study's HPTLC analysis detected psilocybin, psilocin, baeocystin, and trace amounts of norbaeocystin and aeruginascin across the cultivated species, with baeocystin detected in *P. stuntzii* and *P. azurescens* and a relatively strong psilocin band in *P. azurescens*[9](https://academic.oup.com/jaoac/article/109/1/37/8019671).
Chemical data on the genus carry a caveat established by a 2022 [DNA barcoding](https://www.edgepedia.org/dna-barcoding) study: nearly 13 percent of herbarium specimens cataloged as *Psilocybe* proved on sequencing to belong to other genera, and psilocybin and psilocin degrade in stored fungarium material to the point that old specimens are unsuitable for quantitative comparison[10](https://shrooms.pl/psilocybe-azurescens/). The same study's authors found that psilocybin had been empirically identified in only about 45 accepted *Psilocybe* species, roughly 32 percent of the approximately 140 putative bluing species, and that most published chemistry on the genus lacked voucher-based identification[11](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9764976/).
## Genome and secondary metabolism
A 2022 genomic survey sequenced *P. azurescens* (strain FSU 13761) together with four other *Psilocybe* species to inventory natural product genes[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9400892/). The *P. azurescens* genome assembled into 1,088 contigs with an N50 of 230,470 bp, a total size of 71.4 Mb, and an average GC content of 46 percent[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9400892/). All five species, including *P. azurescens*, encode the complete genetic locus for psilocybin biosynthesis, correcting an earlier report that had found only an incomplete locus in this species; the loci in *P. azurescens* and *P. mexicana* differ from previously known clusters in both gene number and arrangement[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9400892/).
Beyond the psilocybin locus, the survey found a much larger biosynthetic repertoire than chemical analysis alone had suggested. *P. azurescens* encodes 25 terpene synthases, of which 12 belong to clade III sesquiterpene synthases, along with one non-reducing polyketide synthase, one type VI siderophore synthetase, three hybrid NRPS/PKS genes, and a flavin-dependent halogenase[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9400892/). Three loci for sesquiterpene synthases were found only in *P. azurescens* and *P. cyanescens* among the species surveyed, though their products and activity remain uncharacterized[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9400892/).
## Wood lover's paralysis
Anecdotal reports describe a phenomenon called wood lover's paralysis (WLP): numbness, loss of motor coordination, or severe paralysis of limbs or facial muscles after consuming lignicolous (wood-inhabiting) magic mushrooms, most frequently *P. cyanescens* and *P. azurescens*[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9400892/). These peripheral effects reportedly last up to 24 hours, longer than psilocin's psychotropic action, which typically subsides after 3 to 4 hours[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9400892/). No reports of WLP pertain to the dung-inhabiting *P. cubensis*, and systematic clinical investigations of the phenomenon and its possible cause have not been carried out; the genomic survey was undertaken partly to support pharmacological research into such unexplained effects[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9400892/).
## Cultivation and distribution
The species fruits on wood chips and lignin-rich substrate in coastal settings of the [Pacific Northwest](https://www.edgepedia.org/pacific-northwest)[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9400892/) • [4](https://www.fungipedia.org/media/kunena/attachments/8935/PsilocybinMushroomsoftheWorld.IdentificationGuidebyPaulStametsz-lib.org.pdf). The AOAC reference-material study successfully cultivated *P. azurescens* among six *Psilocybe* species and confirmed that mature specimens displayed the morphological features characteristic of the species as described in the literature[9](https://academic.oup.com/jaoac/article/109/1/37/8019671) • [12](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12733971/). Because its growth habit, habitat, season, and cap color closely resemble those of related wood-inhabiting species such as *P. cyanescens*, field identification is difficult, and the 2022 DNA barcoding results indicate that morphological determination of bluing *Psilocybe* specimens is frequently wrong[10](https://shrooms.pl/psilocybe-azurescens/) • [11](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9764976/).
## References
1. [NCBI Taxonomy Browser: Psilocybe azurescens Stamets & Gartz](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=93624)
2. [The Azurescens Foundation: Growing Psilocybe azurescens (Latin description, Stamets & Gartz 1995)](https://www.psilosophy.info/resources/growing-psilocybe-azurescens.pdf)
3. [Dörner S. et al. (2022). Genetic Survey of Psilocybe Natural Products. ChemBioChem 23(14)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9400892/)
4. [Stamets P. Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World, identification guide excerpt](https://www.fungipedia.org/media/kunena/attachments/8935/PsilocybinMushroomsoftheWorld.IdentificationGuidebyPaulStametsz-lib.org.pdf)
5. [Exploring Psilocybe cubensis Strains: Cultivation Techniques, Psychoactive Compounds, Genetics and Research Gaps (PMC)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11856550/)
6. [Burke Herbarium Image Collection: Psilocybe azurescens](https://www.burkeherbarium.org/imagecollection/taxon.php?Taxon=Psilocybe+azurescens)
7. [Basidium Equilibrium: Psilocybe azurescens, original publication notes](https://www.basidiumequilibrium.com/psilocybe-azurescens/)
8. [Psilocybe Azurescens Potency: What the Research Shows](https://buyshroomz.com/psilocybe-azurescens-potency/)
9. [Development of Psilocybe Mushroom Species Reference Material—Cultivation Parameters and Chemical Profiles, Journal of AOAC INTERNATIONAL](https://academic.oup.com/jaoac/article/109/1/37/8019671)
10. [Psilocybe azurescens — najmocniejszy gatunek? Co mówią dane (shrooms.pl)](https://shrooms.pl/psilocybe-azurescens/)
11. [DNA Authentication and Chemical Analysis of Psilocybe Mushrooms Reveal Widespread Misdeterminations in Fungaria and Inconsistencies in Metabolites (PMC)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9764976/)
12. [Development of Psilocybe Mushroom Species Reference Material (PMC version)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12733971/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Microorganisms and fungi › Fungi and mycology › Basidiomycete taxa › Agaricomycetes › Agaricales › Tricholomataceae and allies › Entolomatoid agaricoid genera*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license