Panaeolus foenisecii

Panaeolus foenisecii, commonly called the mower's mushroom, haymaker or brown hay mushroom, is a very common and widely distributed little brown mushroom often found on lawns. In 1963 Tyler and Smith found that this mushroom contains serotonin, 5-HTP and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid.[2] In many field guides it is erroneously listed as psychoactive, however the mushroom does not produce any hallucinogenic effects.[3]

Panaeolus foenisecii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Fungi
Division:
Basidiomycota
Class:
Agaricomycetes
Order:
Agaricales
Family:
Bolbitiaceae
Genus:
Panaeolus
Species:
P. foenisecii
Binomial name
Panaeolus foenisecii
(Pers.) R.Maire (1933)
Synonyms[1]

Agaricus foenisecii Pers. (1800)
Prunulus foenisecii (Pers.) Gray (1821)
Psilocybe foenisecii (Pers.) Quél. (1872)
Drosophila foenisecii (Pers.) Quél. (1886)
Coprinarius foenisecii (Pers.) J.Schröt. (1889)
Psathyra foenisecii (Pers.) G.Bertrand (1901)
Panaeolina foenisecii (Pers.) Maire (1933)
Psathyrella foenisecii (Pers.) A.H.Sm. (1972)

Panaeolus foenisecii
float
Mycological characteristics
gills on hymenium
cap is convex
hymenium is adnexed
stipe is bare
spore print is blackish-brown
ecology is saprotrophic
edibility: edible

It is sometimes mistaken for the psychedelic Panaeolus cinctulus or Panaeolus olivaceus both of which share the same habitat and can be differentiated by their jet black spores. This is probably why Panaeolus foenisecii is occasionally listed as a psychoactive species in older literature.

Description
  • Cap: 1.5 to 3 cm across, conic to convex, chestnut brown to tan, hygrophanous, often with a dark band around the margin which fades as the mushroom dries.
  • Gills: Broad, adnate, brown with lighter edges, becoming mottled as the spores mature.
  • Stipe: 4 to 6 cm by 2 to 3 mm, fragile, hollow, white to light brown, pruinose and slightly striate.
  • Taste: A slightly unpleasant nutty fungal taste.
  • Odor: Nutty, slightly unpleasant.
  • Spore print: Dark walnut brown.
  • Microscopic features: Spores measure 12 - 17 x 7 - 11 μm, subfusoid to lemon shaped, rough, dextrinoid, with an apical germ pore. Cheilocystidia subfusoid to cylindric or subcapitate, often wavy, up to 50 μm long. Pleurocystidia absent, but some authors report inconspicuous "pseudocystidia". The pileipellis a cellular cuticle with subglobose elements and has pileocystidia.[4]

The following two images are of Panaeolus foenisecii in the wild with two magnifications of the spore print.

  • Wild Panaeolus foenisecii showing banded cap
  • stipe and gills
  • Panaeolus foenisecii spores magnified
  • Panaeolus foenisecii spores

See also

References
  1. "Panaeolus foenisecii (Pers.) Maire 1933". MycoBank. International Mycological Association. Retrieved 2017-08-14.
  2. Tyler VE, Smith AH (1963). "Protoalkaloids in Panaeolus species". In Mothes K, Schroter HB (eds.). 2 Internationale Arbeitstagung Biochemie und Physiologie der Alkaloide. Berlin, Germany. pp. 45–54.
  3. John W. Allen & Mark D. Merlin. "Observations Regarding the Suspected Psychoactive Properties of Panaeolus foenisecii Maire". Retrieved 2012-06-10.
  4. "Panaeolus foenisecii (Pers.) Maire 1933". Mushroomexpert.com. Retrieved 2013-03-03.
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