“Blue Meanies” is a common name, not a scientific one, and it points in two directions. iNaturalist’s taxon record lists it as the common name of Panaeolus cyanescens (iNaturalist). Separately, a 2025 study of 42 samples lists one labelled “Blue Meanies” that the researchers assigned by DNA to Psilocybe cubensis (Cohen et al., 2025).
Both uses are documented and neither cancels the other. They also do not make the two species the same: Panaeolus and Psilocybe are different genera. A reliable sentence says which source used the phrase and for what material, and only then names a species. The sources the journal checked do not say where the name came from or when it was first used.
Names like this matter for safety because people sometimes treat a familiar phrase as an identification. It is not one. A common name, a photo or a label cannot confirm what a mushroom is, and the Ontario Poison Centre advises calling before symptoms appear if someone has eaten a wild mushroom.
Sources
- iNaturalist taxon record 179100: Panaeolus cyanescens
- Cohen et al., 2025, Scientific Reports: 42 psilocybin-producing strains (PMC)
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