Gymnopilus is a genus of mushroom-forming fungi, separate from Psilocybe. Psilocybin has been reported for a few species, such as Gymnopilus purpuratus and G. validipes (Gotvaldová et al., 2022). A 2018 genome study found the psilocybin gene cluster in Gymnopilus dilepis, shared with two unrelated mushrooms (Reynolds et al., 2018).
The best-known name in the genus shows the difficulty. A 1978 screen detected psilocybin in material labelled Gymnopilus spectabilis (Hatfield and Valdes, 1978), but Japanese chemists found none in their collections (Kusano et al., 1986). A 2020 DNA study by a Canadian-led team showed several species had been sharing the name, and found no true Gymnopilus junonius among the North American sequences (Thorn et al., 2020).
So a statement about “Gymnopilus” and psilocybin depends on which species, and which collection, was tested. Few species have been sequenced, and many reports predate DNA checks. This entry gives no identification features.
Sources
- Gotvaldová et al., 2022, International Journal of Molecular Sciences
- Reynolds et al., 2018, Evolution Letters
- Thorn et al., 2020, Canadian Journal of Botany
- Hatfield and Valdes, 1978, Lloydia (Europe PMC record)
Last checked .