SPECIES ATLAS · COMPARE
Psilocybe azurescens vs Psilocybe cyanescens
Most of what circulates online about these two is nicknames and rankings. This compares what the name records and published analyses actually document.
A comparison of names and records, not an identification guide. No name, picture or description can show that a wild mushroom is safe, and poisonous mushrooms are mistaken for magic mushrooms. If someone may have eaten a wild mushroom, call a poison centre without waiting for symptoms: 1-844-POISON-X in most of Canada, 1-800-463-5060 in Quebec. Call 911 if they’re unconscious, not breathing or having a seizure.
Side by side.
| Psilocybe azurescens | Psilocybe cyanescens | |
|---|---|---|
| Genus | Psilocybe | Psilocybe |
| Named | Stamets & Gartz, 1995 | Wakef., 1946 |
| First published as | Its current name | Its current name |
| Other names in the records | None listed | None listed |
| Type specimen from | Oregon | England, Surrey, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |
| Psilocybin record | reported (one or older reports) | confirmed (several modern analyses) |
| Analyses on file | 1 | 4 |
| Analysed from | 2026 to 2026 | 2003 to 2026 |
| World records (GBIF) | 615 | 3,967 |
| Most records from | United States, Canada, Sweden | United States, United Kingdom, Canada |
| Canadian records (GBIF) | 17GBIF held 17 Canadian records on 25 October 2026, 14 from British Columbia (12 preserved specimens overall). | 160GBIF held 160 Canadian records on 25 October 2026, 153 from British Columbia and 1 from Ontario (128 community observations, 32 preserved specimens). |
From the atlas records, last checked . GBIF counts are occurrence records, not a measure of how common a mushroom is.
The psilocybin record, analysis by analysis.
Every analysis the atlas could verify, oldest first, including results that found nothing. No amounts are given: they vary between collections, and this is not a potency comparison.
Psilocybe azurescens
- 2026
Confirmed Psilocybin and psilocin quantified in indoor-cultivated material whose identity was checked by DNA testing Windsor et al. 2026, J. AOAC Int. 109: 37-50
Psilocybe cyanescens
- 2003
Confirmed Psilocybin and psilocin detected in Czech material Stříbrný, Borovička & Sokol 2003, Soud. Lék. 48: 45-49 (Europe PMC record)
- 2022
Confirmed Psilocybin and psilocin detected in fungarium specimens, including decades-old ones Bradshaw et al. 2022, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 88: e01498-22
- 2022
Confirmed Psilocybin, psilocin, baeocystin, norbaeocystin and aeruginascin detected in four European collections Gotvaldová et al. 2022, Int. J. Mol. Sci. 23: 14068
- 2026
Confirmed Psilocybin and psilocin quantified in indoor-cultivated material whose identity was checked by DNA testing Windsor et al. 2026, J. AOAC Int. 109: 37-50
What the records don’t show.
Psilocybe azurescens: The only analysis we could open is of cultivated material, and the 1995 description, which is said to include chemistry, was not available to us.
Psilocybe cyanescens: Guzmán (1983) notes that the first American analysis filed under this name (Benedict et al. 1962) used a mixture of P. cyanescens and P. stuntzii, so early figures can't all be assigned to this species.