SPECIES ATLAS · COMPARE
Psilocybe cubensis vs Psilocybe natalensis
Psilocybe natalensis was published in 1995 from a collection in KwaZulu-Natal. A 2026 paper reported that one commercial “Natal Super Strength” sequence did not match the P. natalensis type, while most named cultivated labels belong to Psilocybe cubensis.
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 cubensis | Psilocybe natalensis | |
|---|---|---|
| Genus | Psilocybe | Psilocybe |
| Named | (Earle) Singer, 1948 | Gartz, D.A. Reid, M.T. Sm. & Eicker, 1995 |
| First published as | Stropharia cubensis Earle (1906) | Its current name |
| Other names in the records | 10: Stropharia cubensis Earle (1906), Naematoloma caerulescens Pat. (1907) … | None listed |
| Type specimen from | Santiago de las Vegas, La Habana, Cuba; type collected by F. S. Earle on 19 June 1904 | KwaZulu-Natal |
| Psilocybin record | confirmed (several modern analyses) | reported (one or older reports) |
| Analyses on file | 4 | 1 |
| Analysed from | 1958 to 2025 | 2026 to 2026 |
| World records (GBIF) | 3,934 | 23 |
| Most records from | United States, Mexico, Colombia | South Africa, Israel, Brazil |
| Canadian records (GBIF) | 5GBIF held 5 Canadian records on 25 October 2026, all preserved specimens (3 British Columbia, 1 Ontario, 1 without a province). | 0 |
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 cubensis
- 1958
Reported Psilocybin isolated from cultures of Stropharia cubensis (Heim & Hofmann, Comptes rendus 247: 557), as cited in Guzmán 1983 Guzmán 1983, The Genus Psilocybe (Beih. Nova Hedwigia 74), archive.org scan
- 2022
Confirmed Psilocybin low or undetectable in most fungarium vouchers (one with psilocin); detected in cultivated mushrooms and mycelium Bradshaw et al. 2022, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 88: e01498-22
- 2022
Confirmed Psilocybin, psilocin, baeocystin, norbaeocystin and aeruginascin detected in four collections Gotvaldová et al. 2022, Int. J. Mol. Sci. 23: 14068
- 2025
Confirmed Psilocybin and psilocin measured in cultivated strains confirmed by ITS, including strains labelled P. natalensis that sequenced as P. cubensis Cohen et al. 2025, Sci. Rep. 15: 13822
Psilocybe natalensis
- 2026
Reported Psilocybin and psilocin quantified in indoor-cultivated material (grown from wild-collected mushrooms) identified as P. natalensis by a third-party DNA test Windsor et al. 2026, J. AOAC Int. 109: 37-50
What the records don’t show.
Psilocybe cubensis: Herbarium vouchers often show little or no psilocybin, and strain labels in commerce don't reliably match the species name.
Psilocybe natalensis: Commercial 'natalensis' often isn't this species: in a 2025 study such strains sequenced as P. cubensis, and the 2024 preprint found that four of five public 'natalensis' sequences cluster with P. ochraceocentrata.