Distribution: Confined to the Pacific Coast

Habitat: P. pelliculosa typically grows in groups among herbaceous plants in disturbed forest settings. It often can be found along trails or the edges of forest roads.

Substrate: Conifer mulch in woods

Spores: September to November

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Edibility: Psilocybe pelliculosa is considered to be weakly to moderately psychoactive.

Psilocybe pelliculosa is considered to be weakly to moderately psychoactive.

At first glance, Psilocybe pelliculosa could be mistaken for a relatively large mycena, galerina, or perhaps one of the slender hypholomas. However, the combination of purplish brown spores and habitat give it away as a psilocybe. The caps are fairly dark brown, viscid, and translucent-striate when moist but fade rapidly to opaque yellowish brown or buff as they dry. The stipe is long, slender, relatively pale colored and coated with a thin layer of fibrils. The veil is, at most, inconspicuous. Both cap and stipe bruise bluish or greenish, although usually not strongly. Psilocybe pelliculosa is often confused with P. semilanceata but lacks its narrowly conical cap and is only weakly hallucinogenic.

Sources: Trudell, Steve and Joe Ammirati. Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest. Portland, Timber Press, Inc. 2009. Lincoff, Gary. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1981.