MAGIC MUSHROOMS THRIVE AS WEEDS WANE

Mushroom Invasion: It's A Kind Of Magic

Hippies would have thought they were hallucinating. Geoffrey Kibb was
amazed, but stone cold sober, and knew a scientific phenomenon when he saw
one.

Mr Kibb had discovered the holy grail of 60s hippie culture, the most
potent magic mushrooms known to science, growing in a vast carpet on a
racetrack in the south of England. He estimated there were 100,000 of them,
enough to blow the mind of an entire town.

He reported his findings to fellow-researcher Peter Shaw, an expert on
fungi. To him the field of wavy-capped magic mushroom ( Psilocybe
cyanescens ) was confirmation of an astonishing colonisation of Britain by
exotic species of mushroom, an invasion caused by gardeners trying to keep
weeds at bay.

Dr Shaw's theory is that suppliers keep vast heaps of woodchips in
nurseries, allowing aggressive fungi to colonise. By spreading woodchips
over the ground, gardeners then create the perfect habitat for fungi of all
sorts. The wavy-capped magic mushroom, "a particularly aggressive species"
and a native of the northwest of the United States, is now firmly
established in British gardens, parks and any other place where woodchips
are used for weed control.

About 10 species of mushroom are eaten for their hallucinogenic qualities.
P cyanescens is identified by its wavy cap, purple brown spore print and
rapid blueing of stem and cap when it is bruised - although be warned,
there are poisonous species of similar appearance. The blueing reflects the
high psilocin/psilocybin content of the fungus (which, as any old hippie
will tell you, is the bit that makes you fly).

On his way to work at the University Of Surrey Dr Shaw passes a roundabout in Leatherhead. "The roundabout was mulched in 1999, and in may 2000 a flush of creamy-yellow fungi came up," he said.

They turned out to be four different exotic varieties growing in the wood chips - one of which, agrocybe putaminium, had been recorded only once before in Britain, at Kew Gardens in London. "The woodchips were bought from a commercial supplier in Essex, but how they acquired their strange fungal flora is still unclear," Dr Shaw said.

Cultivation of magic mushrooms for use is illegal in Britain, but
possession is not. The bad news for magic mushroom hunters is that this is
not the time of year for fruiting. But out of sight the roots from which
they grow are spreading rapidly.

Because of his Leatherhead experience and other discoveries, Dr Shaw says
there are bound to be exotic species growing happily in gardens, and he
believes that some have already transferred to the wild. Magic mushrooms
have been found growing on trees in Burnham Beeches, Buckinghamshire.

Dr Shaw presented his findings at the British Ecological Society meeting
last week in Birmingham, where he invited amateur mycologists to hunt down
other rare species.