Stipes albus, semper curvatus, saepe multipliciter, 5–9 cm in longitudinem, 3‐ 7 mm in latitudinem, etiam adulescens velum partiale cum velamine non habens, orbem non habens, tenax et flexibilitis, non valde durus, stamina subtilia mycelis non habens in superficie, interdum densae vel firmae conglomerationes, quae in iniquitate consistunt, videri possunt; in basi stipitis saepe rhizomorphae, quae reliquias ligni stricte continent, in senectute cavus, in pressione celerrime et ubique obscure caerulescens; in senectute etiam sua sponte, interdum in pressione incipiente quodam modo virescens, tum semper celeriter obscure caerulescens; typica magna crassificatio ad acumen vel paulum sub acumine; fungorum adulescentium crassitudo circiter duplo maior quam reliqui stipitis, interdum nodosissimo genere; in senectute crassificatio ut artus adnirationem movet, cum pileus et pars stipitis superior valde infrigitur; crassificatio intestinae partis consistit in strato quasi lignoso et iam pridem disposito, in pressione non caerulescente.

Pileus cum largo umbone, calvus,symmetrus, in senectute solum raro curvatus quodam modo in altitudinem, margo non undosus, cutis pilei detrahi non potest, in statu umido fuscus et quodam modo fluidus, hygrophanus, in statu umido non perlucidus, non canaliculatus in statu arido albus, tum umbo plerumque, sua sponte colorem canum vel caeruleum accipit, in pressione vel sua sponte in senectute passim colorem caeruleum accipit, caro in pressione colorem caeruleum accipit, reliquiae veli non exsistunt, a‐4 cm in latitudinem, odor iucunde aromaticus.

Whenever a new species is encountered, the provision of a Latin description and diagnosis is required and provided as follows.

Description of the new species Psilocybe germanica Gartz & Wiedemann

Pileus: 1–4 cm in diameter, always broadly umbonate, rarely flattening to a little turn up in age with a persistent broad umbo; no traces of a veil at any stages, hygrophanous, moist deep brown, lacking a separable pellicle, margin not wavy, not striate, not translucent when moist, fading in drying to whitish; during development soon a spontaneous gray‐bluish colouration on the umbo occurs, at age an additional strong blueing develops, particularly after rains and during freezing; bruising of the white flesh also yields a strong blue colour, odour pleasantly aromatic.

Lamellae: at first brownish then dark purple‐brown, closely set, alternating adnexed to adnate.

Stipes: 5–9 × 0.3–0.7 cm, characteristic enlarged at the pileus, sometimes the thickening often impressed as a joint, in which the upper end of the handle with the cap then drops; dry, white, not very hard, not flexuous, always curved, often multiple times, without traces of a veil, no fine mycelia on it, sometimes solid lumps visible as a rub, easily staining deep blue when touched at all parts; at first touch sometimes green discoloring until a very fast‐moving to deep blue; the wood‐like layer in the thickening shows no blueing at all, stuffed with white mycelia at first, later hollow, rhizomorphs on the base, keeping wood substrate together.

Microscopic features: spores: 9–12 × 5.5–7.5 µm, with a clear germ pore, cheilocystidia lageniform, numerous, 25–33 / 6.0–8.3 µm, pleurocystidia absent.

Habit and distribution: Gregarious to cespitose on deciduous on wood chips from various plants, also on bark in mixture with soil and other wood debris. Observed growing is from September to December. Until now, the mushrooms have only been observed to grow in parks. Holotypus: a gathering (8th October 2014, Dippoldiswalde, Germany) is deposited in the herbarium of the botanical museum Berlin / Dahlem (B).

The new Psilocybe germanica showed a unique combination of features related to stipes and pileus. Another species with such joint‐like thickening has not yet been described until now. As can be seen in Figure 2 there are very clear differences in comparison to Psilocybe azurescens (Figure 2A) and Psilocybe cyanescens (Figure 2B). In contrast to the new species (Figure 2C), both other species show yellow caps after drying. They show a cortina, which left traces on the caps and the stipes in age of the mushrooms. The margin shows a striate structure when wet. The structure of the stipes found in the new species was also different, i.e. the stipe seen in Psilocybe germanica appeared softer. As a consequence, the blueing reaction is more readily observed compared to stipes of Psilocybe azurescens and Psilocybe cyanescens. The wavy appearance is only characteristic for Psilocybe cyanescens.

Figure 2 Open in figure viewer PowerPoint A: Psilocybe azurescens. B: Psilocybe cyanescens. C: The new species Psilocybe germanica.

Figure 3 shows a large fruiting of the new species after a short freezing during the night. Exposure to cold temperature resulted in a strong blueing reaction, sometimes across the entire mushroom. Figure 4 shows various forms and developmental stages of the new species. Compared to Psilocybe bohemica (Figure 5), significant differences were observed. In contrast to Psilocybe germanica, this species had a striate and translucent cap when wet. The caps are deep yellow when wet and often whitish in colour when dry, with some blue zones that do not show any particular structure. In most cases, the caps are not umbonate upon ageing. Whereas Psilocybe bohemica display an easily detectable cortina and stipes that are scattered with fine fibrils, the new species Psilocybe germanica exhibits stipes of more regular shapes that are not curved and occasionally enlarged at the base. In contrast to the new species, Psilocybe bohemica can build up only a few spores in age of the fruiting bodies and often the mushrooms are completely sterile.5, 6

Figure 3 Open in figure viewer PowerPoint Large fruiting of Psilocybe germanica. Exposure to cold temperature resulted in a strong blueing reaction, sometimes across the entire mushroom.

Figure 4 Open in figure viewer PowerPoint Various forms and developmental stages of the new species Psilocybe germanica.

Figure 5 Open in figure viewer PowerPoint Psilocybe bohemica. In contrast to Psilocybe germanica, a striate and translucent cap were observed when wet.

The tiny species Psilocybe serbica Moser & Horak showed features for caps and stipes similar to Psilocybe bohemica.15 The microscopic features are comparable to other wood‐loving Psilocybe species2, 5, 6, 9-11 as is the case with Psilocybe germanica. Chemical analyses of five Psilocybe germanica mushrooms samples revealed the presence of significant amounts of psilocybin and baeocystin (Table 1). This was consistent with qualitative TLC analysis of 30 samples from 2013 and 35 extracted samples from 2014 and psilocin was not detected (data not shown).

Table 1. Amounts of indole alkaloids detected in five Psilocybe germanica samples and results obtained from previous analyses (%, dry weight) Sample Psilocybin Baeocystin Psilocin 1 0.82 0.15 nd * 2 0.90 0.11 nd 3 0.76 0.18 nd 4 0.66 0.21 nd 5 1.12 0.30 nd P. cyanescens 16 0.34 − 0.98 0.01 − 0.05 0.01 − 0.93 P. cyanescens 17 0.25 − 0.85 0.01 − 0.03 0.04 − 0.36 P. semilanceata 3, 4 0.19 − 1.34 0.03 − 0.38 nd P. semilanceata 18 0.55 − 1,96 0,11 − 034 − P. semilanceata 19 0.41 − 1.41 0.10 − 0.60 traces P. semilanceata 14 0,91 − 1,05 qualitative nd − 0.02 P. semilanceata 17 0.05 − 1.70 nd − 0.36 nd − 0.36 P. bohemica 14 0.25 − 1.14 nd nd − 0.07 P. bohemica 17 0.28 − 0.80 0.01 − 0.03 nd − 0.02 P. bohemica 20 0.11 − 1,35 0.01 − 0.03 0.01 − 0.02 P. azurescens 9 1.17 − 1.78 0.19 − 0.41 0.19 − 0.49

Psilocybe germanica showed similar alkaloid levels to what is known about Psilocybe semilanceata with only traces of psilocin. Psilocybe azurescens is generally considered more potent and, in addition to psilocybin and baeocystin, is also displaying comparatively large amounts of psilocin.9 Both Psilocybe cyanescens and Psilocybe bohemica typically show the presence of psilocybin and traces of baeocystin. A large variation in psilocybin levels are frequently encountered. In contrast to Psilocybe bohemica,16 Psilocybe cyanescens can also contain large amounts of psilocin.16 In addition, the new indole derivative aeruginascin13, 21 was not detected in any of the mushrooms. As far as it is currently known, this trimethylammonium analog of psilocybin has only been reported to occur in the hallucinogenic species Inocybe aeruginascens Babos.13, 21 Psilocybe semilanceata is the best studied psychoactive mushroom species in the world1, 14, 18, 19, 17, 22, 23 and is known to contain psilocybin and baeocystin (Table 1). Previous investigations in 1994 have shown that the use pure methanol yielded the authentic indole derivatives from dried mushrooms and the use of aqueous solvents resulted in hydrolysis of psilocybin and baeocystin to give psilocin.4