Psilocybe cubensis

Where it comes from

Psilocybe cubensis was first described scientifically in 1906 from a specimen collected in Cuba, under the name Stropharia cubensis.¹ Its deeper origins turned out to be in Africa. In 2026, researchers reported finding its closest known free-living relative, Psilocybe ochraceocentrata, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two lineages split roughly 1.5 million years ago, and both grow on the dung of large plant-eating animals.²

Habitat and range

In the wild, P. cubensis fruits from the dung of grazing animals such as cattle, and from rich pasture. It's found across tropical and subtropical regions: through the Americas, and in parts of Europe, Asia and Australia.^3,4

What it looks like

A mature P. cubensis typically has a brown cap that fades toward gold or yellow, gills that darken to purplish black as spores mature, and a pale stem with a persistent ring. Like many psilocybin species, it bruises blue where handled.^1,4 Cultivated lines can look very different from wild ones and from each other.³ This is an overview, not an identification key; see the lookalike warning before drawing any conclusions from a mushroom's appearance.

Potency and variability

Compared with some wild species, P. cubensis tends toward moderate tryptamine levels: in one large multi-species dataset its range sat below that of P. cyanescens and the liberty cap.⁵ Within the species, the spread is wide:

• Fourteen strains grown under identical conditions differed more than 7.8-fold in total tryptamines, and individual mushrooms within each strain varied too.⁶
• Stems held roughly half the tryptamines of caps on average, though variation between individual mushrooms was large enough that the difference wasn't statistically significant. No tryptamines were found in spores.⁷
• Psilocybin and related compounds degrade over time, at rates that depend on how the material is stored.⁷

Beyond psilocybin and psilocin, the species' chemistry is far from fully mapped; researchers estimate it may contain thousands of uncharacterized compounds.⁸

Why it dominates the trade

Most cultivated psilocybin mushrooms are believed to be P. cubensis.³ That's why nearly every strain name sold, from Golden Teacher to Penis Envy, refers to this one species. What a strain name can and can't tell you is covered in our strain guide, and how to check what's actually in a batch is in reading a lab report.

Under U.S. federal law, mushrooms containing psilocybin are treated as Schedule I material regardless of species. See our legal status map.