Understanding the differences between Amanita Muscaria and Psilocybe mushrooms is critical for anyone interested in the world of psychoactive mushrooms. In this in-depth guide, we’ll dive into the differences between Amanita mushrooms and Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, their psychedelic properties, alkaloid compositions, growing habits, and legality. Let’s get right into it!

Please note that this article is a scientific investigation into the characteristics of each mushroom species mentioned. Understanding their properties is a valuable way to gain a contextual understanding of mushrooms, ultimately improving your microscopy research skills. None of this content is intended to promote the consumption, propagation, or possession of psilocybin-containing mushrooms.

Major Differences Between Amanita Muscaria & Psilocybe Mushrooms

Amanita Muscaria mushrooms and Psilocybe mushrooms have far more differences than things they have in common. In fact, the only things they have in common are that they are fungal fruiting bodies with mind-altering, or psychoactive effects. Even that similarity (psychedelic effects) are very different on a chemical, physical and anecdotal perceptual experience level!!

In order to understand the differences between the two mushrooms, we’ll start with an overview, breaking down their key characteristics.

1. Amanita Muscaria Mushroom

The Amanita Muscaria, also known as the Fly Agaric mushroom, is recognizable for its distinct appearance characterized by a bright red cap with white spots. The mushroom has been popularized in mainstream iconography, seen in The Super Mario Franchise and iPhone Emoji 🍄, for example.  Here are some key features of this mushroom:

• Habitat: Amanita muscaria is commonly found in northern temperate regions, often associated with birch and pine trees. It is mycorrhizal meaning that it grows in symbiosis with tree roots or with the roots of other woody plants. In other words, the mycelial network and the trees become involved in a symbiotic relationship in which the mycelium interacts with the host tree’s root system and helps to convert certain nutrients to a more absorbable form for the tree’s roots and to uptake. In return, the tree provides the mycelial network with carbohydrates and structure to help it thrive. Both the tree and the fungus benefit from the relationship. Unlike many other popular culinary, gourmet, and psychedelic mushrooms, the Amanita muscaria is not a decomposer or a parasitic species of fungi. Rather, it can only survive in symbiosis with a suitable host tree or sapling. 
• Chemical Composition: The primary psychoactive compound in Amanita muscaria is muscimol, but it also contains high levels of Ibotenic Acid. The Amanita Muscaria mushroom is edible in its whole form, however, most people prefer to isolate the muscimol. The ibotenic acid often causes undesirable effects in those who consume it, namely liver damage. Extreme caution should always be exercised when researching or experimenting with any active mushroom, especially Amanita genera mushrooms. 
• Psychoactive Compound: Muscimol is a psychoactive compound belonging to the class of substances known as GABAergic agents.

2. Psilocybe Mushrooms (P. Cubensis): 

P.S. You Can Buy Magic Mushroom Spores Now in 48 States!

Psilocybe mushrooms are a diverse group of fungi that contain varying levels of the psychoactive compounds psilocybin and psilocin, with Psilocybe cubensis being one of the most widely known species. Here are some noteworthy aspects of Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, colloquially known as ‘magic mushrooms’ or simply ‘shrooms’:

• Habitat: Psilocybe mushrooms can be found in various regions worldwide, favoring subtropical and tropical environments. They grow on a variety of surfaces, but are easiest to spot in cow dung or manure. Why cow crap? Well, these shrooms are saprophytic, meaning they breakdown organic matter as a source of fuel. In fact, they are secondary decomposers, interested in already-broken-down organic material as opposed to fresh, hard materials like wood. The Amanita, as we just learned, gets its nutrients from living trees rather than any dead or decaying organic matter. 
• Chemical Composition: The primary psychoactive compounds in Psilocybe mushrooms are psilocybin & psilocin.
• Psychoactive Compound: Psilocybin is a naturally occurring compound that belongs to the class of substances known as tryptamines.

Amanita & Psilocybe Look Nothing Alike

Now that you understand the contrasts in their habitat and chemical composition, it’s important to get familiar with the visual differences between the two. Here are some ways their appearance differs:

Amanita Muscaria Is Much Larger

Amanita Muscaria mushrooms are much larger than psilocybe mushrooms, which are often smaller and more fragile. Amanita muscaria can grow to be a significantly larger mushroom than even some of the largest Psilocybe mushrooms ever grown. There have been specimens found whose cap diameter reaches the size of a dinner plate in some regions of the world! Psilocybe mushrooms are typically much smaller than that, typically standing at only a few inches high.

Amanita Muscaria Is Much More Eye-Catching

Amanita Muscaria mushrooms are most commonly bright red with white specks, a huge contrast to the dull, camouflaging browns & beiges of psilocybe mushrooms. Amanita Muscaria has been popularized for its beautiful colors, most notably by the Super Mario video game franchise in which the mushroom was a prominent feature of theme.

Psilocybe Mushrooms Can Bruise Blue

Another distinct aesthetic difference between the two is that Psilocybe mushrooms have the ability to bruise blue, as a result of present psilocybin that can oxidize and be chemically converted into psilocin simply by pinching or touching the stipe or cap of the mushroom. Thus, a fairly reliable identification method for psilocybin containing mushrooms is the bruising method. Shortly after you touch a magic mushroom, the area in which you touched it will start to form a blueish hue which then turns into a blue to blueish-black blotch on the surface. Amanita muscaria bruises a beige/brown color when touched, not even close to the much more distinct blue hues of Psilocybes.

Their Spores Can Look Very Different

Psilocybe spores can take many forms, from dark purple to completely translucent. Amanita Muscaria on the other hand, will always be snow-white. The size of the spores, and spore print also differs vastly.

Amanita Muscaria Has A “Volvo”

Another major difference is that Amanita Muscaria mushrooms emerge from an egg-like volvo, which is a sac-like feature at its base when they’re growing. The volvo is usually not visible above the surface of the soil, however its remnants can sometimes be observed at the bottom of the stipe on harvested specimens. The appearance of the stem-base as well as a premature Amanita is noticeably different than the little brown pins of a young psilocybe mushroom.

Major Differences In How Amanita Muscaria And Psilocybe Grow

Again, growing psilocybe mushrooms is federally illegal in the United States, we do not condone the cultivation of psilocybe mushrooms, we cannot advise or recommend any growing methods, and this information is merely to provide contextual education so that you can have more insight when performing your microscopy. With that said, it is absolutely critical to understand their vastly different growing behaviors.

Growing Amanita Muscaria Is Nearly Impossible

Unlike psilocybe mushrooms, growing Amanita muscaria has not yet been mastered or commercialized. Why? Well, as mentioned, Amanita Muscaria grows in association with trees. Thus, it is extremely difficult to mimic their natural habitat in a lab setting. You’d need to recreate the soil with proper PH, grow a specific type of tree, and imitate the proper mycorrhizal interactions by inoculating the saplings with spores or a strong and viable culture, and then coerce it into fruit-body development. Finally, likely after years of waiting, you may or may not successfully harvest any Amanita mushrooms. In some ways, it mirrors the incredibly complex process of growing truffles. If you are interested in growing mushrooms, Amanita Muscaria is a very difficult direction to choose.

Psilocybe Mushrooms Can Hypothetically Be Grown With Ease

Once more, growing magic mushrooms, or any mushroom that produces the controlled substances psilocybin and psilocin, is illegal in the United States and this is not intended to encourage or condone the cultivation of these mushrooms. However, its critical to understand that as a saprophytic, dung-loving mushroom, psilocybe grow pretty easily both in the wild and isolated in a lab setting. When you study your spores under a microscope, take this into consideration and understand what your research subject is capable of. In some countries where magic mushrooms are legal or unregulated, like Canada and Jamaica, psilocybe mushrooms are grown easily, indoors and outdoors.

Growing Amanita Muscaria is Not Economical

Even though the consumption of Amanita genera mushrooms’ main chemical called muscimol is rising, it’s not because of innovative Amanita muscaria agriculture or modern growing techniques that have been developed for growing these mushrooms. Thus, growing Amanitas is too difficult and economically unfeasible at this time. Furthermore, extracting and refining the desired active chemical muscimol from the mushrooms is another process that hasn’t been commercially developed due to the inherent cultivation difficulty as well as the fact that any available supplies of wild-crafted Amanita muscaria are seasonal and quite finite. For these reasons, many companies are now utilizing synthetically derived muscimol in the production of most of the Amanita Mushroom gummies, chocolates, and various other products on the market today. The reliable availability of synthetic muscimol must make many mycology professionals wonder if there will ever be a market for growing Amanitas at a large scale.

They Each Grow In Wildly Different Climates

Psilocybe mushrooms typically need high heat, humidity, and tropical conditions. Southern Mexico, for example, is a great climate for psilocybe mushrooms. Amanita Muscaria, on the other hand, can grow all over the world and survive harsh winters like those in Scandanavia or Siberia. That said, it is important to note that both species can grow just about anywhere in the world, as long as the proper environmental conditions exist. Just don’t go to a cow pasture looking for Amanita Muscaria, or a Siberian pine forest looking for dung-loving psilocybe! While it’s possible to find both in each, you won’t have much luck doing it like that.

Amanita & Psilocybe Are Different In The Eyes Of The Law

Even though both of these mushrooms have psychedelic effects, the legal scenarios for both are vastly different.

Amanita Muscaria Is Fully Legal

Amanita Muscaria, somehow, is not scheduled as an illegal substance. Some would speculate that its because the effects are not as powerful as psilocybin, but others would disagree with that sentiment. Nonetheless, Amanita muscaria is legal to forage, posses, and sell in 2024.

Psilocybe Mushrooms Are Still Federally Illegal

Though legislation is changing slowly, psilocybe mushrooms are still illegal at the federal level in the USA. You can not grow them, consume them, or possess them. In fact, doing so is a legitimate felony in most states. Growing and selling them on a large scale could earn you 20+ years in federal prison as a drug dealer, and is never worth the risk. However, Magic Mushroom Spores are LEGAL in 48 states for sale. They are not to be used to grow mushrooms however, but can legally be studied under a microscope or observed with a naked eye.

Don’t believe us? This DEA government article is a great resource for understanding psilocybin legislation.

Each Mushroom Has A Very Different Industry Behind It

What is the point of learning about these mushrooms, if we don’t understand how their differences manifest in the real world. Let’s take a look at how they differ in the marketplace

Amanita Muscaria Is Widely Available

You can go to a gas station or smoke shop in most states and find Amanita Muscaria gummies, chocolates, or capsules. Typically they are marketed as a “magic mushroom” with names like Magic Mind, or Spirit Mushroom, etc., although they do not contain the same chemical profile as the more commonly known “magic mushrooms”. Beware, however, as many of these products are not FDA tested or regulated and can contain dangerous chemicals as a result.

Amanita Muscaria’s place in the world seems to be the “legal alternative” to magic mushrooms, giving consumers the opportunity to alter their mind with mushrooms but it a very different way.

While Amanita products are available, you’ll very rarely find them in their whole form, you’ll rarely find their spores or spawn, and you’ll almost never see them at a farmers market or grocery store.

Psilocybe Genetics Are Widely Available, But Not The Mushrooms.

Finding psilocybe mushrooms is now possible in some legal havens like Colorado or Oregon, but is almost impossible to find otherwise in other places in the states. Unfortunately, this absence in the market often leads folks to sourcing magic mushrooms illegally. You should never take such a risk. Rather, check out our store locator and see ways to get mushroom spores or magic mushrooms legally near you.

Whereas the mushrooms themselves are not found in the commercial market due to their legally regulated status, magic mushroom genetics (spores) are easy to find and widely available. In fact, you can buy spores right now in just a few clicks!

Disclaimer: We offer Psilocybin mushroom spores intended for microscopy and taxonomy purposes only. Images & Text provided are for informational and educational reference only and originate from cultivators and labs outside of the USA. Buying magic mushroom spores is legal in the United States. However, cultivation of magic mushrooms, which includes all psilocybin and psilocin containing mushroom species, is illegal in many countries, including the United States. Please check your local regulations to ensure that you are following the law properly.