Blue Roundhead
Not a poisonous mushroom but can cause gastric upsets.
Mushroom Type | |
Common Names | Blue Roundhead (EN), Pengrwn Glas (CY), Pierścieniak Niebieskawy (PL), Zöldeskék Harmatgomba (HU) |
Scientific Name | Stropharia caerulea |
Season Start | Aug |
Season End | Dec |
Average Mushroom height (CM) | 9 |
Average Cap width (CM) | 8 |
Skirt
Has a long-lasting white ring, the top surface of which becomes coloured with the brown spores.
Possible Confusion
The only similar looking mushroom is the Verdigris Agaric (Stropharia aeruginosa), which is rarer and has white edged gills.
Spore Print
Purple/brown. Ellipsoid. The spores should be scrapped into a small pile to get an accurate spore colour.
Frequency
Fairly common.
Other Facts
This mushroom suspected to contains psilocybin and psilocin, powerful hallucinogens. There is a single study back from 1981 which reported these substances from the fruit body of S. caerulea, but it seems to be just a mistake, because none of the later analytical studies were able to find any of these even in traces.
This mushroom will also cause gastric upsets so is not a safe mushroom for consumption.
11 comments for Blue Roundhead
I have found these in my garden, should I report them?
For trespassing in their natural habitat?
Hahaha, you should pick them and make spore prints. Perhaps you could do something else with them if you so chose….
But thats a hilarious comment haha, call the authorities some mushrooms are growing hahahahahaha so funny 🤣
Please could you Send them my way please it would be much appreciate for mycology purposes of course x kind regards T
Hey can we make contact
Hi I found this mushroom on my allotment it is blue / green in colour and slimy is it a bad one
It could be a Blue Roundhead but we would need to see photos of the cap, stem and gills to be sure.
Cortinaius Rotunisporus are growing in Port Stephens on the East Coast. Report of blue wide tops after rain for over two week .
Hi Jackie,
Thank you for your comment. We are a UK-based company, and we don’t really have much information about Australian and New Zealand fungi. Cortinarius rotundisporus is native to Australia, but documented from New Zealand too, and it is mycorrhizal with Eucalyptus and Leptospermum species, so you can separate the two species by their habitat. When we mention potential lookalikes, they are mostly from the UK or from other parts of Europe (in case of polypores I might have more information about lookalikes from different continents, so I might add them in our online Mushroom Guide). Anyway, thank you for the info, it is indeed a beautiful blue mushroom.
Can you eat these to hallucinate
There are reports from the US that this mushroom contains psilocybin and psilocyn but reseach from Europe shows no detectable amounts of either. This mushroom can cause gastric upsets if eaten so we don’t recommend trying them.