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Magic mushrooms found in Africa are a species new to science

by News7

Life

A fungus named Psilocybe ochraceocentrata is the closest relative of a widely cultivated psychedelic mushroom, giving clues to their evolutionary origins

By James Woodford

Psilocybe ochraceocentrata mushrooms, a new species found in Zimbabwe and South Africa

Cathy Sharp

Psychedelic mushrooms growing in southern Africa have been identified as a new species that is the closest relative of Psilocybe cubensis, the most well-known magic mushroom species. The discovery brings scientists a step closer to understanding the evolutionary origins of these psychoactive fungi.

Alex Bradshaw at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, and his colleagues have named the newly described species Psilocybe ochraceocentrata, because of the ochre colour in the centre of the cap. It was collected from multiple sites across Zimbabwe and South Africa between 2013…

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