Apr. 1, 1925 
Psilocybe as a Fermenting Agent in Organic Debris 
627 
species by him, but had been relabeled 
Psilocybe atomatoides Peck by Murrill. 
That name may, therefore, be tenta¬ 
tively attached to the material here 
discussed. Since the conditions of 
growth make great differences in such a 
form as this, the following description 
from the material as collected and 
as grown in pure culture by the writers 
is appended: 
PSILOCYBE ATOMATOIDES PECK (PROVI¬ 
SIONAL identification) 
Upon piles of bagasse and in culture, solitary to 
densely caespitose, especially in rich culture media. 
Pileus from very small to 3 cm. or even 5 cm. in 
diameter, convex, slightly umbonate, to sub- 
campanulate at first, becoming nearly plane or 
slightly depressed in center in age, in watery media 
less than 10 mm. in diameter and persistently 
campanulate, almost Psathyrella-like; when wet 
hygrophanous, fawn color to avellaneous, becoming 
lighter shades in drier areas and in age, with surface 
smooth in center, becoming striately rugose at 
margin, and becoming concentrically rugose on 
drying; flesh thin white, not over 1 mm. thick. 
Gills broad, rounded behind, adnexed to decurrent 
by a tooth and with decurrent lines visible as far as 
1 cm. in larger specimens, with margin white, with¬ 
out cystidia, becoming purple brown with the 
ripening of the spores. Stipe varying in length 
and diameter with the size of the fruit, up to 3 to 
4 mm. in diameter, in the largest forms hollow or 
stuffed, in smaller forms solid or nearly so, from 
very short up to 5 to 6 cm. long in drier substrata, 
fibrillose scaly at base and up to the indistinct and 
often evanescent ring formed by remains of the 
universal veil, almost smooth above the ring, in 
wetter substrata the whole stipe indistinctly and 
evanescently fibrillose, often almost smooth. 
Spores 9 to 12 by 5.5 to 8 n, commonly about 10 by 
7 ^ purple brown (purple visible under microscope), 
unevenly elliptical or somewhat rhomboidal, 
apiculate at one end, with a pore or thin place in 
the wall at the other. Microspores borne upon 
branches from the mycelium which become coiled 
masses of oidia, 15 to 30 by about 25 n. 
As observed in Louisiana, thousands 
of tons of bagasse piled at widely sepa¬ 
rated mills were involved in this fer¬ 
mentation. During the first few weeks 
in these piles the mycelium of Psilo¬ 
cybe penetrates enormous masses of 
fibrous material and gives the yellow 
color to all areas attacked. The pre¬ 
liminary heating is clearly high enough 
to destroy infection in the center of the 
mass, even if initially present. The 
invasion by mycelium must, therefore, 
begin at the surface and progress in¬ 
ward. An organism abundant enough 
to insure such generalized presence over 
a large region and active enough to 
produce the wholesale results observed 
must be considered as one of the great¬ 
est agents of fermentation ever dis¬ 
covered. Further, this discovery di¬ 
rects attention to the possibilities of 
the mycelium of the agariceae as fer¬ 
menting agents. In this particular 
case there was great rapidity in its 
spread to involve large masses of ma¬ 
terial. The mycelium could be fol¬ 
lowed through masses 2 feet or more in 
thickness and often it apparently con¬ 
tinued downward through successive 
bales. The whole fermentation devel¬ 
oped very rapidly. These activities 
were largely conducted in the denser 
areas of masses in which the growth of 
the common types of mold were re¬ 
duced or excluded, apparently by lack 
of oxygen. 
All of these observations harmonize 
with the known facts in the growth of 
wood-destroying types and the physi¬ 
cal conditions which seem to surround 
the vegetative activity of the mush¬ 
rooms in general. The significance of 
the series of observations lies in the 
clear demonstration of the enormous 
possibilities of vegetative activity by 
species of Psilocybe or of such better 
known groups as Hypholoma, Agaricus, 
Coprinus, or Cortinarius. 
It is well known that agarics are 
widely present in the soil, as proved by 
fruiting caps regularly or occasionally 
found. One of the authors has collected 
Agaricus rodmani from the same spot 
along the sidewalk in Washington each 
spring and fall for nearly ten years, 
under circumstances indicating depen¬ 
dence for ability to fruit upon a par¬ 
ticular balance of temperature and 
moisture. Entoloma grayanum Peck 
(determined by Peck) was collected 
from one spot in Connecticut each 
year for nine years. In the same way, 
numerous clusters of many species have 
been followed over periods of several 
years each. Everyone has observed 
the continuance of fairy-ring mush¬ 
rooms in particular areas. All of these 
observations remind us of the existence 
of mycelia ramifying widely through 
the soil. Such mycelia are assumed to 
continue their vegetative activity over 
long periods and to penetrate into the 
deeper layers of the soil. The absence 
of the mushroom type of fruit is not 
evidence that the organisms are not 
present. In this case microspore pro¬ 
duction was abundant under condi¬ 
tions preventing mushroom formation. 
Various species of Psilocybe are de¬ 
scribed, as from lawns, from clumps of 
mosses, and very generally from ma¬ 
nure piles or richly fertilized ground. 
Psilocybe atomatoides, as represented in 
the herbarium of the New York Botani¬ 
cal Garden, has been found abundantly 
in connection with manure piles; hence 
it may be expected anywhere in richly 
fertilized soil. If the identification 
tentatively made here is correct, this 
species is capable of tremendous acti¬ 
vity as a disintegrating agent acting 
upon vegetable remains in the soil. 
