Pickin' In Scotland

[Non Dua Natura]

Looks like there are a few threads on The Shroomery about picking in Scotland, to wit "There are loads of places to pick in Perth, believe me. I picked over 3000, yes three thousand in one field, took me around 4 hours or so. Here are places I have found them in Perth (although this was around 1998-2000): King James VI golf club, on the island, wonder round down to the south of the island and along some of the fairways; there's a wee football pitch somewhere in Viewlands Park (not too many there tho); there's a park not far from Atholl Street and Charlotte Street (North Inch), near the north end of the park near the trees was where I first picked mushies; but the best place is (if memory serves me correctly and looking at googlemaps) is a park just off Rannoch Road and off Jeanfield Road as well. It sits on a sort of slope so you will find hundreds there. "

 

[Infinite I]

Ive heard you can get cyanescens, in woodchips, ive never found but im sure can be had. Though your asking about id's of liberty's so id probably avoid looking for ones your not even aware of!! Fly agaric can be found also, theyre everywhere but they dont have psylocibin in them.

Ive had loads of liberty caps in Glasgow december 15th. If its still mild and wet then its peak season, generally ime it goes from early september to the end of november, but ive had them july to december before, depends on the weather but yes this is peak season, wish I could go get some and I would but im not in the country and had no luck where I am, first season in years with nothing Good luck though, last few years they seemed to be harder and harder to find, I would tell you places to go but then I think these things should find you so im not going to

 

[Non Dua Natura]

An unexpected opportunity to go out looking for 'libs' came up today so I grabbed it with both hands...and a box, a bag and a camera.

Would anyone mind giving me a quick ID on these from today, please? I know there's a few definite non-psilocybe semilanceata in the pic here, but I'm wondering if the larger ones with the characteristic nipple are valid?

I'm going out first thing tomorrow morning to another spot I've found and will hopefully find more, but I had a lot of fun today just wandering the fields.

Cheers folks!

 

[Wax]

Hard to say, I've only picked libs in the PNW and they vary in shape a lot. Most of the ones with the reddish stems look sort of like libs but I would definitely do a spore print on them, see if they have a chocolate brown/purple print and also check to see if they have a separable pellicle, you can do this by taking a FRESH mushroom and picking at the cap with fingernails or squishing it and you will be able to see a clear gelatinous film on the outside of the cap. Also check for any bluing at the base, there may not be any but hopefully you can find one that has definite blue so that it will be easier to match up the rest of them.

All the ones along the bottom look a little suspect. Here is a picture of the pellicle I found on mycotopia, apparently the stem will be very flexible as well so that you can almost wrap it around your finger, never tried that trick but thats what I just read

 

[Non Dua Natura]

Thanks mate, I've done some spore prints which I've left to sit till tomorrow but the advice you've given here is great. I know the ones at the bottom aren't libs and there's a few more in there too that I'm going to need to throw away, but I tried the thing with the stems and all the ones I thought were libs, and which I've tried to line up together in that pic, they all fit the criteria for being flexible.

No blueness on any of them yet though, however all of the ones I picked were soaking wet and I suspect that's contributing to this. The smaller ones definitely have the pellicle, it's mainly the larger ones and some of the less uniformly shaped ones that I was concerned about. Looking at as many pics as possible and studying up on their appearance in detail is one thing, but I'm playing it safe and making.

I've attached a pic of one of the wee ones in the field, but please correct me if I'm totally wrong in my identification!

Thanks again.

 

[Wax]

Great, yes I would call those in the above picture libs Although the ones I find have a much more pronounced nipple on top but they do vary a LOT.

I'm not too familiar with Scottish mushrooms, but the larger ones you mentioned you were unsure about look similar to Panaelous Cintulus which I have found growing alongside semi's, they also have a reddish stem but the gills will be dark grey and be mottled or speckled with dark areas, they will give a jet black print. P. Cinctulus is also active although pretty weak.

 

[Non Dua Natura]

I think you're correct about them being Panaelous, the prints I took were jet black so I've thrown a good few of them out. I'll see how it goes tomorrow, it's a learning process anyway.

Edited to add: Bugger! On reading more about the active Panaelous strains, I should probably just have thrown them in the brew and made use of what was there! :lol: Oh well, lessons learned...

 

[Non Dua Natura]

Still looking, not 100% on what I've found so far so here's some spore prints if anyone can help ID these two I found today.

 

[Wax]

On first glance those appear to be some sort of mycena.

Your best bet for Semilanceata is going to be in medium length grass in a really wet area. Preferably in a sheep or cow field but it doesn't have to be. I found that they seem to like running along the slope of small hills in this habitat. When I see them there is no doubt what they are, they have a slight greenish tinge to them on occasion, especially after the rain. The nipple on top is usually pretty pointy and that is a dead give away. If you find a few I can almost guarantee you will be able to find a little bit of bluing on the base or cap of one of them.

Good luck keep at it!

 

[Non Dua Natura]

I've been reading up on mycena and comparing photos, spores and notes I took so I think you're right in your identification. I've gone through everything I've collected in the last few days and have thrown quite a lot out, but on the upside I've got around 6g of proper dried libs sitting in a jar for tomorrow night! The ones I'm certain of have all the proper identifiers, from spore prints to acute umbo, and I've kept two or three of the P. Cinctulus which were identified as such via spore print and gills.

I'm going to continue looking until it becomes unfeasible to do so, for example when the frosts come in, so I wanted to thank you for taking the time to contribute as much as you have. I'm much more confident now in identifying and picking libs thanks to your advice and I appreciate your help.

Cheers!