Dung

Dung is a great supporter of mushrooms. Since dung deposits are usually in grasslands, grass-loving Psilocybes can appear in the same niche, especially as the dung disintegrates. Since dung deposits are short-lived habitats, the mushrooms that flourish do so in a matter of days. Co-occurrence of the Psilocybe mexicana, a grassland species, with Psilocybe cubensis, a dung dwelling species, is one example. The most prominent species to exploit the dung niche are P.cubensis, Psilocybe coprophila, Panaeolus cyanescens (= Copelandia cyanescens), and Panaeolus subbalteatus. A petite species, Psilocbye angustispora, favours marmot and elk dung in the Cascade mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Throughout the world, the noble dung heap provides a dependable and easy-to-find habitat for many Psilocybin mushrooms as well as their close relatives.

With the domestication of cattle, the dung-dwelling Psilocybes were brought within a defined geographical sphere of daily human experience. Pasture species such as Psilocybe semilanceata, the liberty cap, proliferated. Some researchers have suggested that Psilocybe cubensis was imported into the Western Hemisphere with the Spanish missionaries and slave traders via the Brahman cattle they brought with them from islands off West Africa. P.cubensis soon became the most prominent dung mushroom throughout the tropics. Today, several hundred years later, P.cubensis can be collected from dung of Brahman cattle in subtropical pastures circumnavigating the globe.