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| Psilocybe maluti B. van der Merwe, A. Rockefeller & K. Jacobs, in van der Merwe, Rockefeller, Kilian, Clark, Sethathi, Moult et Jacobs, 2024. Photos by C. Clark. |
ABSTRACT
Two new Psilocybe species (Hymenogastraceae), P. ingeli and P. maluti, are described from southern Africa. Morphology and phylogeny were used to separate the two novel fungi from their closest relatives in the genus. Psilocybe ingeli was found fruiting on bovine manure–enriched grasslands in the Kwa-Zulu Natal Province of South Africa and differs from its closest relative P. keralensis and others in the internal transcribed spacer ITS1-5.8S-ITS2, partial 28S nuc rDNA, and translation elongation factor 1-alpha regions, distribution, and having larger basidiospores. Similarly, P. maluti was collected from the Free State Province of South Africa and observed in the Kingdom of Lesotho, growing on bovine manure. A secotioid pileus, geographic distribution, and differences in the same DNA regions distinguish P. maluti from its closest relative P. chuxiongensis. Furthermore, the spore dispersal and traditional, spiritualistic use of P. maluti are discussed here.
KEYWORDS: Psilocybe, South Africa, taxonomy, traditional use, new taxa
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| Psilocybe ingeli, Kwa-Zulu Natal Province, South Africa, 28 February 2023. (A) Stipe white with mycelium. (B) Striations running up the hemispheric pileus. (C) Pale lamellae margin. Photos by T. Moult. |
Psilocybe ingeli B. van der Merwe, A. Rockefeller & K Jacobs, sp. nov.
Etymology: Psilocybe ingeli is named after the Ingeli mountain range, where the type specimen was found.
Psilocybe maluti B. van der Merwe, A. Rockefeller & K. Jacobs, sp. nov.
Etymology: Psilocybe maluti is named after the Maluti Mountains that share the same range as this novel Psilocybe, stretching from the Free State and Kwa-Zulu Natal provinces of South Africa to throughout the Kingdom of Lesotho.
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| Psilocybe maluti, Kingdom of Lesotho, 31 December 2021. (A) Fimicolous habitat. (A–E) Secotioid pileus. (B) Details of the stipe and veil. Photos by C. Clark. |
B. van der Merwe, A. Rockefeller, A. Kilian, C. Clark, M. Sethathi, T. Moult and K. Jacobs. 2024. A Description of Two novel Psilocybe species from southern Africa and some notes on African traditional hallucinogenic mushroom use. Mycologia. DOI: 10.1080/00275514.2024.2363137
