12 replies to this topic

[FLcubiefan]

I've been looking everywhere for info on gyms but can't seem to find much. My questions are chemical content, growth temperatures, substrates, and also are there any real differences between the different gyms?
Should I even try bothering with this in FL? They're just so big nd pretty and orange. :D

[the_chosen_one]

If you find something let me know! Considering the sporeworks var for a future project.

Thanks FL

[BuckarooBanzai]

Gym's are pretty weak (maybe 1/8-1/10 as potent as a cubie), and dear GOD, they taste horrible! A really bitter taste that makes the inside of my mouth curl up like a cartoon character who just ate alum.

Considering the volume you would have to eat/grow and that flavor...I'd go cubie if I were you.

I can't tell you about the other Gyms. I've only had experience with Spectabilis.

[max]

The japanese ones are stronger...

[BuckarooBanzai]

Is the flavor any better (in the Japanese variety)? Is it still a Spectabilis, or does it have a different name?

[xxanxx]

They are beautiful little guys though...

[slp]

There has been some study of what is in this mushroom. And, confusion on the proper identity of the mushrooms tested. There seems to be some very close relatives. I stand firm that any Gymnopilus that "blues" when it is bruised, contains Psilocybin. I have some early notes made on it by an old friend Jeremy Bigwood in the book "TEONANACATL", Hallucinogenic Mushrooms of North America:
Page 88 "CHEMISTRY: Chemical studies on this species have thus bar been inconclusive. It has been suggested that styrylpyrone compounds are responsible for the psychoactive effects (Ola'h, G.M. Le Genre Panaeolus. Revue de Mycologie Series 10, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 1970). These compounds are derivatives of yangonin, a psychoactive principle of kava-kava (Piper methysticum). More likely, this species produces Psilocybin or a related compound. Psilocybin has been isolated from G validipes, a species implicated in two hallucinogenic poisonings in Michigan. Psilocybin has also been found in G. aeruginosus, but not in 15 other Gymnopilus species, including 8 collections of spectabilis. However, unidentified indoles have been detected in G. spectabilis."

Here is what I published in #27 "THE MUSHROOM CULTURE", The Journal of Mushroom Cultivation, January 1995 Issue:
"Gymnopilus Spectabilis, It's Neurotoxic Oligoisoprenoids"
New gymnopilins (with m-3, n-5, and 6) were isolated from Gymnopilus spectabilis with m-2 and 3 and the activity of the compounds with m-2 increased in the following order: n-6-n-5. Gymnopilus spectabilis (Fr.) Singer, widely known as a hallucinogenic mushroom, is called "Ohwaraitake" (big laughter mushroom) in Japan. The odd behavior of people who are intoxicated as a result of the ingestion of this mushroom is recorded in the literature ("Konjaku Monogatari") of the 12th century. Though some American mushrooms have been reported to contain Psilocybin, this has not yet been isolated from any Japanese fungi. The symptoms of the intoxication suggest inclusion of the active substance into the central nervous system, and support for this has been provided by the demonstration of the depolarizing activity, i.e. neurotoxicity, of an extract of G. spectabilis. Isolation of the toxic principles as therefore attempted. In this report, we show that some gymnopilins (G)-5,6,previously isolated as bitter principles of this mushroom, exhibit depolarizing activity. The isolation and purification of each gymnopliln and structural elucidation of a new gymnopilin (m-3) are also presented. Taken from "Phytochemistry, Vol. 34, No. 34, pp. 661-114, 1993, Printed in Great Britain."........slp/fmrc

[dead_diver]

I have never seen Gymnopilus in my area of FL. There are some cool blue staining Boletes but theyre not good to eat. Lots of Cubes and Copes though!

[the_chosen_one]

I'm interested in these because they are local for me but seem to be a bit difficult to identify. Orange spores make me nervous. We have far to many orange spored species that are quite deadly.

Thanks for the info fmrc and company!

[BuckarooBanzai]

Great post, FMRC! I have always suspected there were quite a few things going on with Gym's besides psilocybin. You'll notce that even though they give me "alum face," I've still eaten them enough times to describe it! I don't hunt them on purpose...but I don't ignore them if the come into my field of view, either!

For home cutivation, though, I'd stick with the "standard" cubensis because of the "weakness" of Gym's issue. If you've only got space to grow so much, it needs to be of maxium potency.

If you can get enough down to get past that taste, though...well, like I said, "I've always suspected there were quite a few things going on with Gym's besides psilocybin."

Of course, I also eat Amanitas and Daturas...

[max]

Ya, the specie is the same name in Japan. Also, most blue-staining boletes are edible and I'n not sure of any orange spores poisonous mushrooms which could be confused with a gym. There are several other north american gyms that contain psilocybin including G. aeruginosus which is found in the PNW. I'll be looking for that one soon!

[FLcubiefan]

WOW... I hit the refresh on my browser and had all kinds of replies. Thanks for the info on our pretty orange friends. Evidently I won't be eating any (bitter = yucko!), but I still may have to give this species a try just for the colour.
I found at another source a list of gyms found in Florida Gymnopilus liquiritae, G. luteofolius, & G. sapineus; I also found more information that described the bruising on most Gyms as blue-green. The chemical content has been disputed, but according to a field guide the specimens from the western US and Europe are less active than the Japanese and East coast US specimens.
Somewhere I also found a "dead stump tek" that someone had used for G. spectabilis.. just not sure where yet, & still looking for it.