What do magic mushrooms look like in Canada?

by Jill Ross Marketer

Magic mushrooms continue to gain fame on their amazing effects on treating depression. Canada is one of the few countries that recognize and legalize using psychedelic mushrooms to treat depression. People who have struggled with mental health have found the mushrooms helpful in their healing.

If you would wish to try them, you must be curious how to identify them. There are many kinds of mushrooms growing all over the world. Some are even known to be poisonous. Luckily, there is a guide to help you understand magic mushrooms in Canada.

Hundreds of kinds of mushrooms grow in the Canadian wild and can cause hallucinogenic effects. But you must learn how to identify mushrooms with psilocybin.

What are psilocybin mushrooms?

Psilocybin mushrooms are the most popular mushrooms with the psychoactive effect. There were popular in ancient communities and cultures in Central and South America, and they use them for religious and spiritual ceremonies.

Research has shown that people who consume psilocybin mushrooms have lasting personality change effects. If you want to try them out, study the mushrooms well before you ingest them.

How to safely identify mushrooms

Differentiating mushrooms is the key to enjoying them unless you want to end up in the ER. Knowing the specific characteristics of magic mushrooms is very crucial before you try them. Once you can identify them, you will enjoy a spiritual experience like no other.

There are several types of psilocybin mushrooms. They have distinct kinds of caps, shapes, and sizes. People with food allergies and kidney problems should never eat wild mushrooms simply by comparing photos as they might be at a higher risk of getting complications.

Chanterelles

Chanterelles are some of the most popular mushroom species sold commercially in Canada. There is a yellow or orange-yellow species from North America. The small to medium-sized mushrooms grow under deciduous or coniferous trees. Additionally, the chanterelles have flat-topped caps that are about 5-8 cm or more.

They have a funnel-shaped stem with gill-like ridges. Their inedible look-alikes have well-formed gills.

Morels

They scientifically belong to the Morchella genus family. Morels are common in springtime, growing under deciduous and coniferous trees. Additionally, morels are common in areas that have experienced wildfires. There are two types of morels, back, and yellow morels.

The morels are upright and ridged caps. The caps and the stem are hollow, and they are cone-shaped. Morels do not have pores or gills, but rather, they have spores on the surface of the caps. They should never be eaten raw.

While picking morels, watch out for false morels, which are highly poisonous. False morels are not conical, and their cap and stem do not have a continuous hollow chamber.

Field mushroom

They are widely related to the cultivated button mushroom. They have a rounded top that flattens upon maturity. The mushroom is similar to the button mushroom in taste and texture.

The gills are bright pink in young mushrooms, and they turn brown in maturity. Also, the mushrooms grow in groups or alone in grass fields or meadows. The upper stem has a thin ring of circles. They are often white and bruising to reddish-brown, while their inedible counterparts are yellow.

The Shaggy Mane

They belong to the genus family of “inky caps,” which, upon maturation, the caps and the spore containing gills turn into an inky liquid. They often grow after a heavy rain period, and they are edible before maturity.

Shaggy manes grow in large numbers on heavily packed soil. Also, the young mushrooms are white and cylindrical. They can grow up to 10cm with scaly caps hanging over tapering stems.

Edible Boletes

Boletes are mushrooms with sponge-like pores instead of gills. They grow in forests, woodlands, and road edges. They are edible, and the most common are porcini mushrooms which have chestnut-brown caps and fat stalks. Additionally, their pores are yellow, their blackish-brown caps, and the stems are red-streaked.

Zellers boletes are available in late summer, and only a few boletes with red and orange pores are poisonous.

Pine mushrooms

Wild pine mushrooms are common in most parts of Canada. The T. Magnivellare is mainly common in Eastern Canada, and T. Murrillianum is popular on the west coast. Naturally, they grow in the late summer to fall under coniferous trees.

Pine mushrooms have whitish to tan caps, and they are first round with curves that will go flat upon maturity. The caps are 5-10 cm in size or even more. Additionally, they spot a membranous veil with whitish gills. Notably, the stems have noticeable rings which are long, tapering, and thick.

Take away

The guide above can help you find the right magic mushrooms in Canada. Be sure to carefully study the mushrooms before you take them home with you. With such a complete guide, you can enjoy the wonders of the magic mushrooms in Canada.