ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: Nouvelles Investigations sur Les Champignons Hallucinogènes, pp. 186-188, 1967. Psilocybe kumænorum was first collected and described by the French mycologist Roger Heim (Heim 1967; Heim 1978) from the southern Wahgi Valley, Western Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea. Roger Heim accompanied R. Gordon Wasson on a three-week visit to the Wahgi Valley in 1963 to investigate reports made by anthropologist Marie Reay (Reay 1959; Reay 1960), that the Kuma people used apparently hallucinogenic fungi (Heim 1963; Heim 1965; Heim & Wasson 1964; Heim & Wasson 1965).

TAXONOMY: FAMILY: Strophariaceæ; Order: Agaricales; Class: Basidiomycetes.

COMMON NAMES: P. kumænorum is known as koull tourroum, kougltourroum or koobl tourroum in Yuwi [Heim 1967] (Yoowi [REAY 1959]), the language of the Kuma (Heim 1967: 186; Heim 1978). However, Heim (1967: 186) suggested that the Kuma used these names for a variety of different mushrooms, so they are possibly of little use in distinguishing P. kumænorum from other mushroom species found at Kondambi.

CHOROLOGY: Kondambi village, Wahgi Valley, Western Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea. Guzmán and Watling (1978) suggested it were possible that P. kumænorum may occur also in Australia (Allen et al. 1991: 65).

HABITAT: Grassy, humid places around the village of Kondambi, circa late August, 1963 (Heim 1967: 186). P. kumænorum grows on soil in small groups and in open places among grass (Allen et al. 1991: 65).

DESCRIPTION: PILEUS 5-7 mm in diameter, peak mamillate and punctate, but not papillate, flattened and very irregular, with an edge largely lobed/notched, often fairly roughly, rolling up tightly at the beginning; at first campanulate and entirely black-brown, then darkish crimson/purple around the circumference (K. 65) with a centre of flesh-coloured cream (128C/153C) or orange colour; sometimes with subtle greenish tones; orange-yellow, cream or light ochre (K. 157'162) or greenish (+ K.245) at the peak of the mamilla; at the edges marked with not very thick but clear stripes of a very dark violet (K.544 dark); very hygrophanous, blanching quickly (cream), as demonstrated by the dessication of little whitish spots.
STIPE reaching 2.7 cm , 1.3 mm width, 2.5 mm at the base which is lightly but clearly bulging; at first white and marked with fine, very straight longitudinal furrows, of greyish brown, silvery at the top where there are fine remnants of a delicate, silky, white cortina; at the bottom: hollow, with a violet-red cortex, light green on the exterior (K.303 C) or grey tending slightly towards blue (K.325); flesh orange yellow (K.137).
LAMELLAE firstly cream, then ochre, then mauve/mallow or pale orange-mauve (K.109 light), finally violet with purple tint (+ K.105), at the edges white and remaining so; adnexed.
FLESH - brownish, with the scent of flour (Heim 1967: 186). P. kumænorum lacks pleurocystidia (Guzmán 1983; Guzmán et al. 1991: 508).

CULTIVATION: P. kumænorum has been grown from spores, under artificial conditions on malted agar-agar medium to produce a flaky, cotton-like, pure white mycelial culture very slowly developing and forming sticky flakes which can be distinguished as very straight, almost filiform and with uncoloured filaments of size about 0.6 - 0.7 m (Heim 1967: 188).

ETHNOBOTANICAL DATA: The use of P. kumænorum for entheogenic effects has not been reported among the Kuma of Kondambi village (Heim 1967). Neither is it known whether the Kuma were aware of the possible entheogenic activity of P. kumænorum. Poole (1987) has suggested that P. kumænorum may have been used ritually with other species of mushrooms among the Bimin-Kuskusmin of West Sepik Province (vide Rudgley 1993: 103).

DOSE: The threshold dose for P. kumaenorum is presently unknown (Allen et al. 1991: 44).

CHEMISTRY AND ACTIVITY: Heim (1967: 187) suggested P. kumænorum probably contained psilocybine, based on morphological and microscopic similarities with the known entheogenic species, P. caerulescens; noting that the flesh of P. kumænorum tends to turn green or blue like some other Psiliocybe species which are known to contain psilocybine. P. kumænorum has been included by Ott (1993: 311; vide Ott 1996) in a list of psilocybine-containing mushroom species.

KNOWN EFFECTS OF P. kumaenorum: P. kumænorum was considered by Heim (1967: 187) to be a "hallucinogenic" species of Psilocybe and similar to the Mexican species Psilocybe wassonii Heim (Heim 1957a; Heim 1957b; Heim 1958) which was originally named Psilocybe muliercula Singer et Smith (Singer & Smith 1958: 141-142, vide Ott 1993: 302-303, n. 8; Ott 1996). This species has also been compared by Ott (1993: 315, n. 11) to the known psilocybine-containing species P. zapotecorum Heim (Heim & Hofmann 1958; Heim & Hofmann 1958 [1959]), also known as P. candidipes Singer et Smith (Ott & Guzmán 1976). Ott (1993: 315, n. 11) also reports that P. kumænorum and the related species P. novæzealandiae have been used as a ludibund entheogen in New Zealand and possibly also in Australia (vide Allen et al. 1991). However, Guzmán et al. have classified P. novæzealandiae as non-bluing and placed it in the section Pratenæ Guzmán (1991: 508; vide Guzmán & Horak 1978), which makes it an unlikely psilocybian mushroom as this section is not known to include any other psilocybine-containing species (Ott 1993: 315 n.11).

References.

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GUZMÁN, G. 1983. The genus Psilocybe. A systematic revision of the known species including the history, distribution and chemistry of the hallucinogenic species. Beihefte zur Nova Hedwigia Heft 74. J. Cramer, Vaduz, Germany.

GUZMÁN, G. and E. HORAK. 1978. "New species of Psilocybe from Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia and New Zealand" Sydowia 31: 44-54.

GUZMÁN, G. and R. WATLING. 1978. "Studies in Australian agarics and boletes. 1. Some species of Psilocybe" Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden (Edinburgh, Scotland) 36: 179-210.

GUZMÁN, G., BANDALA, V. M. and C. KING. 1991. "A new species of Psilocybe of section Zapotecorum from New Zealand" Mycological Research 95(4): 507-508.

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__________ 1958. "Diagnose latine du Psilocybe Wassonii Heim, espèce hallucinogène des Aztèques" Revue de Mycologie 23(1): 119-120.

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__________ 1978. Les Champignons Toxiques et Hallucinogènes. Société Nouvelle des Éditions Boubée, Paris, France.

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