Which Magic Mushroom Species Are The Strongest?

In many cases it doesn’t actually matter, but it’s fun to hand out the imaginary gold, silver and bronze medals.

The Power of the Shroom

Magic mushrooms, like superheroes, also have powers. And, there’s many different types.

What’s that you say? 

Who would win in a fight between a Liberty Cap and a Blue Meanie? 

Can a Gold Cap vanquish a Wavy Cap? 

Umm well, mushrooms are actually peaceful, environment loving, creatures. They’d never fight. They’d rather have lil’ chats via electrical impulses in their mycelium. But, it’s true, some are more powerful in terms of psychedelic potency than others. 

The psychedelic potency of magic mushrooms depends on the amount of psilocybin, psilocin, and baeocystin they contain. These are the active psychedelic compounds that make you trip! The amount of each per mushroom type varies, and this can affect everything from the intensity of the trip, to how visual, to how meditative it is. 

Psilocybin

Psilocybin is what comes before psilocin. It is also called a ‘prodrug’. Dried mushrooms tend to have the highest concentration of psilocybin. While psilocybin is responsible for catalyzing (causing or accelerating) the psychedelic high, it must first be metabolized by the body, turning it into psilocin. This is what causes the psychedelic experience. This process can be carried out before consumption as well.  

Psilocin 

Psilocin is most abundant in fresh magic mushrooms, or in any form of shroom (dried, fresh, truffle) once its been Lemon Tek-ed. This is when shrooms are soaked in lemon juice, mimicking the metabolic process of the body. Psilocin is the compound that directly causes a psychedelic trip. 

Baeocystin

Baeocystin is less known than psilocybin and psilocin, and has not been studied as much. It is a derivative of psilcoybin, but the specific effect it has or role it plays in the psychedelic experience is unknown. In some studies its effects have been found comparable to psilocybin. In others, no effect has been identified.

Which Magic Mushroom Species are the Strongest?

So, these are the components that make a mushroom trippy. The more of them a little shroom has, the more potent it will be. And, don’t let appearances fool you, sometimes the smallest, plainest looking shrooms can be potent-as-heck. So, we’ve rounded up the top 5 strongest magic mushrooms, the real high-achieving high achievers. Let’s go!

PSILOCYBE AZURESCENS (Flying Saucers)

The Psilocybe azurescens takes the gold medal for world’s strongest magic mushroom. That is, that we know of. Nicknamed ‘flying saucer’ for its classic UFO shape, it will truly blast you into space. Known for its powerful visuals and profound spiritual insights, it is also known to occasionally cause paralysis, which though temporary, is certainly not pleasant even if you’re expecting it.  It is mainly found in the deciduous woodlands of the Pacific North West, and can be cultivated outside, however inside cultivation is less possible due to their scarcity and relative difficulty to grow.

Dried Psilocybe azurescens mushrooms contain up to 1.8% psilocybin, 0.5% psilocin, and 0.4% baeocystin. This may not sound like much, but these are the percentages of the World Champion Shroom. 

PANAEOLUS CYANESCENS (Blue Meanies)

Panaeolus cyanescens are a super potent shroom. Known by a baffling amount of names including Copelandia Hawaiian, Pan Cyans, and of course Blue Meanies. This nickname derives from The Beatles movie Yellow Submarine where the Blue Meanies are the very psychedelic antagonists.  (To further confuse you — there is a Psilocybe mushroom nicknamed Blue Meanies too!) Panaeolus cyanescens love, love, love horse dung and are thought to have traveled the world via horses transported from Asia, where it originates. They adapted especially well in Hawaii (who wouldn’t?!) leading to one of their other nicknames Copelandia Hawaiin. Research suggests these little shrooms can contain as much as 2.95% psilocin and psilocybin combined, making them small but mighty. 

 PSILOCYBE SEMILANCEATA (Liberty Caps)

Psilocybe semilanceata, commonly known by the name ‘liberty caps’, are the quintessential wild-growing mushroom. With their little brown bell-shape, they are known across Northern Europe as an ancient druidic-fairy-witchy delight. Their magic is wickedly potent with liberty caps actually chalking up the achievement of having the highest levels of psilocybin ever found in a specimen. However, on average they contain about 1% psilocybin so they cannot take the overall crown. Their range is vast though — from 0.2 to 2.37% psilocybin. Tricksy!

PSILOCYBE CYANESCENS (Wavy Caps)

Psilocybe cyanescens do you the favor of looking trippy as well as being trippy. Their caps are just so wavy! These potent mushrooms are becoming more, and more, prevalent as the mulch they love to grow in is shipped all over the world to suppress weed growth. Before this, they originated in Central Europe and the Pacific Northwest, hugging dead trees and woody debris. Unusually, these mushrooms are actually more potent when fresh rather than dried, fostering between 0.3 to 1.68% psilocybin and 0.28 to 0.51% psilocin. 

PSILOCYBE CUBENSIS (Gold Caps)

Psilocybe cubensis or ‘gold caps’ are the darling of the magic mushroom world. Beloved by psychedelic icons like Terence Mckenna, their easy-to-cultivate nature caused the accessibility to psilocybin, and thus the psychedelic experience, to grow exponentially. Psilocybe cubensis are versatile, boasting many strains with varying potencies bred into them. They are the shroom that has been the most studied, and sold in magic mushroom grow-kits like ours. Because of this their potency is much easier to guarantee making them a reliable bet for a trippy experience. Gold Caps can contain between 0.14 and 0.42% psilocin and 0.37 to 1.30% psilocybin.

Use The Power Carefully

So there you have it — the magic mushroom heavyweight champions of the world. Although their powers are impressive, it’s good to remember that unless you are an experienced tripper, it’s best to err on the cautious side when taking magic mushrooms. You can always increase your dosage next time! Knowledge and experience means that you will know how to properly wield the powers of these psychedelic gifts. 

If you need some advice on getting started, check out our First Time Tripper’s Guide and our Dosage Guide.