Yellow-gilled Gymnopilus

These mushrooms are pretty dangerous. I heard eating them gives you an amazing feeling. And eventually it will kill you. I am growing them because some humans pay good money for them. I guess they aren't as dangerous for them.

— A dryad

A psilocybin mushroom which is mostly present on the east and west coast of North America. It has a very bitter taste and no toxity. The mushroom is highly addictive to dryads. A few farmers cultivate these mushrooms in small quantities, but most just gather them from their natural habitats.

Yellow-gilled Gymnopilus by Darvin DeShazer

Cultural Significance

The yellow gilled gymnopilus is one of the most infamous mushrooms in the Northeastern American dryad communities. It has killed many young dryads over the years. Some humans distribute them to combat dryad communities without attacking them directly.
Today growing or collecting this mushroom is illegal in New York and in many other places. Despite this, some dryads and humans have grown them in small quantities to sell to humans as they are exploring the effects of psilocybin. The Dryad Wilderness Federation of the Adirondack Mountains actively fight to wipe out this mushroom, but spores are easy to hide and regrow.

Alchemical Use

Alchemists use this mushroom as an ingredient for potions with effects on mental health both in a healing and harmful way. The creation of these potions is highly controversial. The North American Society of Alchemists advises against their use in general, but supports some research into potential beneficial uses.
Only a handful of people know how to create a highly concentrated psilocybin pastes, oils and elixirs in a highly complex alchemist process.

Phylum

Basidomycota

Class

Agaricomycetes

Order

Agaricales

Family

Hymenogastraceae

Genus

Gymnopilus

Species

luteofolius

Cap

2 to 12cm in diameter; convex becoming flattened with age. Incurved margin becoming decurved with age. Flesh thinner at the margin. Small fibrillose scale covering; variable colors: purple-red fading to yellow or pink in places. May develop green (sometimes blue) spots Gymnopilus luteofolius Spores.

Gills

Notched to adnate. Pale yellow turning darker with maturity; eventually, rusty brown as spores develop. Young gills covered by thin and partial veil.

Stem

3 to 10cm tall; 5mm thick. Usually equal but maybe larger at same. Flimsy ring. Same color as cap.

Smell

Mild and not distinctive.

Taste

Very bitter.

Spores

Warted spores; elliptical

Spore color

Rusty brown to orangey brown.

Edibility

Reports are that it is hallucinogenic if eaten.

Habitat

Saprotrophic. Grows on woodchips, hardwoods and conifers; can be found in dense clusters. Summer to Winter, depending on location. Distributed widely in North America. Found in Eastern and Western areas also.