Psilocybe ochraceocentrata Isolated Spore Syringe – 10cc
$20.00
Psilocybe ochraceocentrata is a South African species formerly circulated throughout the mushroom community as Psilocybe natalensis or “Natalensis.” Genetic and taxonomic research has since shown that the commonly circulated Natalensis material represents a separate species: P. ochraceocentrata, a close wild relative of Psilocybe cubensis.
Product Description
For years, this South African mushroom circulated throughout spore collections as Psilocybe natalensis, P. aff. natalensis, or simply “Nats.” Newer genetic research revealed something much more interesting: the mushroom most researchers and collectors had been calling Natalensis was actually a different species.
Its correct name is Psilocybe ochraceocentrata.
Native to southern Africa, P. ochraceocentrata is a distinct species rather than a variety of P. cubensis. Recent phylogenetic research places it remarkably close to P. cubensis, with the two estimated to have shared a common ancestor roughly 1.5 million years ago.
The species produces slender pale stems, tan-to-golden caps often displaying a darker ochre center, blue bruising, and conventionally pigmented dark purple-brown spores.
For microscopy and genetic research, P. ochraceocentrata offers something especially valuable: the opportunity to study a species that spent years hiding in plain sight under the wrong name.
About this strain
Formerly known as: Psilocybe natalensis, P. aff. natalensis, Natalensis, “Nats,” and Natal Super Strength
Current species: Psilocybe ochraceocentrata
Origin: Southern Africa
This is not simply a renamed strain of P. cubensis. Psilocybe ochraceocentrata is its own species.
For years, material circulating internationally as Natalensis was assumed to represent P. natalensis. Comparisons involving genetic sequencing and type material eventually demonstrated that the widely circulated material did not match true P. natalensis. It instead corresponded to the African species now recognized as P. ochraceocentrata.
True Psilocybe natalensis still exists. It is a separate South African species and should not be treated as another name for P. ochraceocentrata.
That distinction makes this genetic particularly interesting: what the mushroom community called Natalensis for years turned out to be something else entirely.
