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Golden TeacherPsilocybe cubensis
Edibility
Toxic
Lookalike Danger
4 / 5
Habitat
🌱 Cow pasture, dung
Season
May – Nov🌱 Now
"Tan cap with a small darker bump on top, fruiting from cow dung along the Gulf Coast. The world’s most-cultivated Psilocybe — wild specimens still surprise pasture-walkers in FL and TX."
🌳 Host Trees & Plants
This species is found with or partners with the following hosts. Ectomycorrhizal hosts (green border) form a root-level partnership; ericoid / arbutoid shrubs (purple border) share the same mycorrhizal networks.
Dung
Herbivore manure
Saprobic substrate
Cow, horse, and deer dung — coprophilous mushrooms including Panaeolus species and dung bird’s nest.
Old Pasture / Meadow
Unimproved grassland
Saprobic substrate
Old pasture and unimproved meadow — waxcap indicator habitat, meadow mushroom, fairy ring champignon, giant puffball.
The world's most-cultivated psychoactive fungus. In the wild it grows on cow dung along the Gulf Coast and subtropical Americas. Tan cap with a small darker bump (umbo) on top, white stem bruising blue, dark purple-brown spore print. "Golden Teacher" is the most-distributed cultivated strain.
Habitat
Cow pastures along the Gulf Coast (Florida, Louisiana, Texas), the Caribbean, and tropical Mexico south. Fruits in warm, humid months — typically May through November in the US.
Look for this on the ground
Open pasture grass
Cropped grass with clover, occasional cow pat, bare foot trails.
Season Windows by Region
Region
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Western NC Mountains
NC · 2,000–6,684 ft
Foothills / Piedmont Transition
NC · 800–2,500 ft
Chattahoochee National Forest
GA · 1,200–4,784 ft
Apalachicola National Forest
FL · 10–300 ft
Ocala National Forest
FL · 20–200 ft
Myakka / Southwest Florida
FL · 5–100 ft
Ouachita NF (OK)
OK · 600–2,500 ft
Ozark Plateau (NE OK)
OK · 700–1,800 ft
Sam Houston NF
TX · 80–350 ft
Big Thicket
TX · 50–400 ft
Davy Crockett NF
TX · 200–500 ft
Bankhead NF
AL · 600–1,100 ft
Talladega NF
AL · 700–2,407 ft
De Soto NF
MS · 100–400 ft
Kisatchie NF
LA · 80–400 ft
Sumter NF (Andrew Pickens)
SC · 800–3,500 ft
Francis Marion NF
SC · 10–100 ft
Oconee NF / GA Piedmont
GA · 400–800 ft
Holly Springs NF
MS · 300–600 ft
Atchafalaya Basin
LA · 5–50 ft
Conecuh NF
AL · 200–400 ft
Mobile-Tensaw Delta
AL · 0–50 ft
Tombigbee NF
MS · 300–700 ft
Congaree NP
SC · 100–200 ft
Okefenokee / SE GA
GA · 100–200 ft
Blackwater / FL Panhandle
FL · 50–300 ft
NC Sandhills / Weymouth Woods
NC · 150–600 ft
Tuskegee NF / East-Central AL
AL · 150–600 ft
Ocmulgee / Central GA Piedmont
GA · 250–750 ft
Red Hills / Thomasville GA
GA · 200–450 ft
Savannah / Hilton Head Coast
GA · 0–40 ft
Nantahala NF / Western NC
NC · 1,800–5,500 ft
Lost Pines / Bastrop
TX · 300–700 ft
Cross Timbers / LBJ National Grassland
TX · 700–1,200 ft
Coastal Bend / Lake Corpus Christi
TX · 50–400 ft
Arbuckle Mountains / Chickasaw
OK · 700–1,400 ft
Growing Requirements
Min Soil Temp
65°F
Moisture Need
rain 0.5in 7d
Drought Tolerance
moderate
Elevation Range
0–6,684 ft
Commonly Mistaken For
Species people confuse with this one — often the edible they were hunting for. Each is tagged with its own edibility; Golden Teacher is the dangerous one.
Panaeolus cyanescens (Blue Meanies)
PsychoactiveSame dung habitat, also contains psilocybin. Cap is paler gray-white in Panaeolus; Psilocybe cubensis is golden-tan.
Stropharia, Protostropharia, other dung-fungi
Use cautionSeveral non-psychoactive dung fungi share this habitat and have similar purple-brown spores. Bluing separates Psilocybe.
Identification Tips
- ✓Bruises blue, especially on cut stem
- ✓Look for the small darker umbo on the cap
- ✓Dung substrate is diagnostic
- ✓Spore print: dark purple-brown, not black
Field Notes
Cow pasture, dung
Found Golden Teacher?
Photograph it and log your observation on iNaturalist. The community can help confirm your ID — always get confirmation before eating.
Safety: Never eat any wild mushroom without 100% certain identification from multiple sources. This page is for informational purposes only. When in doubt, throw it out.