PSILOCYBE SAMUIENSIS

Koh Samui, Thai strain

Psilocybe samuiensis is a famous magic mushroom documented by ethnomycologist John W. Allen in 1991. The hallucinogenic specie was growing in rice paddie fields near the Muslim village of Ban Hua Thanon, on the island of Koh Samui in Thailand.

Psilocybe samuiensis was the first bluing Psilocybe recorded from Thailand and the first species found outside of Mexico directly related to P. mexicana.
It therefore belongs to the hallucinogenic fungi section Mexicanae. It also bears a striking resemblance to P. semilanceata aka Liberty Cap but hasn’t yet gained the name Thai Liberty Cap.

Today, this popular strain is often simply called Koh Samui or Thai. Probably because Psilocybe Samuiensis is the species indigenous to Thailand found by Allen, it is most likely to be the specie consumers refer to it as the Allen Strain.
From the Bay Area in California, another specie of magic mushroom bares Allen’s name: Psilocybe allenii, while another, Panaeolus cambodginiensis (also found by Allen), originates from the famous Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia.
Fun fact, Psilocybe samuiensis, which is originally from the province of Ranong, was also found around the Angkor Wat temple where Panaeolus cambodginiensis grows.

So which magic mushroom strain do you think is the real Allen Strain?
Panaeolus Cambodginiensis, Psilocybe allenii, or Psilocybe samuensis?
Feel welcome to share your thoughts in the review section!

Even though Psilocybe samuiensis is considered rather rare, it is said to be easily cultivated, which is a common practice amongst the villagers and farmers of its native regions. Its growing pattern is said to be similar to that of the Floridian native P. tampanensis, in that it is resistant to contamination and a fast-colonizer. Connoisseurs refer to it as a “super strain”.

With considerable destruction of tropical habitats for use as agricultural or cattle farms, many species will likely disappear before being documented, cultivation somehow helps preserve the continuity of the endangered tropical mycoflora, and Allen surely did his part in that.

Psilocybe Samuiensis from Koh Samui today is known, consumed and cultivated worldwide and particularly amongst knowledgeable users. Its relatively strong effects doesn’t make it the ideal candidate for beginner psychonauts.

Visual Description

Cap: 0.7-1.5 cm broad. Convex to conic-convex to bell-shaped. Apex often with a nipple-shaped umbo. Surface translucent-striate near margin, viscid when moist, with a seperable gelatinous pellicle. Color is chestnut to reddish brown to straw when young, strongly hygrophanous, will change in drying to straw or brownish. Gills: Attachement adnate. Color is clay, then purplish brown to chocolate purple. Margins remain whitish. Stem: 40-65 mm long by 1-2 mm thick. Whitish to yellowish, covered with fibrillose from veil remnant. Equal to slightly thicker at base. Bruising bluish when bruised. Spore print: purple brown. Microscopic features: 10-13 by 6.5-8µ Taste and odor: said to be bitter

PSILOCYBE SAMUIENSIS Potency

MODERATE 0.25% - 0.75% HIGH > 0.75% - 2% Psilocybin levels varied from 0.23% up to 0.90%. The psilocybin content was highest in the caps. Psilocybin was also found in the cultured non-bluing mycelia and varied from 0.24% to 0.32% dry weight. Analyses of both naturally occurring and in vitro cultivated fruit bodies of P. samuiensis revealed high concentrations of psilocybin and psilocin. Small amounts of baeocystin were also detected (Gartz, Allen, Merlin, 1994).

Habitat Origin

Found in Kho Samui in Thailand and around the temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Believed to be more widely distributed throughout those regions. It grows scattered to gregarious in rice paddies, fruiting season is not known but suspected to be late June to August, the latter being the month it was originally discovered. First picked in a soil containing a mixture of sand and clay in the region in Ranong province Thailand.

PSILOCYBE SAMUIENSIS Effects

Said to be crucial to creative thinking, to boost mood, focus and energy. Potentially through targeting serotonergic 5-HT2A receptors and promoting cognitive flexibility, it boosts creativity and problem-solving performance. It has been associated with anti-depressive, anti-anxiety and anti-stress benefits.