Two New Psychoactive Species

Recently two new psychoactive species, Psilocybe ingeli and Psilocybe maluti, were identified in South Africa thanks to the efforts of dedicated citizen scientists! This discovery highlights the crucial role of citizen scientists in expanding our understanding of African mycology.

Most interesting to me is that indigenous people of Lesotho continue to pass on oral language of the use of these psilocybin mushrooms - likely long before European contact and certainly well before science recognized this ‘new’ species: the binomial Psilocybe maluti. Deep respect to all involved. More info: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00275514.2024.2363137