New African Mushroom Rewrites the Evolutionary Tale of Psychedelic Fungi
Researchers identify Psilocybe ochraceocentrata in southern Africa as a distinct species from the cultivated P. cubensis, dating their last common ancestor to about 1.5 million years ago and challenging the idea that cubensis spread to the Americas with 16th‑century cattle. Using multi-locus phylogenetics, molecular clocks, and ecological niche modeling, the team shows the two mushrooms diverged long ago, and that popular NSS/Transkei strains belong to the new species. The work highlights Africa’s under-sampling of fungal diversity and reshapes the origin story of magic mushrooms.
