Psilocybin mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms, are a polyphyletic informal group of fungi that contain psilocybin, which turns into psilocin upon ingestion. The most potent species are members of genus Psilocybe, such as P. azurescens, P. semilanceata, and P. cyanescens, but psilocybin has also been isolated from approximately a dozen other genera, including Panaeolus (including Copelandia), Inocybe, Pluteus, Gymnopilus, and Pholiotina.Amongst other cultural applications, psilocybin mushrooms are used as recreational drugs. They may be depicted in Stone Age rock art in Africa and Europe, but are more certainly represented in pre-Columbian sculptures and glyphs seen throughout the Americas. The first mention of hallucinogenic mushrooms in European medicinal literature was in the London Medical and Physical Journal in 1799. many psilocybin mushroom species were described from temperate North America, Europe, and Asia and were widely collected. Books describing methods of cultivating large quantities of Psilocybe cubensis were also published. The availability of psilocybin mushrooms from wild and cultivated sources has made them one of the most widely used psychedelic drugs.
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