Psilocybe aztecorum is a species of psilocybin mushroom in the Strophariaceae family. Known only from central Mexico, the fungus grows on decomposing woody debris, and is found in mountainous areas at elevations of 3,200 to 4,000 m (10,500 to 13,000 ft), typically in meadows or open, grassy forests associated with Hartweg's Pine. The mushrooms have convex to bell-shaped caps 1.5–2 cm (0.6–0.8 in) in diameter, set atop slender cylindrical stems that are up to 7.5 cm (3.0 in) long. The color of the caps changes with variations in hydration, and ranges from dark chestnut brown to straw yellow or whitish when dry. The species was first reported by French mycologist Roger Heim in 1956 as a variety of Psilocybe mexicana before he officially described it under its current name a year later. Named for its association with the Aztec people, P. aztecorum may have been one of the sacred mushroom species, or teonanácatl ("flesh of the gods"), reported in the codices of 16th-century Spanish chronicler Bernardino de Sahagún. The mushrooms are still used for spiritual ceremonies by Nahuatl Indians in the Popocatépetl region, although this traditional usage is waning.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocybe_aztecorum
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1606:
The first recorded performance of the play King Lear, a tragedy by William Shakespeare based on the legendary King Lear of Britain, was held. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Lear
1862:
American Civil War: Confederate defenders were victorious in the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou as the Union Army attempted to capture the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chickasaw_Bayou
1919:
American baseball player Babe Ruth was sold by the Boston Red Sox to their rivals, the New York Yankees, starting the 84-year-long Curse of the Bambino. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Bambino
1991:
The Supreme Soviet officially dissolved itself, completing the dissolution of the Soviet Union. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union
2006:
The Hengchun earthquake struck off the southwest coast of Taiwan, on the anniversaries of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake that devastated coastal communities across Southeast and South Asia, and of the 2003 Bam earthquake that destroyed areas of southeastern Iran. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Bam_earthquake
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
rebarbative: Irritating, repellent. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rebarbative
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
We’re creators by permission, by grace as it were. No one creates alone, of and by himself. An artist is an instrument that registers something already existent, something which belongs to the whole world, and which, if he is an artist, he is compelled to give back to the world. --Henry Miller https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Miller