In fact, due to decades of selective home breeding, there are now 60 different strains of P. cubensis, like Golden Teachers, B+, Penis Envy Mushrooms, and Pink Buffalo.

In clinical trials looking at the potential of psilocybin to treat mental health conditions, subjects actually receive isolated, synthetic psilocybin, rather than the whole mushroom,

so we don’t actually have any rigorous data on the differences between all the magic mushrooms for healing purposes.

While different strains of cubensis can also be found in the wild all over the world, the indoor-grown types are typically more potent.

That’s one of the reasons that mushrooms you buy on the underground market are often stronger than the ones you pick in nature, since they’ve been bred for strength and are grown in specific substrates (the material in which you grow mushrooms) that increase potency.

However, you can find cubensis growing throughout the southern US, into Mexico, Central American and South America.

They also grow in Cuba, India, Southeast Asia, and Australia. In nature, they prefer to live on dung and can also be found on well-manured land in the spring, summer, and fall.

In mycologist Paul Stamets’ mushroom identification guide, Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World, he calls P. cubensis “the most majestic of the Psilocybes” because of their easy-to-recognize size and golden color. Like all Psilocybes,

P. cubensis’ color depends on its level of hydration; they also turn a bluish color when handled due to psilocin oxidizing (basically being exposed to oxygen).

Cubensis is distinct from other Psilocybe species because of its relatively large size and the way the mushroom’s cap widens with maturity. Overall, this is the most famous and widely consumed magic mushroom in existence, but it’s not the only one.