<P> Laboratory tests have shown P. semilanceata to suppress the growth of the soil - borne water mold Phytophthora cinnamomi, a virulent plant pathogen that causes the disease root rot . When grown in dual culture with other saprobic fungi isolated from the rhizosphere of grasses from its habitat, P. semilanceata significantly suppresses their growth . This antifungal activity, which can be traced at least partly to two phenolic compounds it secretes, helps it compete successfully with other fungal species in the intense competition for nutrients provided by decaying plant matter . Using standard antimicrobial susceptibility tests, Psilocybe semilanceata was shown to strongly inhibit the growth of the human pathogen methicillin - resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The source of the antimicrobial activity is unknown . </P> <P> Psilocybe authority Gastón Guzmán, in his 1983 monograph on psilocybin mushrooms, considered Psilocybe semilanceata the world's most widespread psilocybin mushroom species, as it has been reported on 17 countries . In Europe, P. semilanceata has a widespread distribution, and is found in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Channel Islands, Czech republic, Denmark, Estonia, the Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom . It is generally agreed that the species is native to Europe; Watling has demonstrated that there exists little difference between specimens collected from Spain and Scotland, at both the morphological and genetic level . </P> <P> The mushroom also has a widespread distribution in North America . In Canada it has been collected from British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Ontario and Quebec . In the United States, it is most common in the Pacific Northwest, west of the Cascade Mountains, where it fruits abundantly in autumn and early winter; fruiting has also been reported to occur infrequently during spring months . Charles Horton Peck reported the mushroom to occur in New York in the early 20th century, and consequently, much literature published since then has reported the species to be present in the eastern United States . Gaston Guzman later examined Peck's herbarium specimen, and in his comprehensive 1983 monograph on Psilocybe, concluded that Peck had misidentified it with the species now known as Panaeolina foenisecii . P. semilanceata is much less common in South America, where it has been recorded in Chile . It is also known in Australia (where it may be an introduced species) and New Zealand, where it grows in high - altitude grasslands . In 2000, it was reported from Golaghat, in the Indian state of Assam . </P> <P> In Autumn of 1969 more than 500,000 Liberty Cap were found growing at Moss Farm in Northwich Cheshire, after 2 years a fungicide spray was used to decimate them, as the picking and drying Psilocybe Mushrooms was not illegal . This was the beginning of the Magic Mushroom culture in Britain. (1) Citations Wanted . </P>

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