Psilocybe zapotecorum (ZAP)

Regarded as one of the world's most potent wild mushrooms Psilocybe zapotecorum was named for the Zapotec Indians, who are native to the Sierra Madre mountains of Oaxaca Mexico. The Zapotec name roughly translates to "Crown of thorns mushroom".  The Zapotec people were architects responsible for the famous Monte Albán archaeogical pyramid site in the Southern Mexican State of Oaxaca .

Psilocybe zapotecorum is one of many psilocybin mushroom species that grows naturally in Mexico, producing some of the largest and most visually striking psychedelic mushrooms found in the Neotropics. The name “zapotecorum” was given in honor of the Zapotec community, an Indigenous group that uses and reveres this species in the region.

This species is also held in high regard by other Indigenous groups in Mexico, including the Mazatec, Mixtec, Chatinos, and Totonacs. 

The mushrooms prefer moist habitats, having been found in ravines and near streams, rivers and waterfalls, oak-and-pine forests, or cloud forests. It is also found in subtropical forests closer to sea level. Fruiting of the mushroom coincides with the wet season. Sometimes it is observed fruiting directly on ravine walls from exposed soil.

P. zapotecorum is part of the Hymenogastraceae family, and like all Psilocybes is saprotrophic, growing on decomposing plant matter. It is a lignicolous species, deriving nutrients from decaying woody plant matter often buried in clay-rich soil.

In a 2024 interdisciplinary study of P. zapotecorum, conducted by Ohio State and Vanderbilt Universities in partnership with The Entheome Foundation and Tryp Labs, they grew a wild-isolated strain of P. zapotecorum under laboratory conditions.  This research recorded an average potency of 1.79% psilocybin from whole mushrooms (with a range of 10.6-25.7 mg/g psilocybin), and a maximum potency of 3.04% in the caps. Baeocystin was also found, present in the mg/g range, with lesser amounts of norbaeocystin and norpsilocin also detected (in sub mg/g concentrations), along with trace amounts of aeruginascin and 4-HO-tryptamine.

Cultivating this strain of mushroom is not for the beginner cultivator as it requires a very specific growing environment.

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