Penis Envy: Spores, Mushrooms, Amazonian Strains, Prints.
One of the most coveted mushroom spore strains around is, without a doubt, Penis Envy.
This mushroom strain has a long and storied history and undeniably fascinating characteristics for amateur micrsocopists to study. Today we’ll take a closer look at this as one of the most potent mushroom strains.
You’ll learn this and more about the end-result from the Penis Envy spore syringe.
The Exciting Origins of Penis Envy Mushrooms – Smuggled Into the United States By a Famous Ethnobotanist
Terrance McKenna The Psychedelic Guru
That protagonist was, of course, none other than the late, great Terence McKenna, who regular readers of the Quality Spores blog will no doubt have heard of. In recent years, his lectures and books have become incredibly popular, topping millions of views on YouTube and other popular video sites, along with the work of his brother—his longtime confidant and fellow mycologist.
Terence McKenna was an author, ethnobotanist, well-spoken special advocate, and the purported discoverer of the Penis Envy mushroom strain. The story about how he discovered the Penis Envy mushroom goes like this: McKenna was in the Amazon rainforest for research. One day during his travels, while accompanied by a guide, he encountered the first known Penis Envy mushrooms in the wild.
McKenna was so taken with the fungi that he knew he had to preserve a sample and take it back home with him to the United States. The western world had never seen a strain like this before—there was no way he, a respected mycologist, could possibly leave it behind.
However, he of course didn’t want to get caught while traveling, so allegedly he took a spore print of the mushroom and gave it an innocuous label, fitting it into a case with many other spore prints of different mushroom spore prints. He made it back home without any trouble, and the rest is history.
Penis Envy Spores Originally Come From the Amazon Rainforest. How Does it Differ From Other Amazonian Strains?
Amazonian Rain Forest Spores
Amazon rainforest spores were originally were discovered by McKenna in the Amazon rainforest. Experienced microscopists will note that there are other cubensis spore strains from this region of the world.
The question is, then, what characteristics does Penis Envy have that make it an undeniably Amazonian strain, and what makes it unique and different from these other strains? Why is Penis Envy so well-known, whereas other strains from this region—while perhaps well-known in mycology circles—aren’t discussed nearly as much?
The first reason that Penis Envy mushrooms are so well-known is for their most noteworthy feature; they contain a substantial amount of illegal substances. In other words, at maturity in the wild, these fungi are incredibly potent from a special perspective. For amateur microscopists interested in studying the characteristics of a strain with a high density at maturity.
Amazonian strains such as the Amazonian cubensis spores are well known for their general durability; these strains have to be robust in order to survive in the biodiverse, high-competition environment of the rainforest. Thus, microscopists will be delighted to find that these spores are quite resistant to contamination—not “immune” of course, but more so than comparative strains.
Why They Call it a “Penis Envy” Mushroom – Funny Name, Serious Mycology
If you’ve ever heard any of his lectures, you’ll know that Terence McKenna had a great sense of humor. That, of course, is why he named this particular strain of thick-stemmed, bulbously-capped fungi the way that he did. It’s such a large strain at maturity, so the joke is that one would inevitably feel envious of its considerable size and potency.
Having said that, it is a silly name—one can’t help but wonder if McKenna would have chosen something more “family friendly” had he known that it would have become as popular within the psychonaut community as it has. (Probably not!).
What’s serious about Penis Envy though is that it offers mycologists and amateur microscopists a real educational experience. If you’re researching the taxonomy of rainforest spores, spores which would mature into fungi in the wild, or just want a very unique strain to compare to the rest of your collection, Penis Envy is a great start.
The Microscopy Benefits of Researching The Penis Envy Compared to Other Strains
As you likely already know if you’re an amateur microscopist, one of the big draws to the world of fungal spores is the fact that there’s just so much diversity. The species alone has hundreds of different known strains many of which are conveniently available on our site.
For microscopists interested in fungal taxonomy, the identification and categorization of these many different strains can be extremely enjoyable. It allows researchers—both professional and amateur—the opportunity to study the spores of fungi which, despite their legal status in most of the world, are well-documented.
Since each individual strain is well documented and likely has been photographed in the wild by a mycologist at some point or another, it gives researchers the unique opportunity to study the spores of fungi all from the same species but with very different characteristics at maturity; all without the need to cultivate the mushroom themselves (which, in most areas, would be illegal).
Penis Envy Mushrooms Legality Explained – The Difference Between Spores, Penis Envy Liquid Culture Syringes, and Penis Envy Spore Prints
The legality of Penis Envy mushrooms is straightforward: in most jurisdictions in the United States and other western countries, they’re illegal.
The spores of the Penis Envy are legal in most states because spores don’t contain the compound only manifests when the fungi begin to mature. Thus, as long as they’re not cultivated, they’re legal to have for research purposes (see previous section for why they’re such an attractive choice for amateur microscopists and mycologists).
Spore Prints and Spore Syringes Are Legal
With this in mind, Penis Envy spore prints are legal, as are Penis Envy spore syringes. However, any product wherein the spores have been allowed to colonize whatsoever is not legal—and this includes Penis Envy liquid culture syringes.
This is because mushrooms can be present even in the mycelial stages of development. Therefore, be very wary of any online service purporting to sell Penis Envy liquid culture products, because they’re either a scam or breaking the law (and you would be too if you bought them). Only ever purchase legal mushroom spores!
The Benefits of Studying Penis Envy in Your Home Lab
Penis Envy is on of the best choices for the adventurous amateur microscopist looking to challenge themselves. Most home microscopists start off with beginner appropriate strains such as Golden Teacher or B+, because these strains are known for being easy to work with in the lab and capable of providing a reliable, mild educational experience.
The Penis Envy mushroom strain is also a good choice for researchers interested in learning more about the characteristics of cubensis strains which, at maturity in nature, would have a high content. This, we imagine, is the feature of this particular fungi which attracted its discoverer, Terence McKenna, in the first place—at the time, naturally occurring strains with such a high content were a relative rarity.
Other microscopists may be interested in Penis Envy spores because of their association with other cross strains. Penis Envy is so popular that it has been crossed with other strains on several occasions.
What About Cross Strains Such as the Albino Penis Envy Cross Strain
At Quality Spores, we carry the Albino Penis Envy cross strain, which is a hybridization between Penis Envy and White Teacher spores. We’ve also had the privilege of developing our very own mushrooms cross strain with Penis Envy parentage, which we call “The Hero”, named after McKenna’s classification of the “heroic dose” in regard to mushrooms. Studying the parentage of a cross strain before learning more about the cross strain itself in the microscopy lab can be a very fulfilling educational experience.
Are Penis Envy Spores the Best Mushroom Strain?
It’s really impossible to say what the best mushroom strain is, because they all have their various strengths and weaknesses from a microscopy and educational standpoint.
Having said that, for many amateur microscopists, Penis Envy spores are a big-time favorite. This is because they’re just so great to work with in a home lab. Since Penis Envy spores are from the Amazon rainforest originally, they’re extremely robust. Most Amazonian spores share this in common, but Penis Envy is unique in that at maturity, its appearance is quite different from many of the other Amazonian strains.
Amazonian mushroom strains tend to have wide caps at maturity in the wild, but Penis Envy mushrooms don’t, as can be seen in the many pictures of this strain. Instead, their caps are smaller and closer to the stem, which is very thick. Some Amazonian strains have long, winding stems, but Penis Envy in its natural environment would lay closer to the ground.