Mushrooms  (fungi)

Perhaps the botanical group with the largest variety of psychoactive plants is fungi. These, whose scientific name is mycota, are heterotrophic7 organisms like animals and bacteria. Unlike green vegetables, they do not have chlorophyll, and therefore must feed on other organisms or decomposing organic matter or tissues. It is a very old biological group, numerous in species and individuals, and extremely ecologically successful. They can have anatomical and physiological characteristics of great diversity. There are microscopic ones, just a few microns long, and gigantic, with metric dimensions. They can be single-celled or contain billions of cells. Some are spherical, others elongated or flat, and there are even some that are shaped like an umbrella (the "mushrooms"). Fungi reproduce by sprouting, fission, fragmentation, or spores. The latter is a common method. Their reproduction can be sexless or sexed, with species that go through both reproductive phases. Due to their age and their specific role as biochemical degraders of organic matter, fungi have developed strategies that emphasize the elaboration of many substances of great diversity and complexity. Since they are immobile (sessile) they have a natural tendency to defend themselves against their predators by producing appropriate chemical compounds. They also produce them to establish communication systems with other individuals of the same species or others. Some mycota manufacture substances to protect themselves from bacteria (eg antibiotics) and others secrete various toxic compounds intended for their potential predators. These are often associated with distinctive colors and shapes in order to send a warning message to their predators and avoid attack. They are called "poisonous mushrooms". As with other similar substances, their toxicity depends on the vulnerability of the recipient and the dose received. Some mycota make substances that allow them to protect themselves from bacteria. For some decadesf many of them have been used in medicine and are called "antibiotics". Due to this ancient vital strategy, fungi have generated a wide variety of strong compounds, generally of the alkaloid type, which give rise to varied reactions in the animals that ingest them. Often these are simple defense mechanisms that tend to produce the greatest possible damage to the aggressor. But in others they are, above all, preventive forms, more or less complex "messages" aimed at reducing conflicts to a minimum, and thus increasing their chances of survival. Some fungi emit signals that can be picked up by humans through the nervous system. They are "psychoactive" mushrooms. Among them are the aforementioned muscaria and teonanacatl, the ergot of rye and wheat from Europe, which in past historical times caused many deaths, and which in recent times allowed the synthesis of lysergic acid (LSD), and many others . Surveys of fungal species have shown that there are numerous psychoactive fungi, perhaps thousands, and that their role was and is fundamental for the past and future development of the human species, both from the point of view of biology and culture8. From "Peoples, Drugs and Snakes", D.Antón, Piriguazú Ediciones Enviar comentarios Historial Guardadas Comunidad