Welcome to The Spore Works

Mystery Pack Specials - Available in limited supply - Sporeworks Mystery Pack Special! We guarantee you will not be disappointed, this pack contains a well curated assortment of goodies, valued well byond the retail price.

Spore Works Lab Monthly Feature - April 2025 :  Psilocybe cubensis : Jedi Mind Fuck Spore Syringe

Orders over $100 receive $10 off! (shipping not included). Discount applied automatically at checkout. Thanks for being awesome. We love our customers! 

Need suggestions? Check out the Bestsellers box for the most desired varieties in each category.

The Spore Works

Est. Oct 1998, purveyor of rare and exotic mushroom spores and cultures

Featured Products

MONTHLY FEATURE: Psilocybe cubensis : Jedi Mind Fuck Spore Syringe

Jedi Mind Fuck was developed in the early 2000's by amateur mycologist Myco Joe, isolated from a wild sample collected in Georgia, USA. With its chestnut brown pileus and vigorous growth habit in situ, it was immediately acknowledged to be a unique and popular variety of this species.

$20.00

$17.00

15% Off  
Quantity

Sporeworks Mystery Pack Special

Sporeworks Mystery Pack Special - we guarantee you will not be disappointed. A well curated assortment of goodies, valued well beyond the retail price. Available while supplies last.

California, Idaho, and Georgia residents: Orders requesting Psilocybe Genera Spores shipped to California, Idaho, and Georgia will be refused, voided, or refunded. Possession of these mushroom spores may be illegal in CA, ID, and GA without the proper permissions.

$30.00

 
Quantity

Psilocybe cubensis : Golden Teacher Spore Syringe

Strain Origin: Unknown

California, Idaho, and Georgia residents: Orders requesting Psilocybe Genera Spores shipped to California, Idaho, and Georgia will be refused, voided, or refunded. Possession of these mushroom spores may be illegal in CA, ID, and GA without the proper permissions.

$20.00

 
Quantity

Psilocybe aff. natalensis (ochraceocentrata) : Natal Super Strain Spore Syringe

Strain Origin: Unknown

California, Idaho, and Georgia residents: Orders requesting Psilocybe Genera Spores shipped to California, Idaho, and Georgia will be refused, voided, or refunded. Possession of these mushroom spores may be illegal in CA, ID, and GA without the proper permissions.

$25.00

 
Quantity

Baker's Dozen : Ps. cubensis 13-Pack

Strain Origin: Various

Availability: 13 Pack Mix and Match Ps. cubensis Spore Syringes

California, Idaho, and Georgia residents: Orders requesting Psilocybe Genera Spores shipped to California, Idaho, and Georgia will be refused, voided, or refunded. Possession of these mushroom spores may be illegal in CA, ID, and GA without the proper permissions.

$155.00

 

Psilocybe cubensis : Tidal Wave Spore Syringe

Strain Origin: Unknown

California, Idaho, and Georgia residents: Orders requesting Psilocybe Genera Spores shipped to California, Idaho, and Georgia will be refused, voided, or refunded. Possession of these mushroom spores may be illegal in CA, ID, and GA without the proper permissions.

$20.00

 
Quantity

News

Dec

22

2024

Are My Psilocybe Natalensis Spores Real? (Probably not, and maybe that’s OK)

At Sporeworks.com, we have been closely following the developments with Psilocybe natalensis and have been updating our website’s “natalensis” information as it becomes available. Genetic testing had previously confirmed that our material was distinct from Psilocybe cubensis, but without genetic sequencing of the Psilocybe natalensis holotype it was assumed that it was the same as Psilocybe natalensis. A reasonable conclusion since it was collected in the same location and the appearance was similar. 

Recently, the P. natalensis holotype has been sequenced and found to be different than our material. We knew it wasn’t cubensis and now we knew it wasn’t natalensis. While we waited for a publication to officially name the new species, we temporarily changed our material to Psilocybe aff. natalensis to show that what we had was related to P. natalensis, but different enough to merit its own species designation. And now the wait is essentially over with this preprint of this study “Discovery of the closest free-living relative of the domesticated “magic mushroom” Psilocybe cubensis in Africa” provisionally naming the new species as P. ochraceocentrata. This is a preprint so the name isn’t “official” but we expect it will be a valid species name in the near future.

Many psilocybe spore collectors are now scrambling for “real” Psilocybe natalensis, but it should be understood that all of the current positive reports for P. natalensis (and P. aff. natalensis ) are actually of Psilocybe ochraceocentrata. Currently (2024), there are no readily available sources of Psilocybe natalensis and it is expected that many vendors may not update their “P. natalensis” descriptions to reflect the name change in a timely manner. Eventually confirmed authentic P. natalensis will be available to the community, but for now, buyer beware.

The cultivation aspects of authentic P. natalensis are mostly unknown at this time but we can make some educated guesses on how it will compare to the very popular P. ochraceocentrata based on a few early cultivations of real P. natalensis and the closely related species such as P. chuziongensis and P. psuedoaztecorum.

The image below is the most complete phylogeny I could find on the species of interest. I edited this screen grab to update the new species name to avoid confusion. I found this image on the Myc Check Podcast with Yoshi Amano which is well worth watching for the cultivation results of P. natalensis. I highly recommend. As you can see from the phylogeny, P. ochraceocentrata is very closely related to P. cubensis. It is, in fact, the closest known relative to P. cubensis, which explains its ability to hybridize with P. cubensis. Hybridization between P. cubensis and the more distantly related P. natalensisis less likely.

Unfortunately, it appears that P. natalensis will not be as easy to cultivate as P. ochraceocentrata. Cultivation attempts seen on the Shroomery in 2014 with the closely related species P. psuedoaztecorum from India produced mushrooms slowly and with difficulty, with characteristic top heavy, spindle shaped mushrooms.

The recent cultivation with genetically confirmed Psilocybe natalensis, as seen in the Myc Check Podcast, shows similar spindle shaped mushrooms, which supports the close relationship to P. psuedoaztecorum.

We are going to guess that the difficulty, slow growth and low yield will prevent widespread cultivation by all but the most dedicated researchers unless more domesticated strains are developed. P. chuxiongensis, P. pseudoaztecorum have been circulating around for a decade, but have never become popular. The Myc Check podcast did reveal that authentic P. natalensis can apparently form sclerotia after several months of incubation. Which is exciting and maybe that will make it more desirable.

Happy Mushrooming!

-John Workman

Products and service you can trust

Supplying rare and exotic mushroom spores since October of 1998. Focused on providing the highest quality and most desirable material. Our team takes pride in fast and friendly customer service and will do everything within our power to ensure 100% customer satisfaction.

Follow us on You Tube - @thesporeworks,  Bluesky - @sporeworks.com,  Instagram - @thesporeworks, and Facebook - @official.sporeworks.

We are confident you will be satisfied with our high quality products and professional service.

We accept all major credit cards, cryptocurrency, and mail in payments. Shipping daily, Monday through Friday. 

NOTE: Orders requesting Psilocybe Genera Spores to California, Idaho, and Georgia will be refused, voided, and refunded. Possession of these mushroom spores may be illegal in CA, ID, and GA without the proper permissions.