Discovered these mushrooms in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, located in a city park alongside a man-made embankment between a walking path and a river and dispersed throughout wet open areas. The mushrooms were hidden amongst the shadows of taller grasses, and were found growing up through accumulated dead grasses and reeds. Found repeatedly in mid-April, especially after a day of heavy rainfall with temperatures in the mid 60°s, rising up into the mid 70°s at the time of collection.
The cap of these mushrooms is generally dome-shaped and subumbonate. The color of the cap is cinnamon/orangish brown in younger individuals, turning a lighter more pale brown in older individuals, with the oldest mushrooms amongst the patch turning an almost black color when fully spored out. The caps turn from a cinnamon-brown color when fresh and become a light-beige/pale-yellow color as they dry.
Stems are white in color, with an annulus found halfway up the stem. This is different than typical Psilocybe species that have an annulus near the top of the stem, often with a vail or the remains of a broken vail visible. The annulus is an interesting difference within Psilocybe, but it is not a helpful characteristic in distinguishing between other potentially deadly mushroom species... Know how to properly identify Galerina marginata, Conocybe rugosa, and Panaeolus foenisecii before attempting to forage/eat any LBM!!
There is blue staining present on the edges of the cap and covering several parts of the stem in the pictures attached below. One thing I noticed about these Psilocybe ovoideocystidiata was a delayed or almost absent bluing reaction, compared the more instant and intesne bluing found in cubensis.
Spore print color is intensely black/purple, with a surprising amount of purple/brown prints mixed throughout. I have been concerned by the color of Psilocybe ovoideocystidiata prints in certain light, with prints showing a slight reddish brown color after drying... but this is apparently a common observation, and does not invalidate my ID of these mushrooms as Psilocybe ovoideocystidiata.
Old logging trail under bracken fern,Red clay-like soil, noticeably wetter under toe in this gully compared to the surrounding area.