Quick answer: Golden Teacher vs B+ is one of the harder comparisons in a spore catalog, because these two classic strains of Psilocybe cubensis look much alike. Golden Teacher is known for a golden to amber-yellow cap, while B+ is usually described as caramel to golden brown on a tall, thick stem. Both have undocumented origins: Golden Teacher is said to come from Florida in the 1980s, and B+ is credited to a grower known as Mr. G. Their spores cannot be told apart under a light microscope.
Spores of both strains are legal to buy for microscopy in 46 states. Germinating them is not, which is why this page covers history and identification only.
Looking for Golden Teacher or B+ spores?
Our Golden Teacher and B+ spore syringes are 10 cc syringes, and they ship the same business day. Orders over $100 ship free, and our spore syringe packs save you up to 40%.
Intended use. Our Golden Teacher spore syringes and B+ spore syringes are sold for microscopy, taxonomy and educational use only. This guide compares the two strains’ history, how each got its name, what the mushrooms look like, and what their spores look like under a microscope. It does not cover cultivation, effects, potency or dosing, and we do not answer questions about them.
In this guide
- Two classic strains of one species
- Where Golden Teacher and B+ came from
- The B+ hybrid claim
- How the names came about
- Golden Teacher vs B+: telling the mushrooms apart
- Spore prints and spores
- Side-by-side comparison
- Legal status of both strains
- Frequently asked questions
- Sources
Two classic strains of one species
Golden Teacher and B+ are both Psilocybe cubensis, a dung-loving mushroom that the American mycologist Franklin Sumner Earle first described from Cuba in 1906 as Stropharia cubensis. Rolf Singer moved it into the genus Psilocybe in 1949. The strain names are informal. No registry or type specimen stands behind either one, and a 2025 review in the Journal of Fungi, which lists both strains, noted that what is known about named cubensis strains comes mostly from “non-academic, community-based reports.”
They also come from a shallow gene pool. A 2023 genome study in Current Biology compared cultivated and wild magic mushrooms and found that cultivated cubensis strains carry very little genetic diversity. That helps explain why Golden Teacher vs B+ is a hard call in a photograph, even though the two lines have been kept apart under different names for decades.
Where Golden Teacher and B+ came from
Golden Teacher. The most repeated account says Golden Teacher was found in Florida in the 1980s. No collector’s name, date or specimen has ever been produced, so the story is tradition rather than record. It is now the best-known cubensis strain, and our Golden Teacher guide covers its history and relatives in more detail.
B+. B+ is credited to a grower known only as Mr. G. The credit is old: a forum post from May 29, 2000 already names Mr. G as the person who “developed strains such as mexi cub, and B+.” Later write-ups repeat the attribution; a 2023 DoubleBlind profile calls Mr. G a cultivator “who some believe created” the strain. Where Mr. G got the original material is not recorded. Our B+ guide covers the strain on its own.
The two strains share a place in the timeline. A 2021 DoubleBlind history says Golden Teacher and B+ have a “long and mostly forgotten history” that likely goes back further than the online growing forums of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The B+ hybrid claim
For years B+ was described as a hybrid of Psilocybe cubensis and Psilocybe azurescens, a separate, wood-loving species from the Pacific Northwest. The claim came from Mr. G himself; the same May 2000 forum post says he “argued everyone that his B+ was a cubensis/azure hybrid.” Nobody has ever produced evidence for it. A Shroomery poster quoted in DoubleBlind’s 2023 B+ profile calls it “just a unique cubensis,” and the Journal of Fungi review lists B+ simply as a P. cubensis strain.
How the names came about
The “Golden” in Golden Teacher describes the golden to amber-yellow cap. The “Teacher” part has no documented origin and is best treated as folklore.
What “B+” stands for has never been documented, and no record from Mr. G explains it. The name is also written “B Plus” and “B-Plus.”
Golden Teacher vs B+: telling the mushrooms apart
This is a harder comparison than Golden Teacher vs Penis Envy, because both strains have the classic cubensis form: an open cap on a pale stem with a ring. The differences are in color and proportion, and they overlap.
- Golden Teacher has a golden to amber-yellow cap, usually darker toward the center. It starts as a rounded dome and broadens to a flat top as it matures. The stem is white to pale yellow.
- B+ caps run from caramel to golden brown, and the shade varies from one specimen to the next. B+ is described as a tall mushroom with long, thick, pale stems.
In practice, a golden-yellow cap points toward Golden Teacher and a darker caramel cap on a tall, heavy stem points toward B+, but neither trait is reliable on its own. If you are comparing specimens or photographs, the label and the source matter more than the cap color.
Spore prints and spores
Both strains open their caps fully and drop a normal dark print. DoubleBlind describes Golden Teacher dropping “a thick carpet of purple-black spores,” and its 2023 B+ profile describes B+ spores as purple-brown. Those are two ways of describing the same dark color, which is the species norm: cubensis gills darken to purplish-black as spores mature, and the ring on the stem usually takes on the same color.
Under a light microscope, the spores are the same. Published descriptions of P. cubensis give spores roughly 11 to 17 micrometers long, smooth and sub-ellipsoid (an oval flattened on one side), with a germ pore at one end. No published description separates Golden Teacher spores from B+ spores, and on a slide you cannot tell which strain you are looking at. If you want a pairing that does look different on a slide, compare a pigmented strain with an albino one; our guide to albino vs leucistic mushrooms explains why.
Side-by-side comparison
The table lines up the two strains on the points that matter for identification.
| Golden Teacher | B+ | |
|---|---|---|
| Species | Psilocybe cubensis | Psilocybe cubensis |
| Origin | Said to come from Florida in the 1980s; undocumented | Credited to Mr. G by 2000; source material unknown |
| Name | “Golden” for the cap; “Teacher” is folklore | Meaning never documented |
| Cap | Golden to amber-yellow, darker at the center | Caramel to golden brown |
| Stem | White to pale yellow | Long, thick and pale |
| Spore print | Dark purple-brown | Dark purple-brown |
| Spores under a microscope | Typical cubensis | Typical cubensis |
For a pairing that is much easier to tell apart by shape, see Golden Teacher vs Penis Envy.
Legal status of both strains
Golden Teacher and B+ spores contain no psilocybin or psilocin, so under federal law and the law of 46 states they are not a controlled substance; the DEA confirmed the federal position in writing in January 2024. California and Florida restrict spores, Georgia and Idaho ban them, and we do not ship Psilocybe spores to those four states. Germinating spores is illegal under federal law everywhere. Laws change, so check the current law where you live. Our state-by-state legal guide has every statute.
Frequently asked questions
Are Golden Teacher and B+ the same species?
Yes. Both are Psilocybe cubensis. The names are informal strain names for two lines of that one species.
How can you tell Golden Teacher and B+ apart?
Golden Teacher caps are usually golden to amber-yellow, while B+ caps run caramel to golden brown on a tall, thick stem. The ranges overlap, so a label from a trusted source matters more than cap color.
Can you tell Golden Teacher and B+ spores apart under a microscope?
No. Both produce ordinary cubensis spores, roughly 11 to 17 micrometers long and sub-ellipsoid with a germ pore. No published description separates them.
Is B+ a hybrid of cubensis and azurescens?
No evidence supports that claim. It came from Mr. G, the grower credited with B+, and B+ is treated as an ordinary Psilocybe cubensis strain in both hobbyist and academic sources.
Who created B+?
Hobbyist accounts credit a grower known as Mr. G, and forum posts were already naming him by May 2000. Where he got the original material has never been documented.
Which is older, Golden Teacher or B+?
Nobody can say for certain. Golden Teacher is usually dated to the 1980s and B+ was in circulation by 2000, but neither strain has a dated first record.
Are Golden Teacher and B+ spores legal?
Yes, for microscopy, in 46 states. California, Florida, Georgia and Idaho have their own spore laws, and we do not ship to those four states.
Sources
- “Psilocybe cubensis,” Wikipedia, on Earle’s 1906 description from Cuba, Singer’s 1949 transfer to Psilocybe, spore measurements, gill and ring color. wikipedia.org
- DoubleBlind Magazine, “How to Identify Psilocybe Cubensis Look-Alikes,” on spore size, shape and color. doubleblindmag.com
- Kurzbaum E. et al. (2025). “Exploring Psilocybe cubensis Strains: Cultivation Techniques, Psychoactive Compounds, Genetics and Research Gaps.” Journal of Fungi 11(2):99. PMC11856550
- McTaggart A.R. et al. (2023). “Domestication through clandestine cultivation constrained genetic diversity in magic mushrooms relative to naturalized populations.” Current Biology. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2023.10.059, with the Cell Press summary on ScienceDaily (December 4, 2023). sciencedaily.com
- Mandrake K., “Do Golden Teachers Actually Exist?” (DoubleBlind Magazine, May 20, 2021; updated July 18, 2022). doubleblindmag.com
- Shroomok, “The magic of Golden Teacher mushroom” (community wiki, not linked), on the Florida origin account and the cap color.
- Koslow T., “B+ Mushrooms” (DoubleBlind Magazine, July 5, 2023), on Mr. G, the B+ cap and stem, spore color, and a Shroomery poster’s view of the hybrid claim. doubleblindmag.com
- Shroomery forum archive: thread #18758 (May 29, 2000) on Mr. G, B+ and the hybrid claim (not linked).
- DEA Diversion Control Division letter on the status of spores (January 2, 2024). PDF, and Marijuana Moment’s report on the letter. marijuanamoment.net
Psilocybe cubensis spore syringes
Our Psilocybe cubensis spore syringes are 10 cc syringes filled in our ISO-7 cleanroom. Each one comes with a sterile needle. Orders placed by 1 p.m. Eastern on a weekday ship the same day, to the 46 states where spores are legal. You get free shipping on orders over $100, up to 40% off with our 3-, 5- and 10-packs, and a 30-day warranty. They are sold for microscopy and taxonomy use only.
