Quick answer: A spore print is the deposit of spores a mushroom cap leaves when it rests, gills down, on paper, glass or foil for a few hours. It shows the spore color in mass, one of the oldest and most reliable identification characters in mycology, and it preserves millions of spores in a form that keeps for years. Spore vendors make syringes from prints; field mycologists make prints to name what they found; hobby microscopists make them to have a permanent supply of spores to study.
A print of Psilocybe cubensis is dark purple-brown. A print of an albino strain is nearly invisible, which is the quickest way to tell a true albino from a pale-bodied “leucistic” strain.
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We ship Psilocybe cubensis spore syringes the same business day to the 46 states where spores are legal. Each syringe is a 10 cc syringe. Orders over $100 ship free, and our spore syringe packs save you up to 40%.
Intended use. Our Psilocybe cubensis spore syringes are sold for microscopy, taxonomy and educational use only. Not for human consumption. This page describes spore prints as an identification and microscopy tool; we sell syringes, not prints.
In this guide
- What a spore print is
- Why mycologists make spore prints
- How a spore print is made
- Spore print colors, genus by genus
- Reading a print: what it can and can’t tell you
- Spore print vs. spore syringe
- How long a spore print keeps
- Psilocybe cubensis spore prints
- Are spore prints legal?
- Frequently asked questions
What a spore print is
A mature mushroom drops spores continuously from its gills, and gravity does the rest: they fall straight down. Put a surface under the cap and, after a few hours, the spores land in a pattern that mirrors the gills, a fan of fine lines radiating from a blank center where the stem was. That pattern is the print. It is made of nothing but spores, often tens of millions of them.
The idea is old. By the 1830s, the Swedish mycologist Elias Fries was using spore color to sort gilled mushrooms into groups. Modern identification keys still open with the question, because it is the one character you can check with no equipment at all.
Why mycologists make spore prints
- Identification. Spore color in mass is stable within a species and different between groups, so a print rules out whole families at once. A white print next to a mushroom with a ring and a cup at the base says Amanita, the genus that contains the deadliest mushrooms in the world; a brown print rules it out. Field guides often ask for the print before anything else.
- A permanent record. A dried print on paper, sealed in foil or a bag, keeps its spores usable for microscopy for years. Herbaria keep prints alongside dried specimens for exactly this reason.
- A source of clean spores. For a microscopist, a print is a reservoir: a few grains scraped into a drop of water is a slide, and a print holds enough for hundreds of slides. It is also the raw material of a spore syringe.
How a spore print is made
The method is the same in a university lab and on a kitchen table, and it is worth knowing even if you never make one, because it explains what a print is and is not.
- A mature cap, one whose gills are fully exposed, is cut from the stem.
- It is placed gills down on the surface that will take the print. Mycologists often use half white paper and half black, or a glass slide, so that both pale and dark spores show. Foil is common because it does not absorb moisture and can be folded to seal the print.
- A cup or bowl covers it to stop air currents and keep the cap from drying out.
- After anywhere from two to twenty-four hours, the cap is lifted, and the print is left to dry before it is folded up and labeled with the species, date and place.
A print is simply spores that fell from a cap onto paper. Nothing is grown or changed, which matters for the legal section below.
Spore print colors, genus by genus
The color classes mycologists use, with common genera in each:
| Print color | Typical genera | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| White to cream | Amanita, Russula, Lactarius, Lepiota, Pleurotus (oysters), Marasmius | Check on dark paper or glass; some “white” prints are faintly yellow or lilac. |
| Pink to salmon | Pluteus, Entoloma, Volvariella | Often visible only after the print dries. |
| Yellow-brown to rusty | Cortinarius, Gymnopilus, Galerina, Pholiota, Conocybe | The color of Galerina marginata, a deadly look-alike of several edible species. |
| Chocolate to purple-brown | Agaricus, Psilocybe, Stropharia, Hypholoma, Psathyrella | Psilocybe prints run dark purple-brown to violet-black. |
| Black | Coprinus, Coprinellus, Panaeolus | Inky caps often dissolve before a clean print forms. |
| Olive to brown | Boletus and other boletes | Boletes drop spores from pores, so the print is a solid disc, not a fan. |
Reading a print: what it can and can’t tell you
A print answers one question with confidence, the color class, and a second with the help of a microscope, the spore’s size and shape. It cannot identify a species on its own. Two mushrooms in the same genus usually give the same color, and within a color class there are hundreds of species. What the print does is narrow the field so that the other characters, cap, gills, stem, habitat, smell, chemical reactions and spore measurements, can finish the job.
A print also tells you the mushroom was mature enough to sporulate, and it tells you, in the case of a cultivated strain, whether the line is what it claims to be. A “Golden Teacher” that drops a pale print is not a Golden Teacher; a “true albino” that drops a dark one is a leucistic strain under the wrong name.
Spore print vs. spore syringe
For a microscopist, the choice comes down to convenience.
- A print is compact, keeps for years, and holds an enormous number of spores. But its spores are dry and clumped, so a slide needs a moment of preparation: scrape a little into a drop of water and let it disperse.
- A syringe holds spores already dispersed in sterile water. A drop on a slide is a finished preparation, with spores spread evenly across the field. The trade-off is a shorter shelf life and a fixed volume. A syringe should be stored in the refrigerator, where it stays good for up to 90 days; our guide to how long spore syringes last covers storage.
Vendors make syringes from prints: a print is taken from a mushroom of a known line, and its spores are washed into sterile water in a sterile environment. Our syringes are filled in an ISO-7 cleanroom, which is what keeps the water clear of bacteria and mold. Our spore syringe guide covers the rest.
How long a spore print keeps
Dry, cool and dark, a print keeps its spores intact for years; herbarium prints decades old still show identifiable spores under the microscope. The enemies are moisture, which lets bacteria or mold grow on the print, and heat and light, which slowly degrade the spore walls. A print folded in its foil, sealed in a bag with a desiccant packet and kept in a refrigerator is the standard method.
Psilocybe cubensis spore prints
A Psilocybe cubensis print is dark purple-brown, dense, and easy to take, because the species drops spores generously and its caps open wide. Under the microscope the spores are smooth, thick-walled, subellipsoid ovals with a germ pore, roughly 11 to 17 by 7 to 11 micrometers. The exceptions are the strains that have lost pigment:
- Albino strains such as Albino Penis Envy, True Albino Teacher and Jack Frost drop prints that are pale grey to nearly invisible on white paper, because their spores carry little or no pigment. Foil or a glass slide shows them; paper often does not.
- Leucistic strains such as Leucistic A+ and Leucistic Golden Teacher have pale bodies but drop ordinary dark prints. The print is what settles the albino-versus-leucistic question.
- Penis Envy and its relatives drop very sparse prints, because the mutation that gives them their shape keeps the cap closed and the gills partly malformed. Our Penis Envy guide explains why.
Are spore prints legal?
A spore print of an edible or wild mushroom is legal everywhere. A print of a Psilocybe species is treated the same way as a spore syringe: the spores contain no psilocybin or psilocin, so under federal law and the law of 46 states they are not a controlled substance, and the DEA confirmed the federal position in writing in January 2024. California restricts spores, and Florida bans selling, shipping and bringing in spores. Georgia and Idaho ban them, and germinating them is illegal under federal law everywhere. Our state-by-state legal guide has every statute. We sell syringes rather than prints because a syringe is the more useful form for microscopy and arrives sterile.
Frequently asked questions
What is a spore print?
The deposit of spores a mushroom cap leaves on paper, glass or foil when it rests gills-down for a few hours. It shows the spore color in mass and preserves the spores.
What is a spore print used for?
Identifying mushrooms by spore color, keeping a long-term store of spores for microscopy, and, for vendors, as the source of spores for syringes.
What color is a Psilocybe cubensis spore print?
Dark purple-brown to violet-black. Albino strains drop a nearly colorless print; leucistic strains drop a normal dark one.
How long does a spore print take?
Usually two to twenty-four hours, depending on how mature and how moist the cap is.
How long does a spore print last?
Years, if it is kept dry, cool and dark. Herbarium prints decades old still yield identifiable spores.
Is a spore print better than a spore syringe?
A print keeps longer and holds more spores; a syringe is ready to use and arrives sterile. For microscopy, a syringe is the more convenient form, which is why we sell syringes.
Are spore prints legal?
Prints of edible species are legal everywhere. Prints of Psilocybe species are legal for microscopy in 46 states, like syringes, because spores contain no controlled substance.
Can you identify a mushroom from a spore print alone?
No. A print narrows the possibilities to a color class; the other features of the mushroom and the spore measurements under a microscope finish the identification.
Psilocybe cubensis spore syringes, ready to use
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.
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