During the peak mushroom season from June to August, Lanmaoa asiatica becomes a common ingredient in stir-fries, soups, and homemade dishes throughout the province. However, consuming it raw or undercooked can lead to some rather surprising and almost uniform consequences for many people.
What’s particularly intriguing about this situation is not just the number of people who are impacted, but also the striking consistency in their experiences. Amid the myriad of unpredictable responses our brains can have under the influence of substances, hundreds of patients report the exact same hallucination: tiny figures—sometimes characterized as elves, soldiers, or playful entities—dancing around them. It sounds almost like a fairy tale, yet it’s a matter of neuroscience.
Many Reports, One Strange Vision
Hospitals in Yunnan deal with hundreds of cases of L. asiatica poisoning every year. The symptoms reported are surprisingly similar: more than 90 percent of the patients experience hallucinations, often accompanied by delirium, dizziness, and episodes of mania. Some symptoms can last from one to three days or even longer. Notably, there have been no fatalities associated with this mushroom, nor any signs of long-term damage.
One local professor who ate stir-fried L. asiatica described an episode where he saw hundreds of tiny figures, or xiao ren ren, acting like soldiers, estimating their height at about 2 centimeters. He shared a rather bizarre detail: when he lifted the tablecloth, the heads detached and adhered to it while the bodies continued marching in place, as quoted by Colin Domnauer in a piece for the Natural History Museum of Utah.
Psychiatry has a specific term for these visions: lilliputian hallucinations, taken from the tiny inhabitants in Jonathan Swift’s *Gulliver’s Travels.* This condition refers to the experience of seeing miniature humans, animals, or fantastical beings, and in the case of L. asiatica, it seems to be the primary effect.
A Riddle that has Eluded Researchers for Years
Things take a strange turn here. Despite the frequency of these incidents, there’s still no clear identification of the chemical responsible. Reports of similar “mushroom madness” can be traced back to the 1930s, and researchers studying similar phenomena in Papua New Guinea during the 1960s noted symptoms that closely resemble those documented in Yunnan today.
Colin Domnauer, a doctoral student studying L. asiatica at the University of Utah and the Natural History Museum of Utah, finds this case truly perplexing.
“It sounds so bizarre that there could be a mushroom causing fairy tale-like visions reported across cultures and times,” he said in an interview with the BBC.
Interestingly, identifying what the harmful agent is has proven simpler than pinpointing what it actually is. Unlike other so-called magic mushrooms, psilocybin does not play a role here. After conducting whole genome sequencing on the L. asiatica group and searching for genes associated with known psychoactive compounds, Domnauer’s team found no traces of psilocybin or ibotenic acid. “We’re confident that it’s something different or new in this bolete mushroom,” he remarked.
Unraveling the Mystery: Mice and Molecules
In an attempt to identify the compound, Domnauer’s team has started administering extracts of L. asiatica to mice and observing their behavior. This approach is helping narrow down potential molecules responsible, though a clear identification hasn’t been achieved yet. Current findings suggest it’s not related to any known psychedelic substance, which, if proven correct, would highlight it as something entirely new in scientific literature.
Adding to this puzzle is a geographical aspect. Similar reports of hallucinations have surfaced from Papua New Guinea, possibly linking to related mushroom species.
“It could be the same species,” Domnauer explained to the BBC, “which would be surprising since Papua New Guinea usually doesn’t share species found in China and the Philippines.”
Another interesting detail: genomic analysis has pointed to a relative of L. asiatica that grows abundantly in North America, though it’s seldom eaten there, and reports of psychoactive effects are non-existent in the U.S. The experiences triggered by L. asiatica, which can last from hours to days, appear to be unintentional, stemming from the undercooking of what is typically a culinary mushroom, rather than the pursuit of a deliberate trip.
