New Species of Fungus That Produces LSD-Like Compound Identified.

Discovery solves mystery of LSA found in Ipomoea seeds

The psychedelic effects of some species from the Ipomoea family have been known at least since the 1950s by scientists and psychonauts. Long before that, in pre-colonial America, native peoples of what is now Mexico used the seeds of these plants ritually, referring to them as “Ololiuqui” (“little round thing”) and “Tlitlitzin” (“black”), specifically Rivea corymbosa (or Ipomoea corymbosa) and Ipomoea violacea.

The seeds were used by the tlamacazqui (a type of priest in the Aztec culture) for divination purposes, to diagnose illnesses, and even as an anesthetic when mixed with other plants and applied to wounds.

Beyond the Mesoamerican traditions, historical records show that Ipomoea species were also used in Indian and Asian traditional medicine, especially for their purgative and antiparasitic properties.In Ayurvedic medicine, for instance, Ipomoea nil seeds were used as laxatives and to treat digestive disorders.In Brazil, Argyreia nervosa can be found—though a different species, it belongs to the same Convolvulaceae family and shares psychoactive properties.

The identification of Ololiuqui as Rivea corymbosa was made by ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes in 1941 during his PhD in Botany at Harvard, while investigating the unknown identities of “teonanácatl” (“flesh of the gods,” later recognized as mushrooms of the Psilocybe genus) and “ololiuqui”, ancient sacraments from the Oaxaca region in Mexico.

Like what happened with Amerindian cultures that used magic mushrooms, the ritual use of ololiuqui was “sheltered” in the Sierra Mazateca and remained largely unknown to the Western world until the 1950s.

Albert Hofmann, the chemist who first synthesized LSD, was invited by Schultes and Gordon Wasson (the banker who connected with María Sabina, the shaman who opened the first mushroom ceremony to white outsiders) to analyze both teonanácatl and ololiuqui.

Hofmann became the first person to isolate and synthesize psilocybin, and in 1960 he chemically described ergine (another name for LSA) from Ipomoea seeds.

This latter discovery was particularly striking, as Hofmann noticed the strong similarity between LSA and LSD:both are ergot alkaloids (similar to compounds derived from the ergot fungus, commonly found on wheat);they differ at the molecular level by only a substitution of two hydrogen atoms with two ethyl groups.However, LSA is estimated to be 100 times less potent than LSD (Schultes, Hofmann, Rätsch, 1998).

While LSD was semi-synthesized in the lab (from ergot), with no prior cultural use, Hofmann now discovered that the molecule belonged to the natural family of entheogens.

However, the father of LSD was never able to find the fungus responsible for producing the alkaloid in the plant.A study published in April 2025 in the journal Mycologia appears to have finally solved this mycological and botanical mystery.

Corinne Hazel, a microbiology student at West Virginia University, identified a new species of Periglandula fungus on the seeds of Ipomoea.

While researching how plants distribute alkaloids within their systems, she noticed a thin film on the seeds:the material was analyzed and its genome sequenced, confirming the discovery of a new species.

The fungus that had evaded scientists for decades is now named Periglandula clandestina.

These alkaloids are only produced naturally by fungi, such as those found on Ipomoea seeds and the wheat Hofmann used.

Periglandula has high potential for alkaloid production, which could have pharmaceutical value, as LSD and other alkaloids like LSA are currently being studied for the treatment of:

• migraines

• uterine bleeding

• dementia

• Parkinson's disease

• and possible anxiolytic effects.

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The researcher is now focused on:

• developing methods to optimize cultivation of the fungus

• and discovering whether other plant species also maintain a symbiotic relationship with alkaloid-producing fungi.