It appears that the damp, humid weather of late may have caused some pretty interesting side effects (you know, apart from the spectacular fog-tography), like magic mushrooms growing on a tram – making it the ultimate trip, if you will.
A picture has been circulating widely on Hong Kong social media recently, and apparently shows two small mushrooms growing out of a wooden window frame on a tram. Spores Illustrated, if you catch our drift.
Guess they don’t need mush room to sprout.
Netizen Cody Chan spotted the fertile fungi and shared it to a Facebook group for Sai Wan residents at 2am on Monday with the caption “Has anyone seen these two mushrooms on the tram? It’s the number 62 tram! If you’ve seen them, say hi.”
Speaking to HK01, Dr. Alvin Tang, an expert in mycology, said the shrooms appeared to actually be… well, shrooms, a.k.a. magic mushrooms.
Tang identified the shrooms as “gymnopilus aeruginosus”, also known as the Magic Blue Gym, which contains the hallucinogen psilocybin and grows on dead wood and wood chip mulch.
When consumed by humans, Tang says the mushrooms cause headaches, muscle weakness, nausea, uncontrollable laughter and hallucinations.
According to Tang, the mushrooms were likely caused by the heavy rainfall, which warped the wooden windowframe, and in turn provided optimum conditions for the mushrooms to grow.
The expert warned commuters not to eat any wild mushrooms, as even some of the harmless-looking grey ones can lead to kidney failure.
Also, in case anyone reading this gets any ideas, the two alleged hallucinogenic shrooms have since been removed from the tram in question by Hong Kong Tramways, according to Apple Daily.
Sorry, cheapskates chasing a high and/or broke, curious students!
Got a tip? Send it to us at hongkong@coconuts.co
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