Mysterious mushroom reliably induces lilliputian hallucinations

This is quite strange - it’s been discovered that a mushroom called Lanmaoa asiatica gives people hallucinogenic experiences if eaten uncooked. But they’re hallucinations are always of the same thing - and can last several days:

…anyone eating the mushroom needs to be careful because it also gives hallucinations of lots of tiny people about 2cm tall wearing brightly coloured clothes, all jumping, running, climbing and being generally playful, but in a normal, real-world setting.

More about thenfrom the Natural History Museum of Utah here:

A professor in Yunnan recounted how one evening during dinner (Jian shou qing is openly sold in markets and restaurants), he began seeing swirling shapes and colors after eating stir-fried mushrooms. Since the psychoactive effects are familiar to most locals, he began looking for xiao ren ren but was disappointed to find none – until he lifted the tablecloth and peeked underneath, seeing “hundreds of xiao ren ren, marching like soldiers.”

Even more curious, he said, “when I lifted the tablecloth higher, the heads came off and stuck to the bottom of the cloth and the bodies kept marching in place…

No one quite knows what substance in the mushroom is causing these effects, tho research is ongoing.

Also TIL: there’s apparently a known clinically defined psychiatric syndrome called lilliputian hallucinations - evidently named after the little people from the Gulliver’s Travels story.