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DreadMaw, an isolate selected from Gamma Decay
Strain historiesIssue 01 · No. 23 of 55

DreadMaw and Gamma Decay: an Australian cross and the isolate taken from it

DreadMaw is one of the most asked-for cards in the library and one of the few modern lines whose pedigree is fully written down. It is the work of one Australian breeder, and its family tree is two lines long.

MycoWorld · The Genetics Library20 September 20262 min readMicroscopy use only
DreadMaw. One worked expression of the Gamma Decay cross, catalogued as an isolate under its own name.Photo: MycoWorld library

01Gamma Decay first

Gamma Decay is an original cross by Q of What The Fungi, bred in Australia from Blue Ravioli and Black Betty Gates. Blue Ravioli brought the blue-toned, wavy-capped phenotype it is known for; Black Betty Gates, a dark-capped line, brought pigment and a different cap form. The library's own notes rank Gamma Decay among the top five lines it has ever carried, and the cross is catalogued under its full parentage.

Gamma Decay, a What The Fungi cross of Blue Ravioli and Black Betty Gates
Gamma Decay (Blue Ravioli x Black Betty Gates), the What The Fungi cross DreadMaw was selected from.Photo: MycoWorld library

02Then DreadMaw

DreadMaw is an isolate: a single phenotype selected out of the Gamma Decay population and stabilised, which is why the card reads "DreadMaw (Gamma Decay iso)". Where a Gamma Decay syringe carries the breadth of the cross, a DreadMaw syringe carries one worked expression of it. For microscopy that is the difference between a wide spread and a tight cluster on the measurement sheet, and DreadMaw is the better line for a reference series because of it.

Both names are What The Fungi originals. Since the 2026 A.C.S batch the library has also carried A.C.S cuts of several What The Fungi lines, and the card always credits the original breeder.

Where a Gamma Decay syringe carries the breadth of the cross, a DreadMaw syringe carries one worked expression of it.

03What to look for on the slide

DreadMaw is a pigmented Psilocybe cubensis, so expect purple-brown spores, subellipsoid, thick-walled, with a germ pore, and a dense print. Its interest is comparative: put it beside a Blue Ravioli syringe and a Pearly Gates-family syringe and you are looking at both parents and the child on one bench. Because it is an isolate, the spore population should be noticeably tighter than a multispore Gamma Decay drop. That is a measurable claim, and a graticule will confirm it.

DreadMaw from a second angle
DreadMaw again. Pigmented cubensis: expect purple-brown spores and a dense print, in a tighter population than the parent cross.Photo: MycoWorld library

04Reading the card

  • Species: Cubensis.
  • Collection: original cross by What The Fungi, Australia.
  • Status: isolate (ISO tag).
  • Lineage: Gamma Decay, which is Blue Ravioli x Black Betty Gates.
  • Format: 10 ml isolated spore syringe, LOT-logged, prepared in the UK.

Every one of those lines is something you can check against the lineage explorer.

Specimens for this story: BLUE VOOTWO (ACS Blue voodoo iso), GREEN TOQUE and El Toque f2 (El Choco x Toque f8), all prepared under sterile protocol and LOT-logged in the UK.

Questions people ask

What is DreadMaw?

An isolate selected from Gamma Decay, a What The Fungi cross of Blue Ravioli and Black Betty Gates. It is catalogued as "DreadMaw (Gamma Decay iso)".

Who bred Gamma Decay?

Q of What The Fungi, in Australia. The library credits the original breeder on every card.

Is DreadMaw in stock in the UK?

Yes. The isolated spore syringe is in stock now and ships from the UK in one to two working days for microscopy use.