A globally distributed genus of boletes called Lanmaoa may represent a third family of psychoactive mushrooms, working through a chemistry that no one understands yet. The genus already holds one of the strangest entries in the toxicological literature. In Yunnan, in southwestern China, eating an undercooked bolete known locally as jian shou qing can bring on vivid hallucinations of tiny people. Patients describe colourful figures only a few centimetres tall, marching, dancing and climbing over.