Best bet is to order Amanitas online or grow them yourself (Cubensis being one of the most popular species).
cubensis is a species, not a strain. Kings Play Chess On FiberGlass Stools....this is a mnemonic device to help you remember the taxonomical order. Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species Psilocybe cubensis is the name of the mushroom, psilocybe is the genus and cubensis is the species. though "stropharia" is sometimes used instead of "psilocybe" - but they're the same mushroom. strains are a subgroup of a species which reliably demonstrate consistant and predicatble traits as a group not shared by the whole, or which are slightly different from most of the whole of the species. for instance, there is a cannabis strain called bubblegum which produces phenotypes with a bubblegum-like flavor and certain growth traits. etc. anyway, there are not likely to be any -worthwhile- psilocybian mushrooms growing wild in illinois. most of the best quality mushrooms grow either in very warm, humid (often coastal) climates like the gulf coast and deep south, central america, or someplace cooler but consistantly humid and with plenty of places for woodloving mushrooms to grow, specifically climates similar to the pacific northwest. there are many, many species of psilocybian mushrooms (many not even of the stropharia/psilocybe species) and there WILL be some growing in your state, but mostly they will be species of very low potency and increased tendency to upset your gi tract - such as Panaeolus subbalteatus (sp?) you're much better off ordering supplies and teaching yourself to grow cubes if you really want mushrooms. its a wonderful educational and spiritual process. failing that try and find a dealer, though i dont believe in buying or selling mushrooms. but you have to do that in the real world, and not online - no one is likely to help you here unless they're a narc, and no one who's not a narc is likely to trust a stranger online to NOT be a narc, unless they're foolhardy and want to get some jailtime. i wont go into specifics about where to go for spores or anything like that, but its easy enough to find, and they're legal to possess in most states (i do know that california and georgia are exceptions to this) so check your local laws before trying to order any. for information on home cultivation for personal use, consult www.shroomery.org
According to Shroomery (http://www.shroomery.org/8461/Which-mushrooms-grow-wild-in-my-area), Pluteus salicinus grows wild in Illinois. I know nothing about this species and advise the original poster not to pick mushrooms in the wild anyhow.
Pluteus salicinus is less than half as potent as cubensis. to make a comparison, according to the magic mushroom dosage calculator (not a foolproof tool, thats for sure, but is decent for comparing doses of one species to roughly equivalent doses of other species - though potency is wildly variable even within one species) a level 1 dosage of dried cubensis is .79g, whereas with P. salicinus it would take 2.25g to reach the same level - and a level 1 experience is nothing more than a novel type of high! similar tendencies as Panaeolus subbalteatus: extremely widespread, very low potency. its really only worth looking for if you're both a veteran mushroom hunter and experienced mycological student as well as someone willing to use these mushrooms in combination with an MAO inhibiting drug in order to potentiate the experience.
