According to American naturalist and mycologist David Arora, Panaeolus cinctulus is the most common psilocybin mushroom in California.

During the early 1900s, these species were referred to as the "weed Panaeolus" because they were commonly found in beds of the commercially grown, grocery-store mushroom Agaricus bisporus.

[4] The descriptor subbalteatus comes from the Latin words sub ('somewhat') and balteat ('girdled'), a reference to the dark outer band of the cap.

Panaeolus cinctulus is a cosmopolitan species that grows solitary to gregarious to cespitose (densely clumped) on compost piles, well-fertilized lawns and gardens, and, rarely, directly on horse dung.

It can be found in many regions, including: Africa[8] (South Africa),[8] Austria,[8][9] Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia[8]), Denmark,[9] Finland,[10] France,[8] Germany,[8][9] Great Britain,[8] Guadeloupe,[9] Estonia,[8] Iceland,[8] India,[8] Ireland,[8] Italy,[8] South Korea,[8] Japan,[8] Mexico,[10] New Guinea,[8] New Zealand,[8] Norway,[9] Philippines,[8] Russia,[8] Slovenia,[9] South America (Argentina, Chile, Brazil)[8] and the United States (it is common in Oregon, Alaska, Washington, and both Northern and Southern California, but is also known to occur in all 50 states).