Hey dear Hive friends, first of all I would like to welcome you all to my new post and hope you are doing well! Here I would like to bring you a mushroom a little closer and hope you can learn something new.
Perhaps one or the other has already seen this abstract-looking mushroom, which is also known as fly agaric or scientifically Amanita muscaria. I photographed two manifestations and that without the stains is a young specimen and it is a poisonous fungus whose consumption is strongly discouraged! The fly agaric is relatively easy to determine and the main characteristics are the smoothing red hat as well as the white spots and the typical white lamb on the underside of the hat as well as the white stem which can be about 10-25 cm long. The white dots on the hat are leftover remnants of the shell and therefore it can happen that they disappear in heavy rain and in young specimens the hat is still closely linked to the stem and are completely wrapped in a white shell. Even if the appearance is really inviting, it is only important to mention again that the fungus should not be consumed and can lead to symptoms of poisoning and which is due to the active ingredient ibotenic acid, which is converted into muscimol by drying.
Consumption can lead to serious health consequences and it is assumed that it is responsible for about 2% of all fungal poisoning but confusion with other fungi are extremely rare due to the unique appearance. The distribution area of fly agarics is Europe, North America or Asia and it is usually found in coniferous and deciduous forests and it prefers acidic soils. The fly agaric is also strongly anchored in history and it has been used by some cultures for thousands of years for intoxicating purposes and it has also shaped shamanic rituals to a large extent. It can also be found in mythology and according to a legend from Norse mythology it is associated with Odin and from the horse of Odin a foam dripped onto the ground and fly agarics grew in the places. Even in ancient Greece as well as for the Maya, it was used for ritual purposes to come into contact with higher powers and this mushroom also occurs in many fairy tales. The ancient alchemists also appreciated this mushroom very much and probably make some extracts from it and hardly any other fungus is as anchored as the fly agaric when it comes to mythology.
Many thanks for stopping by and I hope you like my new contribution! I captured these pictures with my Camera Sony Alpha 6000 plus 55-210 mm lens!