POISONOUS AND HALLUCINOGENIC MUSHROOMS
by Michael W. Beug Email: beugm@evergreen.edu
The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA
Slide 32.
Amanita muscaria var. formosa is a color variant
of Amanita muscaria. Amanita muscaria can be white, yellow,
red, orange or even brown. All Amanita muscaria variants are characterized
by white gills and stem, a white spore print, warts on the cap which easily
wash or rub off, a membranous partial veil that leaves a distinct membranous
mid-stem ring and remains of the universal veil seen as three small rings
of tissue just at the enlarged stem base. The book Alice in Wonderland
was written by Lewis Carroll after he had experimented with Amanita
muscaria and the changes in size and time perception described in Alice
in Wonderland are characteristic effects of the mushroom intoxication.
People remain fascinated by this mushroom and you will see it illustrated
in many children's books, on lawn ornaments and on kitchen items. Siberian
tribesmen valued Amanita muscaria for its effects and would even
trade a prized reindeer for one or two dried specimens. When they urinated
on the ground an hour after eating the mushrooms, the reindeer would come
for the salt in the yellow snow and become intoxicated, clueing poorer
tribesmen to capture the urine for their own intoxication. The common name
"Fly Agaric" refers to the fact that in the Middle Ages Europeans learned
that the mushroom crushed in a saucer of milk would attract flies that
would become stupefied and drown. In some parts of the world, Amanita
muscaria is still used as an insecticide.
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