POISONOUS AND HALLUCINOGENIC MUSHROOMS
by Michael W. Beug Email: beugm@evergreen.edu
The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA
Slide 33.
Amanita pantherina and Amanita pantherinoides,
shown here, are look-alikes distinguished from Amanita muscaria
by having a single roll of tissue looking like a stand-up collar at the
base of the stem just above the bulbous swelling. Amanita pantherina
causes more mushroom poisonings than any other mushroom in the Pacific
Northwest. It first appears in the spring and can fruit well into the fall
months. It is large, meaty and attractive with a delicious flavor. Children,
dogs and cats all eat it as do adults who mistake it for an edible species
and adults who eat it for the mind-altering effects. It causes a more violent
poisoning than Amanita muscaria. One problem that seekers of hallucinogenic
plants face is that the content of active ingredients varies from one region
to the next and from one specimen to the next. Unlike the Psilocybe species
where there is a wide range of mushroom that can be consumed without serious
side effects, with both Amanita muscaria and Amanita pantherina
there is little difference between the amount of mushroom that will produce
little or no mind-altering effect and the amount that produces violent
convulsions or a deep coma-like sleep.
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