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The Red-Capped Fly Agaric/Mushroom (Amanita muscaria) |
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These mushrooms have a fascinating history. They were first formally classified by Sir William Jackson Hooker in 1821, a self-taught cryptogamic botanist and founder of Kew Botanical Gardens. They are distributed globally and thrive in forests - particularly under the shade of pine trees. The color is highly variable, from bright red (Amanita muscaria var. muscaria), to yellow/orange (Amanita muscaria var. formosa), to white (Amanita muscaria var. alba), but there are always white patches on the cap, the remnants of the universal veil that covers the button stage. There are a number of delightful common names for this fungus including, fly agaric, fly amanita, fly mushroom, magic mushroom, fungus of folly and flesh of the gods. This mushroom is poisonous and hallucinogenic. It contains ibotenic acid and muscimol which affect the central nervous system. Ingestion of these toxins results in an expanded perception, talking to God, macropsia (perceiving objects as enlarged), a rapid heartbeat and a dry mouth. They can also turn off the fear emotion. The Vikings effectively used these mushrooms when they were getting ready to invade a land. They essentially turned off their fear emotions, thus gaining their reputation for their fierceness. Many cultures throughout the centuries have used them to induce deliberate hallucinations, in order to experience religious and mystical visions, in the guise of searching for an answer to the meaning of life. As little as 2g of dried mushroom, lead to similar psychotropic effects as those of LSD. It's called the fly agaric because in some regions little pieces of the mushroom are placed in milk to attract and stupefy flies. The flies become inebriated and crash into walls and die. This is the classic fairy-tale toadstool. Now I know where all the fairy's come from. Makes you think! |
