Amanita muscaria

Amanita muscaria, commonly known as thefly agaricorfly amanita,is abasidiomyceteof the genusAmanita. It is a large white-gilled, white-spotted, and usually red mushroom.
Despite its easily distinguishable features,A.muscariais a fungus with several known variations, orsubspecies. These subspecies are slightly different, some having yellow or white caps, but are all usually called fly agarics, most often recognizable by their notable white spots. RecentDNAfungi research, however, has shown that some mushrooms called "fly agaric" are in fact unique species, such asA.persicina(the peach-colored fly agaric).
Native throughout thetemperateandborealregions of theNorthern Hemisphere,A.muscariahas been unintentionallyintroducedto many countries in theSouthern Hemisphere, generally as asymbiontwithpineandbirchplantations, and is now a truecosmopolitanspecies. Itassociateswith variousdeciduousandconiferoustrees.
Althoughpoisonous, death due to poisoning fromA.muscariaingestion is quite rare.Parboilingtwice with water weakens its toxicity and breaks down the mushroom'spsychoactivesubstances; it is eaten in parts of Europe, Asia, and North America. AllA.muscariavarieties, but in particularA.muscariavar.muscaria, are noted for theirhallucinogenicproperties, with the main psychoactive constituents beingmuscimoland its neurotoxic precursoribotenic acid. A local variety of the mushroom was used as an intoxicant andentheogenby theindigenous peoples of Siberia.
Arguably the most iconictoadstoolspecies, the fly agaric is one of the most recognizable fungi in the world, and is widely encountered in popular culture, including in video games—for example, the frequent use of a recognizableA.muscariain theMariofranchise (e.g. itsSuper Mushroompower-up)—and television—for example, the houses inThe Smurfsfranchise.There have been cases of children admitted to hospitals after consuming this poisonous mushroom; the children may have been attracted to it because of its pop-culture associations.
The name of themushroomin many European languages is thought to derive from its use as aninsecticidewhen sprinkled in milk. This practice has been recorded fromGermanic-andSlavic-speakingparts of Europe, as well as theVosgesregion and pockets elsewhere in France, and Romania.Albertus Magnuswas the first to record it in his workDe vegetabilibussome time before 1256,commenting"vocatur fungus muscarum, eo quod in lacte pulverizatus interficit muscas"("it is called the fly mushroom because it is powdered in milk to kill flies").
The 16th-century Flemish botanistCarolus Clusiustraced the practice of sprinkling it into milk toFrankfurtin Germany,whileCarl Linnaeus, the "father of taxonomy", reported it fromSmålandin southern Sweden, where he had lived as a child.He described it in volume two of hisSpecies Plantarumin 1753, giving it the nameAgaricus muscarius,thespecific epithetderiving fromLatinmuscameaning "fly".It gained its current name in 1783, when placed in the genusAmanitabyJean-Baptiste Lamarck, aname sanctionedin 1821 by the "father of mycology", Swedish naturalistElias Magnus Fries. The starting date for all themycotahad been set by general agreement as January 1, 1821, the date of Fries's work, and so the full name was thenAmanita muscaria(L.:Fr.)Hook. The 1987 edition of theInternational Code of Botanical Nomenclaturechanged the rules on the starting date and primary work for names of fungi, and names can now be considered valid as far back as May 1, 1753, the date of publication of Linnaeus's work.Hence, Linnaeus and Lamarck are now taken as the namers ofAmanita muscaria(L.) Lam..
The English mycologistJohn Ramsbottomreported thatAmanita muscariawas used for getting rid of bugs in England and Sweden, andbug agaricwas an old alternative name for the species.French mycologistPierre Bulliardreported having tried without success to replicate its fly-killing properties in his workHistoire des plantes vénéneuses et suspectes de la France(1784), and proposed a new binomial nameAgaricus pseudo-aurantiacusbecause of this.One compound isolated from the fungus is 1,3-diolein (1,3-di(cis-9-octadecenoyl)glycerol), which attracts insects.It has been hypothesised that the flies intentionally seek out the fly agaric for its intoxicating properties.An alternative derivation proposes that the termfly-refers not to insects as such but rather thedeliriumresulting from consumption of the fungus. This is based on the medieval belief that flies could enter a person's head and cause mental illness.Several regional names appear to be linked with this connotation, meaning the "mad" or "fool's" version of the highly regarded edible mushroomAmanita caesarea. Hence there isoriol foll"mad oriol" inCatalan,mujolo folofromToulouse,concourlo fouolofrom theAveyrondepartment in Southern France,ovolo mattofromTrentinoin Italy. A local dialect name inFribourgin Switzerland istsapi de diablhou, which translates as "Devil's hat".
Amanita muscariais thetype speciesof the genus. By extension, it is also the type species ofAmanitasubgenusAmanita, as well as sectionAmanitawithin this subgenus.AmanitasubgenusAmanitaincludes allAmanitawithinamyloidspores.AmanitasectionAmanitaincludes the species with patchyuniversal veilremnants, including avolvathat is reduced to a series of concentric rings, and the veil remnants on thecapto a series of patches or warts. Most species in this group also have a bulbous base.AmanitasectionAmanitaconsists ofA. muscariaand its close relatives, includingA. pantherina(the panther cap),A. gemmata,A. farinosa, andA. xanthocephala.Modern fungal taxonomists have classifiedAmanita muscariaand its allies this way based on grossmorphologyand spore inamyloidy. Two recentmolecular phylogeneticstudies have confirmed this classification as natural.
A large, conspicuousmushroom,Amanita muscariais generally common and numerous where it grows, and is often found in groups withbasidiocarpsin all stages of development.
Fly agaric fruiting bodies emerge from the soil looking like white eggs. After emerging from the ground, the cap is covered with numerous small white to yellow pyramid-shaped warts. These are remnants of theuniversal veil, a membrane that encloses the entire mushroom when it is still very young. Dissecting the mushroom at this stage reveals a characteristic yellowish layer of skin under the veil, which helps identification. As the fungus grows, the red colour appears through the broken veil and the warts become less prominent; they do not change in size, but are reduced relative to the expanding skin area. The cap changes fromgloboseto hemispherical, and finally to plate-like and flat in mature specimens.Fully grown, the bright redcapis usually around 8–20 centimetres (3–8 inches) in diameter, although larger specimens have been found. The red colour may fade after rain and in older mushrooms.
The freegillsare white, as is thespore print. The oval spores measure 9–13 by 6.5–9μm; they do not turn blue with the application ofiodine.Thestipeis white, 5–20 cm (2–8 in) highby1–2 cm (1⁄2–1 in) wide, and has the slightly brittle, fibrous texture typical of many large mushrooms. At the base is abulbthat bears universal veil remnants in the form of two to four distinct rings or ruffs. Between the basal universal veil remnants and gills are remnants of thepartial veil(which covers the gills during development) in the form of a whitering. It can be quite wide and flaccid with age. There is generally no associated smell other than a mild earthiness.
Although very distinctive in appearance, the fly agaric has been mistaken for other yellow to red mushroom species in the Americas, such asArmillariacf.melleaand the edibleA. basii—a Mexican species similar toA. caesareaof Europe. Poison control centres in the U.S. and Canada have become aware thatamarill(Spanish for 'yellow') is acommon namefor theA. caesarea-like species in Mexico.A. caesareais distinguished by its entirely orange to red cap, which lacks the numerous white warty spots of the fly agaric (though these sometimes wash away during heavy rain).Furthermore, the stem, gills and ring ofA. caesareaare bright yellow, not white.The volva is a distinct white bag, not broken into scales.In Australia, the introduced fly agaric may be confused with the native vermilion grisette (Amanita xanthocephala), which grows in association witheucalypts. The latter species generally lacks the white warts ofA. muscariaand bears no ring.Additionally, immature button forms resemblepuffballs.
Amanita muscariavaries considerably in its morphology, and many authorities recognize several subspecies or varieties within the species. InThe Agaricales in Modern Taxonomy, German mycologistRolf Singerlisted three subspecies, though without description:A. muscariassp.muscaria,A. muscariassp.americana, andA. muscariassp.flavivolvata.
However, a 2006 molecular phylogenetic study of different regional populations ofA. muscariaby mycologist József Geml and colleagues found three distinctcladeswithin this species representing, roughly, Eurasian, Eurasian "subalpine", and North American populations. Specimens belonging to all three clades have been found in Alaska; this has led to the hypothesis that this was the centre of diversification for this species. The study also looked at four named varieties of the species: var.alba, var.flavivolvata, var.formosa(including var.guessowii), and var.regalisfrom both areas. All four varieties were found within both the Eurasian and North American clades, evidence that these morphological forms arepolymorphismsrather than distinct subspecies or varieties.Further molecular study by Geml and colleagues published in 2008 show that these three genetic groups, plus a fourth associated with oak–hickory–pine forest in the southeastern United States and two more onSanta Cruz Islandin California, are delineated from each other enough genetically to be considered separate species. ThusA. muscariaas it stands currently is, evidently, aspecies complex.The complex also includes at least three other closely related taxa that are currently regarded as species:A. breckoniiis a buff-capped mushroom associated with conifers from the Pacific Northwest,and the brown-cappedA. gioiosaandA. heterochromafrom theMediterranean Basinand fromSardiniarespectively. Both of these last two are found withEucalyptusandCistustrees, and it is unclear whether they are native or introduced from Australia.
Amanitaceae.orglists four varieties as of May 2019, but says that they will be segregated into their own taxa "in the near future". They are:
A. muscariais acosmopolitanmushroom, native to conifer and deciduous woodlands throughout thetemperateandborealregions of the Northern Hemisphere,including higher elevations of warmer latitudes in regions such asHindu Kush, the Mediterranean and also Central America. A recent molecular study proposes that it had an ancestral origin in theSiberian–Beringianregion in theTertiaryperiod, before radiating outwards across Asia, Europe and North America.The season for fruiting varies in different climates: fruiting occurs in summer and autumn across most of North America, but later in autumn and early winter on thePacific coast. This species is often found in similar locations toBoletus edulis, and may appear infairy rings.Conveyed with pine seedlings, it has been widely transported into the southern hemisphere, including Australia,New Zealand,South Africaand South America, where it can be found in the Brazilian states ofParaná,São Paulo, Minas Gerais,Rio Grande do Sul.
Ectomycorrhizal,A. muscariaforms symbiotic relationships with many trees, includingpine,oak,spruce,fir,birch, andcedar. Commonly seen under introduced trees,A. muscariais the fungal equivalent of aweedinNew Zealand,TasmaniaandVictoria, forming new associations with southern beech (Nothofagus).The species is also invading a rainforest in Australia, where it may be displacing the native species.It appears to be spreading northwards, with recent reports placing it nearPort Macquarieon theNew South Walesnorth coast.It was recorded under silver birch (Betula pendula) inManjimup, Western Australia in 2010.Although it has apparently not spread toeucalyptsin Australia, it has been recorded associating with them in Portugal. Commonly found throughout the great Southern region of western Australia, it is regularly found growing onPinus radiata.
A. muscariapoisoning has occurred in young children and in people who ingested the mushrooms for ahallucinogenicexperience,or who confused it with an edible species.
A. muscariacontains several biologically active agents, at least one of which,muscimol, is known to bepsychoactive.Ibotenic acid, aneurotoxin, serves as aprodrugto muscimol, with a small amount likely converting to muscimol after ingestion. An active dose in adults is approximately 6 mg muscimol or 30 to 60 mg ibotenic acid;this is typically about the amount found in one cap ofAmanita muscaria.The amount and ratio of chemical compounds per mushroom varies widely from region to region and season to season, which can further confuse the issue. Spring and summer mushrooms have been reported to contain up to 10 times more ibotenic acid and muscimol than autumn fruitings.
Deaths fromA. muscariahave been reported in historical journal articles and newspaper reports,but with modern medical treatment, fatal poisoning from ingesting this mushroom is extremely rare.Many books listA. muscariaas deadly,but according toDavid Arora, this is an error that implies the mushroom is far more toxic than it is.Furthermore, TheNorth American Mycological Associationhas stated that there were "no reliably documented cases of death from toxins in these mushrooms in the past 100 years".
The active constituents of this species are water-soluble, and boiling and then discarding the cooking water at least partly detoxifiesA. muscaria.Drying may increase potency, as the process facilitates the conversion of ibotenic acid to the more potent muscimol.According to some sources, once detoxified, the mushroom becomes edible.Patrick Harding describes the Sami custom of processing the fly agaric through reindeer.
Muscarine, discovered in 1869,was long thought to be the active hallucinogenic agent inA. muscaria. Muscarine binds withmuscarinic acetylcholine receptorsleading to the excitation of neurons bearing these receptors. The levels of muscarine inAmanita muscariaare minute when compared with other poisonous fungisuch asInosperma erubescens, the small whiteClitocybespeciesC. dealbataandC. rivulosa. The level of muscarine inA. muscariais too low to play a role in the symptoms of poisoning.
The major toxins involved inA. muscariapoisoning aremuscimol(3-hydroxy-5-aminomethyl-1-isoxazole, anunsaturatedcyclichydroxamic acid) and the related amino acidibotenic acid. Muscimol is the product of thedecarboxylation(usually by drying) of ibotenic acid. Muscimol and ibotenic acid were discovered in the mid-20th century.Researchers in England,Japan,and Switzerlandshowed that the effects produced were due mainly to ibotenic acid and muscimol, not muscarine.These toxins are not distributed uniformly in the mushroom. Most are detected in the cap of the fruit, a moderate amount in the base, with the smallest amount in the stalk.Quite rapidly, between 20 and 90 minutes after ingestion, a substantial fraction of ibotenic acid is excreted unmetabolised in the urine of the consumer. Almost no muscimol is excreted when pure ibotenic acid is eaten, but muscimol is detectable in the urine after eatingA. muscaria, which contains both ibotenic acid and muscimol.
Ibotenic acid and muscimol are structurally related to each other and to two majorneurotransmittersof the central nervous system:glutamic acidandGABArespectively. Ibotenic acid and muscimol act like these neurotransmitters, muscimol being a potentGABAAagonist, while ibotenic acid is an agonist ofNMDA glutamate receptorsand certainmetabotropic glutamate receptorswhich are involved in the control of neuronal activity. It is these interactions which are thought to cause the psychoactive effects found in intoxication.
Muscazoneis another compound that has more recently been isolated from European specimens of the fly agaric. It is a product of the breakdown of ibotenic acid byultraviolet radiation.Muscazone is of minorpharmacological activitycompared with the other agents.Amanita muscariaand related species are known as effectivebioaccumulatorsofvanadium; some species concentrate vanadium to levels of up to 400 times those typically found in plants.Vanadium is present in fruit-bodies as anorganometalliccompound calledamavadine.The biological importance of the accumulation process is unknown.
Fly agarics are best known for the unpredictability of their effects. Depending on habitat and the amount ingested per body weight, effects can range from mildnauseaand twitching to drowsiness,cholinergic crisis-like effects (lowblood pressure,sweatingandsalivation), auditory and visual distortions, mood changes,euphoria, relaxation,ataxia, andloss of equilibrium(like withtetanus.)
In cases of serious poisoning the mushroom causesdelirium, somewhat similar in effect toanticholinergicpoisoning (such as that caused byDatura stramonium), characterised by bouts of markedagitationwith confusion, hallucinations, and irritability followed by periods ofcentral nervous systemdepression.Seizuresandcomamay also occur in severe poisonings.Symptoms typically appear after around 30 to 90 minutes and peak within three hours, but certain effects can last for several days.In the majority of cases recovery is complete within 12 to 24 hours.The effect is highly variable between individuals, with similar doses potentially causing quite different reactions.Some people suffering intoxication have exhibited headaches up to ten hours afterwards.Retrograde amnesiaandsomnolencecan result following recovery.
Medical attention should be sought in cases of suspected poisoning. If the delay between ingestion and treatment is less than four hours,activated charcoalis given.Gastric lavagecan be considered if the patient presents within one hour of ingestion.Inducing vomiting withsyrup of ipecacis no longer recommended in any poisoning situation.
There is no antidote, and supportive care is the mainstay of further treatment for intoxication. Though sometimes referred to as adeliriantand while muscarine was first isolated fromA. muscariaand as such is its namesake,muscimoldoes not have action, either as anagonistorantagonist, at themuscarinic acetylcholine receptorsite, and thereforeatropineorphysostigmineas an antidote is not recommended.If a patient isdeliriousor agitated, this can usually be treated by reassurance and, if necessary, physical restraints. Abenzodiazepinesuch asdiazepamorlorazepamcan be used to control combativeness, agitation, muscular overactivity, and seizures.Only small doses should be used, as they may worsen therespiratory depressanteffects of muscimol.Recurrent vomiting is rare, but if present may lead to fluid and electrolyte imbalances; intravenous rehydration or electrolyte replacement may be required.Serious cases may develop loss ofconsciousnessorcoma, and may needintubationandartificial ventilation.Hemodialysiscan remove the toxins, although this intervention is generally considered unnecessary.With modern medical treatment the prognosis is typically good following supportive treatment.
The wide range ofpsychoactiveeffects have been variously described asdepressant,sedative-hypnotic,psychedelic,dissociative, ordeliriant;paradoxical effectssuch asstimulationmay occur however. Perceptual phenomena such assynesthesia,macropsia, andmicropsiamay occur; the latter two effects may occur either simultaneously or alternatingly, as part ofAlice in Wonderland syndrome, collectively known as dysmetropsia, along with related distortionspelopsiaandteleopsia. Some users reportlucid dreamingunder the influence of its hypnotic effects. UnlikePsilocybe cubensis,A. muscariacannot be commerciallycultivated, due to itsmycorrhizalrelationship with the roots ofpinetrees. However, following the outlawing ofpsilocybin mushroomsin the United Kingdom in 2006, the sale of the still legalA. muscariabegan increasing.
Marija Gimbutasreported toR. Gordon Wassonthat in remote areas ofLithuania,A. muscariahas been consumed atwedding feasts, in which mushrooms were mixed withvodka. She also reported that the Lithuanians used to exportA. muscariato theSamiin the Far North for use inshamanicrituals. The Lithuanian festivities are the only report that Wasson received of ingestion of fly agaric for religious use in Eastern Europe.
A. muscariawas widely used as anentheogenby many of theindigenous peoples of Siberia. Its use was known among almost all of theUralic-speaking peoples of western Siberia and thePaleosiberian-speaking peoples of theRussian Far East. There are only isolated reports ofA. muscariause among theTungusicandTurkic peoplesof central Siberia and it is believed that on the whole entheogenic use ofA. muscariawas not practised by these peoples.In western Siberia, the use ofA. muscariawas restricted to shamans, who used it as an alternative method of achieving atrancestate. (Normally, Siberian shamans achieve trance by prolonged drumming and dancing.) In eastern Siberia,A. muscariawas used by both shamans and laypeople alike, and was used recreationally as well as religiously.In eastern Siberia, theshamanwould take the mushrooms, and others would drink his urine.This urine, still containing psychoactive elements, may be more potent than theA. muscariamushrooms with fewer negative effects such as sweating and twitching, suggesting that the initial user may act as a screening filter for other components in the mushroom.
TheKoryakof eastern Siberia have a story about the fly agaric (wapaq) which enabled Big Raven to carry a whale to its home. In the story, the deityVahiyinin("Existence") spat onto earth, and hisspittlebecame thewapaq, and his saliva becomes the warts. After experiencing the power of thewapaq, Raven was so exhilarated that he told it to grow forever on earth so his children, the people, could learn from it.Among theKoryaks, one report said that the poor would consume the urine of the wealthy, who could afford to buy the mushrooms.It was reported that the local reindeer would often follow an individual intoxicated by the muscimol mushroom, and if said individual were to urinate in snow the reindeer would become similarly intoxicated and theKoryakpeople's would use the drunken state of the reindeer to more easily rope and hunt them.
As a result of a lack of regulation, the use of Amanita muscaria as a popular legal alternative tohallucinogenshas grown exponentially in recent years. In 2024,Googlesearches for Amanita muscaria rose nearly 200% from the previous year, a trend that an article published in theAmerican Journal of Preventative Medicinecorrelated with the sudden commercialization of Amanita muscaria products on the internet.
While Amanita mushrooms are unscheduled in the United States, the sale of Amanita products exists in a legal gray area as they are listed as a poison by the FDAand are not approved to be used in dietary supplements, with some drawing comparisons to the controversial legal status ofhemp-derived cannabinoids.
A recent outbreak of poisonings and at least one death associated with products containing Amanita muscaria extracts has sparked debates regarding theregulatory statusof Amanita mushrooms and their psychoactive constituents.These products often use misleading advertising, such as erroneous comparisons toPsilocybin mushroomsor simply not disclosing the inclusion of Amanita mushrooms on the packaging.
The Finnish historianT. I. Itkonenmentions thatA. muscariawas once used among theSámi peoples. Sorcerers inInariwould consume fly agarics with seven spots.In 1979, Said Gholam Mochtar andHartmut Geerkenpublished an article in which they claimed to have discovered a tradition of medicinal and recreational use of this mushroom among aParachi-speaking group inAfghanistan.There are also unconfirmed reports of religious use ofA. muscariaamong two SubarcticNative Americantribes.OjibwaethnobotanistKeewaydinoquay Peschelreported its use among her people, where it was known asmiskwedo(an abbreviation of the nameoshtimisk wajashkwedo(= "red-top mushroom").This information was enthusiastically received by Wasson, although evidence from other sources was lacking.There is also one account of a Euro-American who claims to have been initiated into traditionalTlichouse ofAmanita muscaria.
Mycophilosopher Martijn Benders has proposed a novel evolutionary theory involvingAmanita muscaria. In his bookAmanita Muscaria – the Book of the Empress, Benders argues that a precursor of ibotenic acid, a compound found in the mushroom, was present in ancient seaweed and played a significant role in the evolution of life. According to this hypothesis, the compound influenced the twitching movements of early aquatic organisms, leading to the development of behaviors such as jumping onto land—a crucial step in the evolution of terrestrial species.
The flyingreindeerofSanta Claus, who is calledJoulupukkiinFinland, could symbolize the use ofA. muscariaby Sámi shamans.However, Sámi scholars and the Sámi peoples themselves refute any connection between Santa Claus and Sámi history or culture.
The notion thatVikingsusedA. muscariato produce theirberserkerrages was first suggested by the Swedish professorSamuel Ödmannin 1784.Ödmann based his theories on reports about the use of fly agaric amongSiberian shamans. The notion has become widespread since the 19th century, but no contemporary sources mention this use or anything similar in their description of berserkers. Muscimol is generally a mild relaxant, but it can create a range of different reactions within a group of people.It is possible that it could make a person angry, or cause them to be "very jolly or sad, jump about, dance, sing or give way to great fright".Comparative analysis of symptoms have, however, since shownHyoscyamus nigerto be a better fit to the state that characterises the berserker rage.
In 1968,R. Gordon Wassonproposed thatA. muscariawas thesomatalked about in theRigvedaof India,a claim which received widespread publicity and popular support at the time.He noted that descriptions ofSomaomitted any description of roots, stems or seeds, which suggested a mushroom,and used the adjectivehári"dazzling" or "flaming" which the author interprets as meaning red.One line described men urinatingSoma; this recalled the practice of recycling urine in Siberia. Soma is mentioned as coming "from the mountains", which Wasson interpreted as the mushroom having been brought in with the Aryan migrants from the north.Indian scholars Santosh Kumar Dash and Sachinanda Padhy pointed out that both eating of mushrooms and drinking of urine were proscribed, using as a source theManusmṛti.In 1971, Vedic scholar John Brough from Cambridge University rejected Wasson's theory and noted that the language was too vague to determine a description of Soma.In his 1976 survey,Hallucinogens and Culture, anthropologist Peter T. Furst evaluated the evidence for and against the identification of the fly agaric mushroom as the Vedic Soma, concluding cautiously in its favour.Kevin Feeney and Trent Austin compared the references in the Vedas with the filtering mechanisms in the preparation of Amanita muscaria and published findings supporting the proposal that fly-agaric mushrooms could be a likely candidate for the sacrament.Other proposed candidates includePsilocybe cubensis,Peganum harmala,andEphedra.
Philologist, archaeologist, andDead Sea ScrollsscholarJohn Marco Allegropostulated that early Christiantheologywas derived from a fertility cult revolving around theentheogenicconsumption ofA. muscariain his 1970 bookThe Sacred Mushroom and the Cross.This theory has found little support by scholars outside the field ofethnomycology. The book was widely criticized by academics and theologians, includingSir Godfrey Driver, emeritus Professor of Semitic Philology atOxford UniversityandHenry Chadwick, the Dean ofChrist Church, Oxford.Christian author John C. King wrote a detailed rebuttal of Allegro's theory in the 1970 bookA Christian View of the Mushroom Myth; he notes that neither fly agarics nor their host trees are found in theMiddle East, even though cedars and pines are found there, and highlights the tenuous nature of the links between biblical and Sumerian names coined by Allegro. He concludes that if the theory were true, the use of the mushroom must have been "the best kept secret in the world" as it was so well concealed for two thousand years.
Amanita muscariais traditionally used for catching flies possibly due to its content ofibotenic acidandmuscimol, which lead to its common name "fly agaric". Recently, an analysis of nine different methods for preparingA. muscariafor catching flies inSloveniahave shown that the release of ibotenic acid and muscimol did not depend on the solvent (milk or water) and that thermal and mechanical processing led to faster extraction of ibotenic acid and muscimol.
The toxins inA. muscariaare water-soluble: parboilingA. muscariafruit bodies can detoxify them and render them edible,although consumption of the mushroom as a food has never been widespread.The consumption of detoxifiedA. muscariahas been practiced in some parts of Europe (notably by Russian settlers in Siberia) since at least the 19th century, and likely earlier. The German physician and naturalistGeorg Heinrich von Langsdorffwrote the earliest published account on how to detoxify this mushroom in 1823. In the late 19th century, the French physicianFélix Archimède Pouchetwas a populariser and advocate ofA. muscariaconsumption, comparing it tomanioc, an important food source in tropical South America that must also be detoxified before consumption.
Use of this mushroom as a food source also seems to have existed in North America. A classic description of this use ofA. muscariaby anAfrican-Americanmushroom seller in Washington, D.C., in the late 19th century is described by American botanistFrederick Vernon Coville. In this case, the mushroom, after parboiling, and soaking in vinegar, is made into a mushroom sauce for steak.It is also consumed as a food in parts of Japan. The most well-known current use as an edible mushroom is inNagano Prefecture, Japan. There, it is primarily salted and pickled.
A 2008 paper by food historian William Rubel and mycologist David Arora gives a history of consumption ofA. muscariaas a food and describes detoxification methods. They advocate thatAmanita muscariabe described in field guides as an edible mushroom, though accompanied by a description on how to detoxify it. The authors state that the widespread descriptions in field guides of this mushroom as poisonous is a reflection ofcultural bias, as several other popular edible species, notablymorels, are also toxic unless properly cooked.
The red-and-white spotted toadstool is a common image in many aspects of popular culture.Garden ornaments and children's picture books depictinggnomesandfairies, such as theSmurfs, often show fly agarics used as seats, or homes.Fly agarics have been featured in paintings since theRenaissance,albeit in a subtle manner. For instance, inHieronymus Bosch's painting,The Garden of Earthly Delights, the mushroom can be seen on the left-hand panel of the work.In theVictorian erathey became more visible, becoming the main topic of somefairy paintings.Two of the most famous uses of the mushroom are in theMariofranchise (specifically two of theSuper Mushroompower-up items and the platforms in several stages which are based on a fly agaric),and the dancing mushroom sequence in the 1940 Disney filmFantasia.
An account of the journeys ofPhilip von Strahlenbergto Siberia and his descriptions of the use of themukhomorthere was published in English in 1736. The drinking of urine of those who had consumed the mushroom was commented on by Anglo-Irish writerOliver Goldsmithin his widely read 1762 novel,Citizen of the World.The mushroom had been identified as the fly agaric by this time.Other authors recorded the distortions of the size of perceived objects while intoxicated by the fungus, including naturalistMordecai Cubitt Cookein his booksThe Seven Sisters of SleepandA Plain and Easy Account of British Fungi.This observation is thought to have formed the basis of the effects of eating the mushroom in the 1865 popular storyAlice's Adventures in Wonderland.A hallucinogenic "scarlet toadstool" from Lappland is featured as a plot element inCharles Kingsley's 1866 novelHereward the Wakebased on themedieval figureof the same name.Thomas Pynchon's 1973 novelGravity's Rainbowdescribes the fungus as a "relative of the poisonousDestroying angel" and presents a detailed description of a character preparing a cookie bake mixture from harvestedAmanita muscaria.Fly agaric shamanism—in the context of a survivingDionysiancult in thePeak District—is also explored in the 2003 novelThursbitchbyAlan Garner.