Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric (pronounced /ˈæɡərɪk/) or
fly Amanita (pronounced /ˌæməˈnaɪtə/), is a psychoactive
basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita. Native throughout the
temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere,
Amanita muscaria has
been unintentionally introduced to many countries in the Southern Hemisphere,
generally as a symbiont with pine plantations, and is now a true cosmopolitan
species. It associates with various deciduous and coniferous trees. The
quintessential toadstool, it is a large white-gilled, white-spotted, usually
deep red mushroom, one of the most recognizable and widely encountered in
popular culture. Several subspecies, with differing cap colour have been
recognised to date, including the brown regalis (considered a separate species),
the yellow-orange flavivolata, guessowii, and formosa, and the pinkish
persicina. Genetic studies published in 2006 and 2008 show several sharply
delineated clades which may represent separate species.
Amanita muscaria It was used as an intoxicant and entheogen by the peoples of
Siberia and has a religious significance in these cultures. There has been much
speculation on traditional use of this mushroom as an intoxicant in places other
than Siberia; however, such traditions are far less well-documented. The
American banker and amateur ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson proposed the fly
agaric was in fact the Soma talked about in the ancient Rig Veda texts of India;
since its introduction in 1968, this theory has gained both detractors and
followers in the anthropological literature.
Today
Amanita muscaria mushrooms are widely known: the
Alice in Wonderland mushrooms, the
fairytale mushrooms regularly seen in fairy tale books. Yet most people aren't
aware that they are, in fact, real. A must have addition to any ethnobotanical
collection.
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