Fly Agaric

Amanita muscaria (L.) Lam.

Safety first

This mushroom is listed as poisonous. Eating it can make you seriously ill.

Many edible mushrooms have toxic lookalikes, and some of those can be fatal. Have any mushroom identified in person by a local expert before you eat it.

If someone may have eaten a wild mushroom, call US Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 or 911 right away. In Canada, call your provincial poison centre or 911.

Edibility

Poisonous Source: Wikipedia: Amanita muscaria

Classification from Wikipedia: Amanita muscaria. Sources can be wrong or incomplete, and people react differently.

Never eat a wild mushroom based on this site or any app.

Photos

Photo: Chris Sulots. CC-BY. Source (inaturalist)
Photo: Megan “Moe” Morelock. CC-BY. Source (inaturalist)
Photo: wildflowerwatching. CC-BY. Source (inaturalist)
Photo: caseyhh. CC0. Source (inaturalist)

Lookalikes

No lookalikes are recorded for this species yet. That does not mean there are none. Many mushrooms look alike, so never rely on appearance alone.

Season

When this species has been recorded, by month, from open-licensed US and Canada observations. It shows when people report it, not a guarantee it is fruiting.

The highlighted bar is the current month.

View season data as a table

Recorded observations of Fly Agaric by month
Month	Records
January	345
February	42
March	34
April	25
May	73
June	242
July	673
August	1,193
September	1,336
October	1,550
November	697
December	519

Where it is found

States and provinces with the most records. Check the foraging rules for the place you plan to visit.

California 1,142 records · Foraging rules
British Columbia 700 records · Foraging rules
Washington 365 records · Foraging rules
Ontario 303 records · Foraging rules
Alaska 293 records · Foraging rules
Colorado 288 records · Foraging rules
New York 271 records · Foraging rules
Oregon 261 records · Foraging rules
Pennsylvania 215 records · Foraging rules
Quebec 203 records · Foraging rules
Massachusetts 191 records · Foraging rules
Michigan 176 records · Foraging rules
Minnesota 168 records · Foraging rules
Ohio 115 records · Foraging rules
Nova Scotia 112 records · Foraging rules

Show 42 more

Vermont100 records
Arizona91 records
Maine76 records
Wisconsin75 records
North Carolina73 records
New Jersey65 records
Virginia64 records
Maryland61 records
Idaho52 records
Wyoming43 records
New Hampshire42 records
Utah38 records
New Mexico38 records
Alberta34 records
West Virginia29 records
New Brunswick29 records
Connecticut28 records
Illinois21 records
Indiana21 records
Prince Edward Island20 records
Tennessee20 records
Florida20 records
Texas20 records
Delaware19 records
Manitoba17 records
Mississippi13 records
Hawaii12 records
Louisiana11 records
South Dakota11 records
Georgia10 records
Alabama10 records
Newfoundland and Labrador10 records
Montana9 records
Kentucky9 records
Saskatchewan8 records
Northwest Territories8 records
Rhode Island7 records
South Carolina6 records
District of Columbia6 records
Yukon3 records
Missouri2 records
Iowa1 records

All state and province foraging laws

Identification traits

Cap shape	convex
Underside (gills, pores or teeth)	gills
Ecology	mycorrhizal
Stem features	ring and volva
Spore print color	white

Traits vary. Use them to ask better questions of an expert, not to make a final call.

About

Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita or simply red toadstool, is a basidiomycete fungus of the genus Amanita. Its name may come from its historical use to kill flies or from the effects it causes (a medieval belief held that flies could enter the head and cause madness). It is a distinctive, large, white-gilled mushroom typically featuring a bright red cap covered with white warts. The complex genetic diversity of A. muscaria suggests that it is a species complex. It is a widely distributed mushroom native to temperate and boreal forests of the Northern Hemisphere, now also naturalised in the Southern Hemisphere, forming symbiotic relationships with various trees and spreading invasively in some regions. Ingestion of the mushroom can cause poisoning, especially in children and those seeking its hallucinogenic effects, due to psychoactive compounds like muscimol and ibotenic acid; however, fatal poisonings are extremely rare. Parboiling reduces toxicity; drying converts ibotenic acid into muscimol while retaining psychoactive effects. Some cultures use it as food after preparation. Indigenous peoples of Siberia used A. muscaria and other Amanita species as an entheogen. It has been controversially linked to Santa Claus, Viking berserkers, Vedic soma, and early Christianity, though evidence is sparse and disputed. Its rise in the 2020s as a hallucinogen has led to governmental scrutiny. A. muscaria has appeared in art and literature since the Renaissance, becoming iconic in fairy tales, children's books, and media like Disney's Fantasia (1940) and the Super Mario video games. It has also influenced literary depictions of altered perception—most notably in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland—and has been referenced in novels by writers including Oliver Goldsmith, Thomas Pynchon, and Alan Garner.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the original article.

Recent finds

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More in the genus Amanita

Never eat a wild mushroom based on this site or any app. See safety basics and the disclaimer.