Herb. No. 043 · Amanitaceae
Boreal and temperate mycorrhizal woods of the northern hemisphere.
Native · North America · Europe · East Asia
Fly agaric
Amanita muscaria
The red fairy-tale mushroom — a deliriant poison with a folk-intoxicant history, not a gentle psychedelic.
Not a US Schedule I mushroom (its actives are muscimol and ibotenic acid, not psilocybin). Still toxic, sometimes locally restricted as a sold intoxicant, and easy to confuse with deadly Amanita species.
Handle as a poison-garden specimen. See Safety before any use.
Ibotenic acid decarboxylates to muscimol, a GABA-B agonist. Effects are sedating, nauseating, often amnestic, and occasionally convulsant — closer to a bad night of delirium than to psilocybin. Preparation folklore (drying, simmering) is inconsistent and has not made the mushroom safe. Deadly lookalikes in the same genus (A. phalloides, A. bisporigera) cause liver failure. Do not forage this genus for the table or for a high.
Flavor
Do not taste. Literature describes it as unpleasant and nauseating.
Parts used
Cap — not recommended
In favor
- Iconic teaching species for identification
Against
- Delirium, vomiting, seizures
- Lookalike death caps
- Unpredictable potency
- Commercial gummies have been mislabeled and overdosed