ON THE WILD SIDE
FLY AGARIC
NOTHING to me says autumn quite like the fungus springing up all over the place.
A bit of cool and wet weather and bang! Fruiting bodies everywhere. And almost certainly if I say the word “toadstool” you are thinking of only one thing.
That’s right, the big red and white cap of the Amanita muscaria, or fly agaric, as it is also known. It’s inspired everything from the fairy dwellings in legends, to the power-ups in Super Mario. So let’s have a look at this iconic toadstool today.
The fly agaric is almost unmistakable. There are few shrooms that look anything like it – only other members of the Amanita family. They come in colours ranging from bright red to yellow to white, but are most commonly red. In Switzerland they have been called “Devil’s hat’s”, but in the UK the “fly” part of the name actually has a precedence in tradition.
The mushroom’s unusual properties mean that it attracts flies but also kills them, so it was used as an insecticide, usually by powdering it into milk or water.
The mushroom is also known for its psychoactive properties, and it’s thought the “fly” part of the name may also be a call- back to when it was believed that flies caused mental illness by crawling into people’s brains.
For thousands of years the fly agaric was used for the hallucinations it gave, especially by native peoples all over the world. In India, the fly agaric is thought to be what created the legendary Soma drink of vedic tradition.
Siberian native shaman would eat the toadstool, pee, and others would drink the pee. The human filter would leave a more pure experience for the drinkers. Eww.
The Sami people of Northern
Finland used reindeer as filters, and experienced hallucinations with the reindeer. It is thought these hallucinations are why reindeer in Santa Claus legends fly. How wild!
In another crazy link to Christmas, fly agaric caps were a common subject of Victorian Christmas cards as they symbolise good luck, and the red and white may have been partial inspiration for Santa’s clothes. Or Coca-cola. Depends who you ask.
It is native all over the UK and Eurasia, and was introduced across the world by mistake. The fungus lives alongside birch, spruce, and pinewoods, breaking down nutrients and giving them to the trees. When these trees were taken to Australia and South America, the spores went with them.
The effects of eating the psychoactive mushrooms are known for being incredibly unpredictable, with results ranging from mild nausea to going into a coma. There is no antidote and it can take two full days for the symptoms to go away. Let’s experience the Christmas spirit this season some other way, shall we?