.wimida

gallery

manita muscaria, commonly called fly agaric or less often fly mushroom, is a basidiomycete mushroom of the genus Amanita. The original white-spotted red toadstool, it is one of the most recognizable mushrooms and is widely used in popular culture. Though it is generally considered poisonous, Amanita muscaria is otherwise famed for its hallucinogenic properties. The common names in English, "fly agaric", and German, "Fliegenpilz", come from its European use as an insecticide, sprinkled in milk. This was known to Linnaeus who gave it the name "Agaricus muscarius", the specific name deriving from Latin musca meaning "fly". The flykilling agent is now known to be ibotenic acid. A mushroom that is native to both Europe and North America, Amanita muscaria has been unintentionally conveyed to many countries in the southern hemisphere, generally as a symbiont with pine plantations, and is now a true cosmopolitan species.