Mushroom and Toadstools / How to Distinguish Easily the Differences Between Edible and Poisonous Fungi

Chapter 49: Fly Mushroom. Fig. 13.

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About This Book

A practical field guide that helps readers separate edible from poisonous fungi through clear descriptions and nature-based illustrations of dozens of species. It supplies indices of common and scientific names, engraved plates of twenty-nine edible and thirty-one poisonous species, and short diagnostic notes on appearance, habitat, and handling. Introductory remarks discuss safe collecting and eating practices, such as choosing fresh specimens, avoiding overconsumption, and caution for beginners. The author emphasizes careful comparison with the plates, offers to identify specimens sent for inspection, and relates occasional personal cautions from earlier mistakes. The volume mixes botanical observation with culinary advice to encourage informed, cautious use of wild fungi.

Fly Mushroom. Fig. 13.

(Agaricus [Amanita] muscarius.)3.

Few fungi can exceed this well-known species in beauty. It is somewhat local, and loves birch woods, where it sometimes makes the very ground almost scarlet with its profuse growth. Sometimes the top is deep yellow or orange, but it is usually brilliant scarlet; if the top skin is stripped off, the flesh just beneath is seen to be bright yellow, and the rest of the flesh white. It is allied to fig. 1, Edible Sheet, but the flesh of the latter is not yellow under the skin; and A. rubescens turns reddish in every part as soon as bruised or broken.