Image of Fly agaric

Description:

Slo.: rdea munica - syn: Agaricus muscarius L., Venenarius muscarius (L.) Earle ex Murrill - Habitat: forest edge; growing in it under dense Picea abies canopies and outside of it on alpine pasture; all of them in a circle of radius of about 6 m; calcareous, old alluvial ground; almost flat terrain; in shade and on almost full sun (more orange pilei); protected by tree canopies and exposed to precipitations; average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 4 - 6 deg C, elevation 960 m (3.150 feet), alpine phytogeographical region. Substratum: soil. Comments: Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) is probably the best known mushroom at all. If not the most beautiful, than it is certainly the most popular. Everybody, from kids on, knows it is poisonous (although hardly deadly). It is indeed a beautiful creature. Every encounter with this signal-red marvel is a happy experience in spite of the fact that it is quite a common mushroom, at least in the Upper Soa River region. Frequently these mushrooms appear in groups. Nevertheless, I've never seen as many together as in this observation. There were more than 70 pilei in a circle of about 6 m radius: from alread decayed ones to barely appearing white/red 'eggs' still mostly hidden in grass or under fallen (Norway) spruce needles. Good we are in the era of digital photography; otherwise the cost of the film spent would be serious! Ref.: (1) J. Breitenbach, F. Kraenzlin, Eds., Fungi of Switzerland, Vol.4. Verlag Mykologia (1995), p 150. (2) M. Bon, Parey's Buch der Pilze, Kosmos (2005), p 296. (3) R. Lueder, Grundkurs Pilzbestimmung, Quelle & Meyer (2008), p 305.