Amanita muscaria

Morphological Features:

Pileus when fully expanded can exceed 15 cm, initially globose but expanding to become plane, with a sulcate margin at maturity, slightly viscid in wet weather. Its primary color is red, though it sometimes fades to orange hues, and is covered with white warts, sometimes yellowish and labile (may wash off with rain). Cuticle separable.

Lamellae white, free, and rather broad.

Stipe white, central, and cylindrical, thickened at the base into a bulb adorned with concentric ridges of cottony consistency, sometimes tinged yellow. Ring white, speckled with warts, pendent, and persistent.

Flesh white, only superficially acquiring orange tinges beneath the cuticle, with a mild taste and a slightly radish-like odor.

Habitat:

It is a very frequent and cosmopolitan species, found mainly during autumn, although it may also be encountered in other seasons if conditions are favorable. It occurs equally under conifers or deciduous trees, without special preference for any particular soil type.

Observations:

It is a toxic species containing large amounts of dangerous substances, but curiously, and despite its name, muscarine is not its primary toxin; rather, it is ibotenic acid. Several varieties of this fungus exist; regalis, with a reddish-brown pileus and yellow warts, currently recognized as a distinct species; formosa, with a yellowish pileus and warts of the same color; and aureola, with an orange, smooth pileus and a more membranous volva. The latter is the variety that inexperienced amateurs often confuse with Amanita caesarea, which, however, has a yellow stipe and lamellae instead of white.