116-687: Amanita muscaria , commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita , is a basidiomycete of the genus Amanita . It is a large white- gilled , white-spotted, and usually red mushroom. Despite its easily distinguishable features, A. muscaria is a fungus with several known variations, or subspecies . These subspecies are slightly different, some having yellow or white caps, but are all usually called fly agarics, most often recognizable by their notable white spots. Recent DNA fungi research, however, has shown that some mushrooms called "fly agaric" are in fact unique species, such as A. persicina (the peach-colored fly agaric). Native throughout
232-470: A bipolar ( unifactorial ) or a tetrapolar ( bifactorial ) mating system. This results in the fact that following meiosis , the resulting haploid basidiospores and resultant monokaryons, have nuclei that are compatible with 50% (if bipolar) or 25% (if tetrapolar) of their sister basidiospores (and their resultant monokaryons) because the mating genes must differ for them to be compatible. However, there are sometimes more than two possible alleles for
348-511: A Parachi -speaking group in Afghanistan . There are also unconfirmed reports of religious use of A. muscaria among two Subarctic Native American tribes. Ojibwa ethnobotanist Keewaydinoquay Peschel reported its use among her people, where it was known as miskwedo (an abbreviation of the name oshtimisk wajashkwedo (= "red-top mushroom"). This information was enthusiastically received by Wasson, although evidence from other sources
464-616: A deliriant and while muscarine was first isolated from A. muscaria and as such is its namesake, muscimol does not have action, either as an agonist or antagonist , at the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor site, and therefore atropine or physostigmine as an antidote is not recommended. If a patient is delirious or agitated, this can usually be treated by reassurance and, if necessary, physical restraints. A benzodiazepine such as diazepam or lorazepam can be used to control combativeness, agitation, muscular overactivity, and seizures. Only small doses should be used, as they may worsen
580-408: A dikaryon . The hyphae are then said to be dikaryotic. Conversely, the haploid mycelia are called monokaryons . Often, the dikaryotic mycelium is more vigorous than the individual monokaryotic mycelia, and proceeds to take over the substrate in which they are growing. The dikaryons can be long-lived, lasting years, decades, or centuries. The monokaryons are neither male nor female. They have either
696-428: A neurotoxin , serves as a prodrug to muscimol, with a small amount likely converting to muscimol after ingestion. An active dose in adults is approximately 6 mg muscimol or 30 to 60 mg ibotenic acid; this is typically about the amount found in one cap of Amanita muscaria . The amount and ratio of chemical compounds per mushroom varies widely from region to region and season to season, which can further confuse
812-402: A trance state. (Normally, Siberian shamans achieve trance by prolonged drumming and dancing.) In eastern Siberia, A. muscaria was used by both shamans and laypeople alike, and was used recreationally as well as religiously. In eastern Siberia, the shaman would take the mushrooms, and others would drink his urine. This urine, still containing psychoactive elements, may be more potent than
928-668: A volva that is reduced to a series of concentric rings, and the veil remnants on the cap to a series of patches or warts. Most species in this group also have a bulbous base. Amanita section Amanita consists of A. muscaria and its close relatives, including A. pantherina (the panther cap), A. gemmata , A. farinosa , and A. xanthocephala . Modern fungal taxonomists have classified Amanita muscaria and its allies this way based on gross morphology and spore inamyloidy. Two recent molecular phylogenetic studies have confirmed this classification as natural. A large, conspicuous mushroom , Amanita muscaria
1044-527: A 2006 molecular phylogenetic study of different regional populations of A. muscaria by mycologist József Geml and colleagues found three distinct clades within this species representing, roughly, Eurasian, Eurasian "subalpine", and North American populations. Specimens belonging to all three clades have been found in Alaska; this has led to the hypothesis that this was the centre of diversification for this species. The study also looked at four named varieties of
1160-598: A Sámi shamanic tradition has a critical number of flaws," asserts Tim Frandy, assistant professor of Nordic Studies at the University of British Columbia and a member of the Sámi descendent community in North America. "The theory has been widely criticized by Sámi people as a stereotypical and problematic romanticized misreading of actual Sámi culture." The notion that Vikings used A. muscaria to produce their berserker rages
1276-474: A basidium). In some smuts such as Mycosarcoma maydis the nuclei migrate into the promycelium that becomes septate (i.e., divided into cellular compartments separated by cell walls called septa ), and haploid yeast-like conidia/basidiospores sometimes called sporidia, bud off laterally from each cell. In various smuts, the yeast phase may proliferate, or they may fuse, or they may infect plant tissue and become hyphal. In other smuts, such as Tilletia caries ,
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#17328849418151392-442: A dikaryon. The dikaryon is long lasting but ultimately gives rise to either fruitbodies with basidia or directly to basidia without fruitbodies. The paired dikaryon in the basidium fuse (i.e. karyogamy takes place). The diploid basidium begins the cycle again. Coprinopsis cinerea is a basidiomycete mushroom. It is particularly suited to the study of meiosis because meiosis progresses synchronously in about 10 million cells within
1508-406: A distinctive anatomical feature (the clamp connection ), cell wall components, and definitively by phylogenetic molecular analysis of DNA sequence data. A 2007 classification, adopted by a coalition of 67 mycologists recognized three subphyla (Pucciniomycotina, Ustilaginomycotina, Agaricomycotina) and two other class level taxa ( Wallemiomycetes , Entorrhizomycetes ) outside of these, among
1624-482: A fourth associated with oak–hickory–pine forest in the southeastern United States and two more on Santa Cruz Island in California, are delineated from each other enough genetically to be considered separate species. Thus A. muscaria as it stands currently is, evidently, a species complex . The complex also includes at least three other closely related taxa that are currently regarded as species: A. breckonii
1740-436: A given locus, and in such species, depending on the specifics, over 90% of monokaryons could be compatible with each other. The maintenance of the dikaryotic status in dikaryons in many Basidiomycota is facilitated by the formation of clamp connections that physically appear to help coordinate and re-establish pairs of compatible nuclei following synchronous mitotic nuclear divisions. Variations are frequent and multiple. In
1856-410: A group of people. It is possible that it could make a person angry, or cause them to be "very jolly or sad, jump about, dance, sing or give way to great fright". Comparative analysis of symptoms have, however, since shown Hyoscyamus niger to be a better fit to the state that characterises the berserker rage. In 1968, R. Gordon Wasson proposed that A. muscaria was the soma talked about in
1972-512: A history of consumption of A. muscaria as a food and describes detoxification methods. They advocate that Amanita muscaria be described in field guides as an edible mushroom, though accompanied by a description on how to detoxify it. The authors state that the widespread descriptions in field guides of this mushroom as poisonous is a reflection of cultural bias , as several other popular edible species, notably morels , are also toxic unless properly cooked. The red-and-white spotted toadstool
2088-461: A mild earthiness. Although very distinctive in appearance, the fly agaric has been mistaken for other yellow to red mushroom species in the Americas, such as Armillaria cf. mellea and the edible A. basii —a Mexican species similar to A. caesarea of Europe. Poison control centres in the U.S. and Canada have become aware that amarill (Spanish for 'yellow') is a common name for
2204-434: A new binomial name Agaricus pseudo-aurantiacus because of this. One compound isolated from the fungus is 1,3-diolein (1,3-di(cis-9-octadecenoyl)glycerol), which attracts insects. It has been hypothesised that the flies intentionally seek out the fly agaric for its intoxicating properties. An alternative derivation proposes that the term fly- refers not to insects as such but rather the delirium resulting from consumption of
2320-437: A separate compatible thallus being involved. These fungi are said to be homothallic, versus the normal heterothallic species with mating types. Others are secondarily homothallic, in that two compatible nuclei following meiosis migrate into each basidiospore, which is then dispersed as a pre-existing dikaryon. Often such species form only two spores per basidium, but that too varies. Following meiosis, mitotic divisions can occur in
2436-557: A survival benefit for these fungi by promoting successful infection. A characteristic central feature of meiosis is recombination between homologous chromosomes. This process is associated with repair of DNA damage, particularly double-strand breaks . The ability of C. neoformans and M. maydis to undergo meiosis may contribute to their virulence by repairing the oxidative DNA damage caused by their host's release of reactive oxygen species . Many variations occur: some variations are self-compatible and spontaneously form dikaryons without
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#17328849418152552-413: A typical Basidiomycota lifecycle the long lasting dikaryons periodically (seasonally or occasionally) produce basidia , the specialized usually club-shaped end cells, in which a pair of compatible nuclei fuse ( karyogamy ) to form a diploid cell. Meiosis follows shortly with the production of 4 haploid nuclei that migrate into 4 external, usually apical basidiospores. Variations occur, however. Typically
2668-420: Is tsapi de diablhou , which translates as "Devil's hat". Amanita muscaria is the type species of the genus. By extension, it is also the type species of Amanita subgenus Amanita , as well as section Amanita within this subgenus. Amanita subgenus Amanita includes all Amanita with inamyloid spores. Amanita section Amanita includes the species with patchy universal veil remnants, including
2784-605: Is a buff-capped mushroom associated with conifers from the Pacific Northwest, and the brown-capped A. gioiosa and A. heterochroma from the Mediterranean Basin and from Sardinia respectively. Both of these last two are found with Eucalyptus and Cistus trees, and it is unclear whether they are native or introduced from Australia. Amanitaceae.org lists four varieties as of May 2019, but says that they will be segregated into their own taxa "in
2900-570: Is a common image in many aspects of popular culture. Garden ornaments and children's picture books depicting gnomes and fairies , such as the Smurfs , often show fly agarics used as seats, or homes. Fly agarics have been featured in paintings since the Renaissance , albeit in a subtle manner. For instance, in Hieronymus Bosch 's painting, The Garden of Earthly Delights , the mushroom can be seen on
3016-436: Is an error that implies the mushroom is far more toxic than it is. Furthermore, The North American Mycological Association has stated that there were "no reliably documented cases of death from toxins in these mushrooms in the past 100 years". The active constituents of this species are water-soluble, and boiling and then discarding the cooking water at least partly detoxifies A. muscaria . Drying may increase potency, as
3132-548: Is an example. By convention, the stages and spore states are numbered by Roman numerals . Typically, basidiospores infect host one, also known as the alternate or sexual host, and the mycelium forms pycnidia , which are miniature, flask-shaped, hollow, submicroscopic bodies embedded in the host tissue (such as a leaf). This stage, numbered "0", produces single-celled spores that ooze out in a sweet liquid and that act as nonmotile spermatia , and also protruding receptive hyphae . Insects and probably other vectors such as rain carry
3248-459: Is another compound that has more recently been isolated from European specimens of the fly agaric. It is a product of the breakdown of ibotenic acid by ultra-violet radiation . Muscazone is of minor pharmacological activity compared with the other agents. Amanita muscaria and related species are known as effective bioaccumulators of vanadium ; some species concentrate vanadium to levels of up to 400 times those typically found in plants. Vanadium
3364-509: Is featured as a plot element in Charles Kingsley 's 1866 novel Hereward the Wake based on the medieval figure of the same name. Thomas Pynchon 's 1973 novel Gravity's Rainbow describes the fungus as a "relative of the poisonous Destroying angel " and presents a detailed description of a character preparing a cookie bake mixture from harvested Amanita muscaria . Fly agaric shamanism - in
3480-406: Is generally common and numerous where it grows, and is often found in groups with basidiocarps in all stages of development. Fly agaric fruiting bodies emerge from the soil looking like white eggs. After emerging from the ground, the cap is covered with numerous small white to yellow pyramid-shaped warts. These are remnants of the universal veil , a membrane that encloses the entire mushroom when it
3596-521: Is mentioned as coming "from the mountains", which Wasson interpreted as the mushroom having been brought in with the Aryan migrants from the north. Indian scholars Santosh Kumar Dash and Sachinanda Padhy pointed out that both eating of mushrooms and drinking of urine were proscribed, using as a source the Manusmṛti . In 1971, Vedic scholar John Brough from Cambridge University rejected Wasson's theory and noted that
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3712-494: Is not yet placed in a subdivision, but recent genomic evidence suggests that it is a sister group of Agaricomycotina . The Pucciniomycotina include the rust fungi, the insect parasitic/symbiotic genus Septobasidium , a former group of smut fungi (in the Microbotryomycetes , which includes mirror yeasts), and a mixture of odd, infrequently seen, or seldom recognized fungi, often parasitic on plants. The eight classes in
3828-607: Is often found in similar locations to Boletus edulis , and may appear in fairy rings . Conveyed with pine seedlings, it has been widely transported into the southern hemisphere, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South America, where it can be found in the Brazilian states of Paraná , São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul . Ectomycorrhizal , A. muscaria forms symbiotic relationships with many trees, including pine , oak , spruce , fir , birch , and cedar . Commonly seen under introduced trees, A. muscaria
3944-593: Is present in fruit-bodies as an organometallic compound called amavadine . The biological importance of the accumulation process is unknown. Fly agarics are best known for the unpredictability of their effects. Depending on habitat and the amount ingested per body weight, effects can range from mild nausea and twitching to drowsiness, cholinergic crisis -like effects (low blood pressure , sweating and salivation ), auditory and visual distortions, mood changes, euphoria , relaxation, ataxia , and loss of equilibrium (like with tetanus .) In cases of serious poisoning
4060-445: Is quite rare. Parboiling twice with water weakens its toxicity and breaks down the mushroom's psychoactive substances; it is eaten in parts of Europe, Asia, and North America. All A. muscaria varieties , but in particular A. muscaria var. muscaria , are noted for their hallucinogenic properties, with the main psychoactive constituents being muscimol and its neurotoxic precursor ibotenic acid . A local variety of
4176-455: Is still very young. Dissecting the mushroom at this stage reveals a characteristic yellowish layer of skin under the veil, which helps identification. As the fungus grows, the red colour appears through the broken veil and the warts become less prominent; they do not change in size, but are reduced relative to the expanding skin area. The cap changes from globose to hemispherical, and finally to plate-like and flat in mature specimens. Fully grown,
4292-887: Is the fungal equivalent of a weed in New Zealand , Tasmania and Victoria , forming new associations with southern beech ( Nothofagus ). The species is also invading a rainforest in Australia, where it may be displacing the native species. It appears to be spreading northwards, with recent reports placing it near Port Macquarie on the New South Wales north coast. It was recorded under silver birch ( Betula pendula ) in Manjimup , Western Australia in 2010. Although it has apparently not spread to eucalypts in Australia, it has been recorded associating with them in Portugal. Commonly found throughout
4408-672: Is traditionally used for catching flies possibly due to its content of ibotenic acid and muscimol , which lead to its common name "fly agaric". Recently, an analysis of nine different methods for preparing A. muscaria for catching flies in Slovenia have shown that the release of ibotenic acid and muscimol did not depend on the solvent (milk or water) and that thermal and mechanical processing led to faster extraction of ibotenic acid and muscimol. The toxins in A. muscaria are water-soluble: parboiling A. muscaria fruit bodies can detoxify them and render them edible, although consumption of
4524-491: The A. caesarea -like species in Mexico. A. caesarea is distinguished by its entirely orange to red cap, which lacks the numerous white warty spots of the fly agaric (though these sometimes wash away during heavy rain). Furthermore, the stem, gills and ring of A. caesarea are bright yellow, not white. The volva is a distinct white bag, not broken into scales. In Australia, the introduced fly agaric may be confused with
4640-417: The A. muscaria mushrooms with fewer negative effects such as sweating and twitching, suggesting that the initial user may act as a screening filter for other components in the mushroom. The Koryak of eastern Siberia have a story about the fly agaric ( wapaq ) which enabled Big Raven to carry a whale to its home. In the story, the deity Vahiyinin ("Existence") spat onto earth, and his spittle became
4756-728: The Gasteromycetes (another obsolete class that included species mostly lacking hymenia and mostly forming spores in enclosed fruitbodies ), as well as most of the jelly fungi . This sub-phyla also includes the "classic" mushrooms, polypores, corals, chanterelles, crusts, puffballs and stinkhorns. The three classes in the Agaricomycotina are the Agaricomycetes , the Dacrymycetes , and the Tremellomycetes . The class Wallemiomycetes
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4872-583: The Paleosiberian -speaking peoples of the Russian Far East . There are only isolated reports of A. muscaria use among the Tungusic and Turkic peoples of central Siberia and it is believed that on the whole entheogenic use of A. muscaria was not practised by these peoples. In western Siberia, the use of A. muscaria was restricted to shamans, who used it as an alternative method of achieving
4988-516: The Rigveda of India, a claim which received widespread publicity and popular support at the time. He noted that descriptions of Soma omitted any description of roots, stems or seeds, which suggested a mushroom, and used the adjective hári "dazzling" or "flaming" which the author interprets as meaning red. One line described men urinating Soma ; this recalled the practice of recycling urine in Siberia. Soma
5104-447: The Rust ( Pucciniales )) tend to have mutually indistinguishable, compatible haploids which are usually mycelia being composed of filamentous hyphae . Typically haploid Basidiomycota mycelia fuse via plasmogamy and then the compatible nuclei migrate into each other's mycelia and pair up with the resident nuclei. Karyogamy is delayed, so that the compatible nuclei remain in pairs, called
5220-630: The Vosges region and pockets elsewhere in France, and Romania. Albertus Magnus was the first to record it in his work De vegetabilibus some time before 1256, commenting "vocatur fungus muscarum, eo quod in lacte pulverizatus interficit muscas" ("it is called the fly mushroom because it is powdered in milk to kill flies"). The 16th-century Flemish botanist Carolus Clusius traced the practice of sprinkling it into milk to Frankfurt in Germany, while Carl Linnaeus ,
5336-455: The respiratory depressant effects of muscimol. Recurrent vomiting is rare, but if present may lead to fluid and electrolyte imbalances; intravenous rehydration or electrolyte replacement may be required. Serious cases may develop loss of consciousness or coma , and may need intubation and artificial ventilation . Hemodialysis can remove the toxins, although this intervention is generally considered unnecessary. With modern medical treatment
5452-548: The temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere , A. muscaria has been unintentionally introduced to many countries in the Southern Hemisphere , generally as a symbiont with pine and birch plantations, and is now a true cosmopolitan species. It associates with various deciduous and coniferous trees. Although poisonous , death due to poisoning from A. muscaria ingestion
5568-474: The wapaq , and his saliva becomes the warts. After experiencing the power of the wapaq , Raven was so exhilarated that he told it to grow forever on earth so his children, the people, could learn from it. Among the Koryaks , one report said that the poor would consume the urine of the wealthy, who could afford to buy the mushrooms. It was reported that the local reindeer would often follow an individual intoxicated by
5684-524: The "father of mycology", Swedish naturalist Elias Magnus Fries . The starting date for all the mycota had been set by general agreement as January 1, 1821, the date of Fries's work, and so the full name was then Amanita muscaria (L.:Fr.) Hook . The 1987 edition of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature changed the rules on the starting date and primary work for names of fungi, and names can now be considered valid as far back as May 1, 1753,
5800-412: The "father of taxonomy", reported it from Småland in southern Sweden, where he had lived as a child. He described it in volume two of his Species Plantarum in 1753, giving it the name Agaricus muscarius , the specific epithet deriving from Latin musca meaning "fly". It gained its current name in 1783, when placed in the genus Amanita by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck , a name sanctioned in 1821 by
5916-484: The Basidiomycota that are 1) poorly known, 2) have not been subjected to DNA analysis, or 3) if analysed phylogenetically do not group with as yet named or identified families, and have not been assigned to a specific family (i.e., they are incertae sedis with respect to familial placement). These include: Unlike animals and plants which have readily recognizable male and female counterparts, Basidiomycota (except for
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#17328849418156032-513: The Basidiomycota were divided into two classes, now obsolete: Nonetheless these former concepts continue to be used as two types of growth habit groupings, the "mushrooms" (e.g. Schizophyllum commune ) and the non-mushrooms (e.g. Mycosarcoma maydis ). The Agaricomycotina include what had previously been called the Hymenomycetes (an obsolete morphological based class of Basidiomycota that formed hymenial layers on their fruitbodies ),
6148-874: The Basidiomycota. As now classified, the subphyla join and also cut across various obsolete taxonomic groups (see below) previously commonly used to describe Basidiomycota. According to a 2008 estimate, Basidiomycota comprise three subphyla (including six unassigned classes) 16 classes, 52 orders, 177 families, 1,589 genera, and 31,515 species. Wijayawardene et al. 2020 produced an update that recognized 19 classes ( Agaricomycetes , Agaricostilbomycetes , Atractiellomycetes , Bartheletiomycetes , Classiculomycetes , Cryptomycocolacomycetes , Cystobasidiomycetes , Dacrymycetes , Exobasidiomycetes , Malasseziomycetes , Microbotryomycetes , Mixiomycetes , Monilielliomycetes , Pucciniomycetes , Spiculogloeomycetes , Tremellomycetes , Tritirachiomycetes , Ustilaginomycetes and Wallemiomycetes ) with multiple orders and genera. Traditionally,
6264-523: The Cross . This theory has found little support by scholars outside the field of ethnomycology . The book was widely criticized by academics and theologians, including Sir Godfrey Driver , emeritus Professor of Semitic Philology at Oxford University and Henry Chadwick , the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford . Christian author John C. King wrote a detailed rebuttal of Allegro's theory in the 1970 book A Christian View of
6380-546: The French physician Félix Archimède Pouchet was a populariser and advocate of A. muscaria consumption, comparing it to manioc , an important food source in tropical South America that must also be detoxified before consumption. Use of this mushroom as a food source also seems to have existed in North America. A classic description of this use of A. muscaria by an African-American mushroom seller in Washington, D.C., in
6496-689: The Lithuanians used to export A. muscaria to the Sami in the Far North for use in shamanic rituals. The Lithuanian festivities are the only report that Wasson received of ingestion of fly agaric for religious use in Eastern Europe. A. muscaria was widely used as an entheogen by many of the indigenous peoples of Siberia . Its use was known among almost all of the Uralic -speaking peoples of western Siberia and
6612-637: The Mediterranean and also Central America. A recent molecular study proposes that it had an ancestral origin in the Siberian – Beringian region in the Tertiary period, before radiating outwards across Asia, Europe and North America. The season for fruiting varies in different climates: fruiting occurs in summer and autumn across most of North America, but later in autumn and early winter on the Pacific coast . This species
6728-553: The Mushroom Myth ; he notes that neither fly agarics nor their host trees are found in the Middle East , even though cedars and pines are found there, and highlights the tenuous nature of the links between biblical and Sumerian names coined by Allegro. He concludes that if the theory were true, the use of the mushroom must have been "the best kept secret in the world" as it was so well concealed for two thousand years. Amanita muscaria
6844-817: The Pucciniomycotina are Agaricostilbomycetes , Atractiellomycetes , Classiculomycetes , Cryptomycocolacomycetes , Cystobasidiomycetes , Microbotryomycetes , Mixiomycetes , and Pucciniomycetes . The Ustilaginomycotina are most (but not all) of the former smut fungi and the Exobasidiales . The classes of the Ustilaginomycotina are the Exobasidiomycetes , the Entorrhizomycetes, and the Ustilaginomycetes . There are several genera classified in
6960-475: The absence of dikaryon formation, diploid nuclei, and meiosis. A rare few number of taxa have extended diploid lifecycles, but can be common species. Examples exist in the mushroom genera Armillaria and Xerula , both in the Physalacriaceae . Occasionally, basidiospores are not formed and parts of the "basidia" act as the dispersal agents, e.g. the peculiar mycoparasitic jelly fungus, Tetragoniomyces or
7076-533: The basidiospores are ballistic , hence they are sometimes also called ballistospores . In most species, the basidiospores disperse and each can start a new haploid mycelium, continuing the lifecycle. Basidia are microscopic but they are often produced on or in multicelled large fructifications called basidiocarps or basidiomes, or fruitbodies , variously called mushrooms, puffballs , etc. Ballistic basidiospores are formed on sterigmata which are tapered spine-like projections on basidia, and are typically curved, like
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#17328849418157192-633: The basidium. Multiple numbers of basidiospores can result, including odd numbers via degeneration of nuclei, or pairing up of nuclei, or lack of migration of nuclei. For example, the chanterelle genus Craterellus often has six-spored basidia, while some corticioid Sistotrema species can have two-, four-, six-, or eight-spored basidia, and the cultivated button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus . can have one-, two-, three- or four-spored basidia under some circumstances. Occasionally, monokaryons of some taxa can form morphologically fully formed basidiomes and anatomically correct basidia and ballistic basidiospores in
7308-454: The bright red cap is usually around 8–20 centimetres (3–8 inches) in diameter, although larger specimens have been found. The red colour may fade after rain and in older mushrooms. The free gills are white, as is the spore print . The oval spores measure 9–13 by 6.5–9 μm ; they do not turn blue with the application of iodine . The stipe is white, 5–20 cm (2–8 in) high by 1–2 cm ( 1 ⁄ 2 –1 in) wide, and has
7424-539: The cap of the fruit, a moderate amount in the base, with the smallest amount in the stalk. Quite rapidly, between 20 and 90 minutes after ingestion, a substantial fraction of ibotenic acid is excreted unmetabolised in the urine of the consumer. Almost no muscimol is excreted when pure ibotenic acid is eaten, but muscimol is detectable in the urine after eating A. muscaria , which contains both ibotenic acid and muscimol. Ibotenic acid and muscimol are structurally related to each other and to two major neurotransmitters of
7540-456: The central nervous system: glutamic acid and GABA respectively. Ibotenic acid and muscimol act like these neurotransmitters, muscimol being a potent GABA A agonist , while ibotenic acid is an agonist of NMDA glutamate receptors and certain metabotropic glutamate receptors which are involved in the control of neuronal activity. It is these interactions which are thought to cause the psychoactive effects found in intoxication. Muscazone
7656-478: The coffee leaf parasite, Mycena citricolor , and its Decapitatus flavidus propagules called gemmae. Elias Magnus Fries Elias Magnus Fries FRS FRSE FLS (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist. He is sometimes called the "Linnaeus of Mycology" . In his works he described and assigned botanical names to hundreds of fungus and lichen species, many of which remain authoritative today. Fries
7772-509: The context of a surviving Dionysian cult in the Peak District - is also explored in the 2003 novel Thursbitch by Alan Garner . Basidiomycete Basidiomycota ( / b ə ˌ s ɪ d i . oʊ m aɪ ˈ k oʊ t ə / ) is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota , constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the " higher fungi ") within
7888-423: The controversial legal status of hemp-derived cannabinoids . A recent outbreak of poisonings and at least one death associated with products containing Amanita muscaria extracts has sparked debates regarding the regulatory status of Amanita mushrooms and their psychoactive constituents. These products often use misleading advertising, such as erroneous comparisons to Psilocybin mushrooms or simply not disclosing
8004-421: The core expression program of meiosis has been conserved in these fungi for over half a billion years of evolution since these species diverged. Cryptococcus neoformans and Mycosarcoma maydis are examples of pathogenic basidiomycota. Such pathogens must be able to overcome the oxidative defenses of their respective hosts in order to produce a successful infection. The ability to undergo meiosis may provide
8120-588: The date of publication of Linnaeus's work. Hence, Linnaeus and Lamarck are now taken as the namers of Amanita muscaria (L.) Lam.. The English mycologist John Ramsbottom reported that Amanita muscaria was used for getting rid of bugs in England and Sweden, and bug agaric was an old alternative name for the species. French mycologist Pierre Bulliard reported having tried without success to replicate its fly-killing properties in his work Histoire des plantes vénéneuses et suspectes de la France (1784), and proposed
8236-410: The delay between ingestion and treatment is less than four hours, activated charcoal is given. Gastric lavage can be considered if the patient presents within one hour of ingestion. Inducing vomiting with syrup of ipecac is no longer recommended in any poisoning situation. There is no antidote, and supportive care is the mainstay of further treatment for intoxication. Though sometimes referred to as
8352-476: The distortions of the size of perceived objects while intoxicated by the fungus, including naturalist Mordecai Cubitt Cooke in his books The Seven Sisters of Sleep and A Plain and Easy Account of British Fungi . This observation is thought to have formed the basis of the effects of eating the mushroom in the 1865 popular story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland . A hallucinogenic "scarlet toadstool" from Lappland
8468-512: The elongated haploid basidiospores form apically, often in compatible pairs that fuse centrally resulting in H-shaped diaspores which are by then dikaryotic. Dikaryotic conidia may then form. Eventually the host is infected by infectious hyphae. Teliospores form in host tissue. Many variations on these general themes occur. Smuts with both a yeast phase and an infectious hyphal state are examples of dimorphic Basidiomycota. In plant parasitic taxa,
8584-865: The entire "basidium" acts as a "spore", e.g. in some false puffballs ( Scleroderma ). In the human pathogenic genus Cryptococcus , four nuclei following meiosis remain in the basidium, but continually divide mitotically, each nucleus migrating into synchronously forming nonballistic basidiospores that are then pushed upwards by another set forming below them, resulting in four parallel chains of dry "basidiospores". Other variations occur: some as standard lifecycles (that themselves have variations within variations) within specific orders. Rusts ( Pucciniales , previously known as Uredinales ) at their greatest complexity, produce five different types of spores on two different host plants in two unrelated host families. Such rusts are heteroecious (requiring two hosts) and macrocyclic (producing all five spores types). Wheat stem rust
8700-567: The excitation of neurons bearing these receptors. The levels of muscarine in Amanita muscaria are minute when compared with other poisonous fungi such as Inosperma erubescens , the small white Clitocybe species C. dealbata and C. rivulosa . The level of muscarine in A. muscaria is too low to play a role in the symptoms of poisoning. The major toxins involved in A. muscaria poisoning are muscimol (3-hydroxy-5-aminomethyl-1-isoxazole, an unsaturated cyclic hydroxamic acid ) and
8816-555: The first starting in 1818 under the title Lichenes Sveciae exsiccati, curante Elia Fries and the last together with Franz Joseph Lagger under the title Hieracia europaea exsiccata . He was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences , and in 1824, became a full professor . In 1834 he became Borgström professor (Swed. Borgströmianska professuren , a chair endowed by Erik Eriksson Borgström , 1708–1770) in applied economics at Uppsala University . The position
8932-410: The formation of specialized club-shaped end cells called basidia that normally bear external meiospores (usually four). These specialized spores are called basidiospores . However, some Basidiomycota are obligate asexual reproducers. Basidiomycota that reproduce asexually (discussed below) can typically be recognized as members of this division by gross similarity to others, by the formation of
9048-845: The fungus. This is based on the medieval belief that flies could enter a person's head and cause mental illness. Several regional names appear to be linked with this connotation, meaning the "mad" or "fool's" version of the highly regarded edible mushroom Amanita caesarea . Hence there is oriol foll "mad oriol" in Catalan , mujolo folo from Toulouse , concourlo fouolo from the Aveyron department in Southern France, ovolo matto from Trentino in Italy. A local dialect name in Fribourg in Switzerland
9164-419: The great Southern region of western Australia, it is regularly found growing on Pinus radiata . A. muscaria poisoning has occurred in young children and in people who ingested the mushrooms for a hallucinogenic experience, or who confused it with an edible species. A. muscaria contains several biologically active agents, at least one of which, muscimol , is known to be psychoactive . Ibotenic acid ,
9280-702: The horns of a bull. In some Basidiomycota the spores are not ballistic, and the sterigmata may be straight, reduced to stubs, or absent. The basidiospores of these non-ballistosporic basidia may either bud off, or be released via dissolution or disintegration of the basidia. In summary, meiosis takes place in a diploid basidium. Each one of the four haploid nuclei migrates into its own basidiospore. The basidiospores are ballistically discharged and start new haploid mycelia called monokaryons. There are no males or females, rather there are compatible thalli with multiple compatibility factors. Plasmogamy between compatible individuals leads to delayed karyogamy leading to establishment of
9396-505: The houses in The Smurfs franchise. There have been cases of children admitted to hospitals after consuming this poisonous mushroom; the children may have been attracted to it because of its pop-culture associations. The name of the mushroom in many European languages is thought to derive from its use as an insecticide when sprinkled in milk. This practice has been recorded from Germanic- and Slavic-speaking parts of Europe, as well as
9512-506: The inclusion of Amanita mushrooms on the packaging. The Finnish historian T. I. Itkonen mentions that A. muscaria was once used among the Sámi peoples . Sorcerers in Inari would consume fly agarics with seven spots. In 1979, Said Gholam Mochtar and Hartmut Geerken published an article in which they claimed to have discovered a tradition of medicinal and recreational use of this mushroom among
9628-571: The infection process, rather it remains dormant for a period and then germinates to form basidia (stage "IV"), sometimes called a promycelium . In the Pucciniales, the basidia are cylindrical and become 3- septate after meiosis, with each of the 4 cells bearing one basidiospore each. The basidiospores disperse and start the infection process on host 1 again. Autoecious rusts complete their life-cycles on one host instead of two, and microcyclic rusts cut out one or more stages. The characteristic part of
9744-620: The influence of its hypnotic effects. Unlike Psilocybe cubensis , A. muscaria cannot be commercially cultivated , due to its mycorrhizal relationship with the roots of pine trees. However, following the outlawing of psilocybin mushrooms in the United Kingdom in 2006, the sale of the still legal A. muscaria began increasing. Marija Gimbutas reported to R. Gordon Wasson that in remote areas of Lithuania , A. muscaria has been consumed at wedding feasts , in which mushrooms were mixed with vodka . She also reported that
9860-421: The issue. Spring and summer mushrooms have been reported to contain up to 10 times more ibotenic acid and muscimol than autumn fruitings. Deaths from A. muscaria have been reported in historical journal articles and newspaper reports, but with modern medical treatment, fatal poisoning from ingesting this mushroom is extremely rare. Many books list A. muscaria as deadly, but according to David Arora , this
9976-502: The journeys of Philip von Strahlenberg to Siberia and his descriptions of the use of the mukhomor there was published in English in 1736. The drinking of urine of those who had consumed the mushroom was commented on by Anglo-Irish writer Oliver Goldsmith in his widely read 1762 novel, Citizen of the World . The mushroom had been identified as the fly agaric by this time. Other authors recorded
10092-462: The kingdom Fungi . Members are known as basidiomycetes . More specifically, Basidiomycota includes these groups: agarics , puffballs , stinkhorns , bracket fungi , other polypores , jelly fungi , boletes , chanterelles , earth stars , smuts , bunts , rusts , mirror yeasts , and Cryptococcus , the human pathogenic yeast. Basidiomycota are filamentous fungi composed of hyphae (except for basidiomycota-yeast ) and reproduce sexually via
10208-602: The language was too vague to determine a description of Soma. In his 1976 survey, Hallucinogens and Culture , anthropologist Peter T. Furst evaluated the evidence for and against the identification of the fly agaric mushroom as the Vedic Soma, concluding cautiously in its favour. Kevin Feeney and Trent Austin compared the references in the Vedas with the filtering mechanisms in the preparation of Amanita muscaria and published findings supporting
10324-513: The late 19th century is described by American botanist Frederick Vernon Coville . In this case, the mushroom, after parboiling, and soaking in vinegar, is made into a mushroom sauce for steak. It is also consumed as a food in parts of Japan. The most well-known current use as an edible mushroom is in Nagano Prefecture , Japan. There, it is primarily salted and pickled. A 2008 paper by food historian William Rubel and mycologist David Arora gives
10440-575: The left-hand panel of the work. In the Victorian era they became more visible, becoming the main topic of some fairy paintings . Two of the most famous uses of the mushroom are in the Mario franchise (specifically two of the Super Mushroom power-up items and the platforms in several stages which are based on a fly agaric), and the dancing mushroom sequence in the 1940 Disney film Fantasia . An account of
10556-405: The life-cycle of smuts is the thick-walled, often darkly pigmented, ornate, teliospore that serves to survive harsh conditions such as overwintering and also serves to help disperse the fungus as dry diaspores . The teliospores are initially dikaryotic but become diploid via karyogamy. Meiosis takes place at the time of germination. A promycelium is formed that consists of a short hypha (equated to
10672-418: The majority of cases recovery is complete within 12 to 24 hours. The effect is highly variable between individuals, with similar doses potentially causing quite different reactions. Some people suffering intoxication have exhibited headaches up to ten hours afterwards. Retrograde amnesia and somnolence can result following recovery. Medical attention should be sought in cases of suspected poisoning. If
10788-498: The muscimol mushroom, and if said individual were to urinate in snow the reindeer would become similarly intoxicated and the Koryak people's would use the drunken state of the reindeer to more easily rope and hunt them. As a result of a lack of regulation, the use of Amanita muscaria as a popular legal alternative to hallucinogens has grown exponentially in recent years. In 2024, Google searches for Amanita muscaria rose nearly 200% from
10904-458: The mushroom as a food has never been widespread. The consumption of detoxified A. muscaria has been practiced in some parts of Europe (notably by Russian settlers in Siberia) since at least the 19th century, and likely earlier. The German physician and naturalist Georg Heinrich von Langsdorff wrote the earliest published account on how to detoxify this mushroom in 1823. In the late 19th century,
11020-403: The mushroom cap, and the meiotic prophase stage is prolonged. Burns et al. studied the expression of genes involved in the 15-hour meiotic process, and found that the pattern of gene expression of C. cinerea was similar to two other fungal species, the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe . These similarities in the patterns of expression led to the conclusion that
11136-485: The mushroom causes delirium , somewhat similar in effect to anticholinergic poisoning (such as that caused by Datura stramonium ), characterised by bouts of marked agitation with confusion, hallucinations, and irritability followed by periods of central nervous system depression. Seizures and coma may also occur in severe poisonings. Symptoms typically appear after around 30 to 90 minutes and peak within three hours, but certain effects can last for several days. In
11252-418: The mushroom was used as an intoxicant and entheogen by the indigenous peoples of Siberia . Arguably the most iconic toadstool species, the fly agaric is one of the most recognizable and widely encountered in popular culture, including in video games—for example, the frequent use of a recognizable A. muscaria in the Mario franchise (e.g. its Super Mushroom power-up)—and television—for example,
11368-708: The native vermilion grisette ( Amanita xanthocephala ), which grows in association with eucalypts . The latter species generally lacks the white warts of A. muscaria and bears no ring. Additionally, immature button forms resemble puffballs . Amanita muscaria varies considerably in its morphology, and many authorities recognize several subspecies or varieties within the species. In The Agaricales in Modern Taxonomy , German mycologist Rolf Singer listed three subspecies, though without description: A. muscaria ssp. muscaria , A. muscaria ssp. americana , and A. muscaria ssp. flavivolvata . However,
11484-464: The near future". They are: Known to be toxic but used by shamans in northern cultures. Associated predominantly with Birch and diverse conifers in forest. A. muscaria is a cosmopolitan mushroom, native to conifer and deciduous woodlands throughout the temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including higher elevations of warmer latitudes in regions such as Hindu Kush ,
11600-705: The pleiomorphic rusts are examples of fungi with anamorphs , which are the asexual stages. Some Basidiomycota are only known as anamorphs. Many are called basidiomycetous yeasts, which differentiates them from ascomycetous yeasts in the Ascomycota . Aside from yeast anamorphs and uredinia, aecia, and pycnidia, some Basidiomycota form other distinctive anamorphs as parts of their life cycles. Examples are Collybia tuberosa with its apple-seed-shaped and coloured sclerotium , Dendrocollybia racemosa with its sclerotium and its Tilachlidiopsis racemosa conidia, Armillaria with their rhizomorphs , Hohenbuehelia with their Nematoctonus nematode infectious, state and
11716-606: The previous year, a trend that an article published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine correlated with the sudden commercialization of Amanita muscaria products on the internet. While Amanita mushrooms are unscheduled in the United States, the sale of Amanita products exists in a legal gray area as they are listed as a poison by the FDA and are not approved to be used in dietary supplements, with some drawing comparisons to
11832-436: The primary host a repeating spore stage is formed, numbered "II", the urediospores in dry pustules called uredinia . Urediospores are dikaryotic and can infect the same host that produced them. They repeatedly infect this host over the growing season. At the end of the season, a fourth spore type, the teliospore , is formed. It is thicker-walled and serves to overwinter or to survive other harsh conditions. It does not continue
11948-475: The process facilitates the conversion of ibotenic acid to the more potent muscimol. According to some sources, once detoxified, the mushroom becomes edible. Patrick Harding describes the Sami custom of processing the fly agaric through reindeer. Muscarine , discovered in 1869, was long thought to be the active hallucinogenic agent in A. muscaria . Muscarine binds with muscarinic acetylcholine receptors leading to
12064-622: The prognosis is typically good following supportive treatment. The wide range of psychoactive effects have been variously described as depressant , sedative - hypnotic , psychedelic , dissociative , or deliriant ; paradoxical effects such as stimulation may occur however. Perceptual phenomena such as synesthesia , macropsia , and micropsia may occur; the latter two effects may occur either simultaneously or alternatingly, as part of Alice in Wonderland syndrome , collectively known as dysmetropsia, along with related distortions pelopsia and teleopsia . Some users report lucid dreaming under
12180-447: The proposal that fly-agaric mushrooms could be a likely candidate for the sacrament. Other proposed candidates include Psilocybe cubensis , Peganum harmala , and Ephedra . Philologist, archaeologist, and Dead Sea Scrolls scholar John Marco Allegro postulated that early Christian theology was derived from a fertility cult revolving around the entheogenic consumption of A. muscaria in his 1970 book The Sacred Mushroom and
12296-417: The related amino acid ibotenic acid . Muscimol is the product of the decarboxylation (usually by drying) of ibotenic acid. Muscimol and ibotenic acid were discovered in the mid-20th century. Researchers in England, Japan, and Switzerland showed that the effects produced were due mainly to ibotenic acid and muscimol, not muscarine. These toxins are not distributed uniformly in the mushroom. Most are detected in
12412-495: The saprotrophic phase is normally the yeast while the infectious stage is hyphal. However, there are examples of animal and human parasites where the species are dimorphic but it is the yeast-like state that is infectious. The genus Filobasidiella forms basidia on hyphae but the main infectious stage is more commonly known by the anamorphic yeast name Cryptococcus , e.g. Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii . The dimorphic Basidiomycota with yeast stages and
12528-436: The slightly brittle, fibrous texture typical of many large mushrooms. At the base is a bulb that bears universal veil remnants in the form of two to four distinct rings or ruffs. Between the basal universal veil remnants and gills are remnants of the partial veil (which covers the gills during development) in the form of a white ring . It can be quite wide and flaccid with age. There is generally no associated smell other than
12644-474: The species: var. alba , var. flavivolvata , var. formosa (including var. guessowii ), and var. regalis from both areas. All four varieties were found within both the Eurasian and North American clades, evidence that these morphological forms are polymorphisms rather than distinct subspecies or varieties. Further molecular study by Geml and colleagues published in 2008 show that these three genetic groups, plus
12760-448: The spermatia from spermagonium to spermagonium, cross inoculating the mating types. Neither thallus is male or female. Once crossed, the dikaryons are established and a second spore stage is formed, numbered "I" and called aecia , which form dikaryotic aeciospores in dry chains in inverted cup-shaped bodies embedded in host tissue. These aeciospores then infect the second host, known as the primary or asexual host (in macrocyclic rusts). On
12876-487: The two-volume Monographia hymenomycetum Sueciae (1857 and 1863) and Hymenomycetes Europaei (1874). Fries is considered to be, after Christian Hendrik Persoon , a founding father of the modern taxonomy of mushrooms . His taxonomy of mushrooms was influenced by Goethe and the German romantics . He utilized spore color and arrangement of the hymenophore (pores, gills, teeth etc.) as major taxonomic characteristics. He
12992-501: Was born at Femsjö ( Hylte Municipality ), Småland , the son of the pastor there. He attended school in Växjö . He acquired an extensive knowledge of flowering plants from his father. In 1811 Fries entered Lund University where he studied under Carl Adolph Agardh and Anders Jahan Retzius . He obtained his doctorate in 1814. In the same year he was appointed an associate professorship in botany . Fries edited several exsiccata series,
13108-551: Was changed to "professor of botany and applied economics" in 1851. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1849. That year he was also appointed director of the Uppsala University Botanical Garden . In 1853, he became rector of the University. Fries most important works were the three-volume Systema mycologicum (1821–1832), Elenchus fungorum (1828),
13224-463: Was first suggested by the Swedish professor Samuel Ödmann in 1784. Ödmann based his theories on reports about the use of fly agaric among Siberian shamans . The notion has become widespread since the 19th century, but no contemporary sources mention this use or anything similar in their description of berserkers. Muscimol is generally a mild relaxant, but it can create a range of different reactions within
13340-498: Was lacking. There is also one account of a Euro-American who claims to have been initiated into traditional Tlicho use of Amanita muscaria . The flying reindeer of Santa Claus , who is called Joulupukki in Finland , could symbolize the use of A. muscaria by Sámi shamans. However, Sámi scholars and the Sámi peoples themselves refute any connection between Santa Claus and Sámi history or culture. "The story of Santa emerging from
13456-588: Was one of the most prolific authors of new fungal species, having formally described 3210 in his career. Fries died in Uppsala on 8 February 1878. When he died, The Times commented: "His very numerous works, especially on fungi and lichens , give him a position as regards those groups of plants comparable only to that of Linnaeus ." Fries was succeeded in the Borgström professorship (from 1859 to 1876) by Johan Erhard Areschoug , after whom Theodor Magnus Fries ,
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