Fascinating Facts about..
Fly agaric
Scientific name: Amanita muscaria
This amazing red toadstool is usually found in conifer plantations or around the base of birch trees.
It has tiny, hair-like roots, which attach themselves to tree roots so the toadstool can siphon off nutrients from the tree. This does not seem to damage the tree.
Like all mushrooms, most of the fungus is a mat of thread-like roots underground. The toadstool we see is its fruiting body. The underside of the cap sheds tiny spores, too small to see, which may grow into a new fly agaric.
The toadstool’s cap measures up to 25cms across.
You can spot the fly agaric throughout the UK from September to November.
BE CAREFUL! The fly agaric is very poisonous. It can cause hallucinations, violent stomach upsets, uncontrollable muscle spasms and could even kill you.
This toadstool was used to kill flies – hence its name. Small pieces of the fungi would be added to a saucer of milk and flies that fed on the milk were poisoned to death.
Did You Know? The name “toadstool” might make you think that toadstools got their name from being a piece of amphibian furniture, but in fact “tod-stuhl” is a German name, which means “seat of death”!
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