BASIDIOMYCETES: Agaricales, Amanitaceae

Fly Agaric, Amanita muscaria

Basidiomycetes, order: Agaricales, family: Amanitaceae

Height to 7"

Cap is hemispherical to flat to slightly concave and up to 10" in diameter with a striated margin. Flesh is smooth and red-orange with white wart patches sometimes arranged concentrically around the cap. Gills are free and white. Stalk is white and thick with a membranous, pendant collar ring. Just above the basal bulb are bands of veil remnants or scales. Spore print is white. This mushroom grows in mountainous, mixed woodlands of the Northwest and the Rocky Mountains during the late summer. California individuals grow during the winter. Very poisonous. The common name derives from the practice of combining the mushroom with milk to cause stupor in flies.