Amanita Muscaria

Amanita muscaria, commonly called fly agaric or fly amanita, is a basidiomycete fungus in the family Amanitaceae, native to the temperate and boreal forests of the Northern Hemisphere and now naturalized in the Southern Hemisphere, where it forms symbiotic relationships with pine, oak, spruce, fir, birch, and cedar trees. It is a large, distinctive white-gilled mushroom with a cap 5 to 30 centimeters across, typically bright red and covered in white warts, with white gills and a white spore print; its common name likely comes from its historical use as an insecticide or from the delirium its toxins can cause. It contains the psychoactive compounds muscimol and ibotenic acid, which are water-soluble and can be reduced by parboiling, and although historically used as an inebriant by Siberian shamans, fatal poisoning is extremely rare with modern medical treatment.