Amanita muscaria (also known by the English-language common name
fly agaric or
Fly Amanita) is a
psychoactive agaric species of
mushroom found commonly throughout much of the world. The quintessential
toadstool, it is a large imposing white-gilled white-spotted, usually deep red mushroom, one of the most recognizable and widely encountered in popular culture. Though it is generally considered poisonous,
Amanita muscaria is otherwise famed for its
hallucinogenic properties with its main psychoactive constituent being the compound
muscimol. The mushroom has had a religious significance in
Siberian culture and possibly also in ancient
Indian and
Scandinavian cultures.
Native throughout the
temperate and
boreal regions of the
Northern Hemisphere,
Amanita muscaria has been unintentionally conveyed to many countries in the
Southern Hemisphere, generally as a
symbiont with pine plantations, and is now a true
cosmopolitan species.
The common names in
English,
fly agaric or
fly mushroom, are generally thought to derive from its
European use as an
insecticide, sprinkled in milk.
[1] The flykilling agent is now known to be
ibotenic acid.
[2] Another compound isolated from the fungus is 1,3-diolein which is an insect attractor.
[3] [4] However an alternate derivation proposes that the term
fly- refers not to insects as such but rather the
delirium resulting from consumption of the
fungus. This is based on the medieval belief that flies could enter a person's head and cause mental illness.
