Information

Amanita has a minion!

Mushaboom the Hapoom

Amanita
Legacy Name: Agaricus

The

Glade Illumis
Owner:

finch

Age: 7 years, 6 months, 6 days

Born: October 19th, 2016

Adopted: 7 years, 6 months, 6 days ago

Adopted: October 19th, 2016

Statistics

Level: 1
Strength: 10
Defense: 10
Speed: 10
Health: 10
HP: 10/10
Intelligence: 0
Books Read: 0
Food Eaten: 0
Job: Unemployed

There are old mushroom hunters and there are bold mushroom hunters,
but there are no old, bold mushroom hunters.

THE GENUS AMANITA
The mushrooms in Amanita include some of the world's best known and most beautiful fungi. Amanita species are recognized by their (usually) pale gills, which are free from the stem; their white spore prints; the presence of a universal veil that often creates a volva or other distinctive features on the stem; and their more or less dry caps (as opposed to the slimy caps in the related genus Limacella). Many species of Amanita have warts or patches on their caps, and many have a ring on the stem. x

Home to the iconic fly agaric or toadstool - Amanita muscaria - the Amanita genus varies wildly in both edible and toxic species. Some of the most deadly species of mushroom are amanitas, and can be frightfully common. Amanita phalliodes - the death cap - might look innocent, but is chock full of deadly amatoxins, and can mimic the choice edible Amanita caesarea when young. As little as half a mushroom contains enough toxins to kill an adult human.

Though the genus contains some of the most highly regarded choice edible species of mushrooms, most expert hunters discourage amateurs and enthusiasts alike from foraging for amanitas. Some things are just not worth the risk.

Delicious
Amanita caesarea - Caesar's mushroom
Amanita jacksonii - American Caesar's mushroom
Amanita rubescens - The blusher
Amanita fulva - Tawny grisette

Dangerous
Amanita muscaria - Fly agaric
Amanita pantherina - False blusher
Amanita crenulata - Poison champagne amanita

Deadly
Amanita phalloides - The death cap
Amanita bisporigera - The destroying angel
Amanita verda - The fool's mushroom

One Pill Makes You Larger
Though Amanita muscaria is regarded by most as toxic - and it is - it is also highly sought after for its hallucinogenic properties. The main toxins present in the fly agaric mushroom are ibotenic acid and muscimol.

"In the first written observations of its effect, von Strahlenburg, the Siberian prisoner of war, noted that:

The first and usual sign by which one can recognize of man under the influence of the mukhumor [the Russian name for Amanita muscaria] is the shaking of the extremities which will follow after an hour or less after which the persons thus intoxicated have hallucinations, […] while some might deem a small crack to be as wide as a door, and a tub of water as deep as the sea. But this applies only to those who overindulge, while those who use a small quantity experience a feeling of extraordinary lightness, joy, courage, and a sense of energetic wellbeing." xx

Some even claim that the mushroom is edible if prepared properly. Ibotenic acid and muscimol are both water soluble, unlike amatoxins; parboiled, the toxins are removed, and some praise the detoxified mushroom as a prime edible.

(Disclaimer: don't eat fly agaric mushrooms!)