Amanita muscaria
Fly Agaric   🍄

    Our Amanita muscaria is the bright red one characteristic of the Rocky Mountains. One of the most common of mushrooms at middle to higher elevations in the mountains, it appears in Ponderosa Pine forest, mixed conifer forest, or spruce-fir. At the height of the summer mushroom season Boletus edulis, Lactarius deliciosus, Boletus piperatus, Gomphidius tomentosus, and Amanita muscaria make up a huge array of fruiting bodies. The deep scarlet red cape with whipped cream white splotches of velar material on them are everywhere to be seen.
    During this period there are always "New Age" folks out to discover the marvels of eating this mushroom for magical experiences. Due to its toxic properties, the usual result is an upset stomach and considerable fright from being poisoned.
    Chuck Barrows tells the story of being assured that there was a narcotic in Amanita muscaria and that it could be secured. A number of years ago Chuck collected several of the fruiting bodes from the ski area above Santa Fe and put them in grape juice for a short time. He then decanted off the liquor through muslin cloth. The result was a clear liquid with some hint of reddish (water soluble) pigment in it. He then drank a small amount. Chuck described a beautiful sensation of technicolor visions and view that lasted for several hours.
    He was so impressed with his result that he and some friends returned to the ski basin, collected a large number of Amanita, and repeated the procedure. However, he did break up the mushrooms to get more liquid. They then drank the liquor and got very sick. In fact, Chuck said he was never able to reproduce his first, best "trip" and finally gave it all up as a bad job.
    More recently, I received a call on a summer night from the Las Vegas hospital as I am on the poison control hot line in New Mexico. A doctor at the hospital described a patient as voluntarily having eaten a large reddish colored mushroom with white spots for its effect. As the doctor relayed the relevant information to me, I could hear a loud voice in the background. At one point the voice said, "I am God!" This was then followed by several loud groans and a great deal more incoherent rambling. The doctor said, "How long will this go on? He's got the entire ward awake." When I replied that it might be many hours before the patient winded down, the doctor said he was going to put the hallucinatory fellow in a very private room.
    Amanita muscaria contain not only muscarin, but Bufotenin, amatoxins, and ibotenic acid. The poisonous material is apparently in the cell wall material, as Chuck found out, and poisonings are the rule rather than the exception. One may get away with an upset stomach, but disorientation, nausea, and heart palpitations are also possible. One should not experiment with this mushroom--it is truly poisonous.

Bill Isaacs
1996-12-27