Aug. 10/09 Amanita Muscaria var. formosa...?

[dfar]

here is today's awesome find ... just kinda stumbled on a single Amanita Muscaria and so decided to search around a bit and i ended up finding probably 50+ Amanita Muscaria mushroom (although a lot are still in pinning stage.)

one question to the skilled members on the topia board....

are these two Amanita Muscaria mushrooms the same variant or are they different... formosa and flavivolvata

thanks

Dfar

[mydarling]

wow, great pics!!!!!!

lots of great amanita pics going up lately.... lovin' this

[UnlearnEverything]

Great pics! Amanitas are soooo beautiful! Gorgeous specimens.

Thanks for sharing

[dfar]

fixed... thanks shroomette

[Aislyn Wendell]

Beautiful!

[Joukahainen]

Cool looking Amanitas, way to go!

[Alan Rockefeller]

Amanita muscaria var. formosa is a European taxon, see this page. These are the yellow form of Amanita amerimuscaria.

I understand that you break off the base of the stem because they are dirty. However if you really get into studying Amanitas you will see that this is the most interesting part.

[dfar]

thanks Alan for the information, I mostly break the stem because I've heard it's better for the future development of the mycelial net?


here's about a quarter of what i discovered the second time i went back to the same patch... there was also a lot of mushroom bulbs(bases) strewn around? do deer or beavers eat Amanita's? looks like something is munching on them anyhow.

[mjshroomer]

Originally Posted by dfar

thanks Alan for the information, I mostly break the stem because I've heard it's better for the future development of the mycelial net?
here's about a quarter of what i discovered the second time i went back to the same patch... there was also a lot of mushroom bulbs(bases) strewn around? do deer or beavers eat Amanita's? looks like something is munching on them anyhow.

Deer and squirrel love to eat Amanita muscaria and some of its variations. I have posted pictures of stone squirrels in action here and at other sites. Not sure about Beavers. Slugs also love amanitas but they also love psilocybe and a lot of other families of fungi.\\
I really boubt that ther eis any need to save the stems. Most liteature for the past indicate that the Siberians, the Kamchandals, the Koryaks and the Chuckees all eat the caps and usually dry them although some literature indicates they may have been serves with wheys and curds. Not the Iraqi Kurds though.
Also some members of the drug subculture communities make a liquid from the cap which is boiled down to minute amounts of liquid goo and soak pot or cigarette papers in the goop, and say it is like a speedy high with trails and color wisps. There are only a few trip comments in academic literature which mention this method and It may be real or not.
mjshroomer

[IcelandicSojourn]

Interesting stuff MJ.

So, just to confirm, these are Amanita muscaria var. guessowii?

[dfar]

Mjshroomer: thanks so much for the information, it was likely deer that have been eating them, however there is a large family of beavers nearby so it made me suspicious lol
also thanks for the info on traditional use, i've been searching for a bit to really get up to par on my knowledge before doing much more than collecting the mushroom.

Icelandicsojourn:

Yes, Alan Rockefellar is correct i beleive in naming these Amanita muscaria var. guessowii

thanks for viewing the thread everyone!

[warriorsoul]

The correct name is Amanita amerimuscaria

The variations (guessowii, formosa..) havent stood up under DNA scrutiny.

Nice pics!

[Alan Rockefeller]

Yes, Alan Rockefellar is correct i beleive in naming these Amanita muscaria var. guessowii

I didn't call them that. That is not a completely incorrect name to call them (old names still describe the taxon just fine), but Amanita amerimuscaria is much more correcter.

I mostly break the stem because I've heard it's better for the future development of the mycelial net?

That is true for wood chip mushrooms like Psilocybe cyanescens, but for mycorrhizals it probably doesn't matter how you pick them with regards to how many will fruit later on. One study done with chanterelles found almost no difference, but slightly more chanterelles fruited in the following years in the patches where they just ripped them out of the ground vs. the patches where they cut them with a knife. It was really close though, not statistically significant.

[IcelandicSojourn]

Thanks for the info, but here's where I'm slightly confused. There are amanita (ameri) muscaria with red caps, right? These are not the same, correct? Potency variance do to environmental factors aside, do these have the same entheogenic effects as the red capped amanita muscaria?

Descriptions of amanita muscaria usually say they have a red to orange cap...

[dfar]

Originally Posted by Alan Rockefeller

I didn't call them that. That is not a completely incorrect name to call them (old names still describe the taxon just fine), but Amanita amerimuscaria is much more correcter.



That is true for wood chip mushrooms like Psilocybe cyanescens, but for mycorrhizals it probably doesn't matter how you pick them with regards to how many will fruit later on. One study done with chanterelles found almost no difference, but slightly more chanterelles fruited in the following years in the patches where they just ripped them out of the ground vs. the patches where they cut them with a knife. It was really close though, not statistically significant.

Sorry Alan, I didn't mean to put words in your mouth

and thanks for the clarification of cutting vs. pulling out the mushrooms, i didn't realize that the rule was only for wood chip mushrooms... so thanks!. This thread just keeps giving me awesome gems of info, i hope it continues... thanks so much

IcelandicSojourn:

You raise some very interesting questions of which i am totally unable to answer, but i'm very interested in hearing what others have to say on the subject.... i'll be anxiously awaiting their expertise

[Ben Dover]

That is one hell of a find Dfar! Sweet!!

[Alan Rockefeller]

There are amanita (ameri) muscaria with red caps, right?

Yes.

These are not the same, correct?

They are the same species according to DNA analysis.

Potency variance do to environmental factors aside, do these have the same entheogenic effects as the red capped amanita muscaria?

Yes.

The true Amanita muscaria grows in eastern europe and the PNW, it may be a little better. Or maybe the same.

Descriptions of amanita muscaria usually say they have a red to orange cap...

Or sometimes white, but that would be dangerous to eat unless you are a real Amanita expert.

[IcelandicSojourn]

Thanks Alan!

[masterplain88]

you can eat them. that sounds dangerous.