Amanita muscaria

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ToxicMan
Bite me, it's fun!

Registered: 06/28/02
Posts: 6,741
Loc: Aurora, Colorado
Last seen: 3 minutes, 6 seconds

Amanita muscaria

#1914164 - 09/13/03 10:19 PM (22 years, 5 months ago)

Amanita muscaria is perhaps the best known mushroom, at least in terms of art. It appears in artwork dating back about as far back as there is art to be dated.

Rather than present a formal mycological description, here we will cover a few macroscopic features that may be noted in the field to confirm that a mushroom is indeed Amanita muscaria.

Probably the most important character is the multiple rings of tissue at the top of the volva. There are occasional specimens which lack these, but if there are not others in the same group of mushrooms which have them, then you should consider that your mushrooms may not be A. muscaria.

There is normally a skirtlike ring on the stem, but the ring is very fragile, and it is not unusual for specimens to be missing the ring. Buttons should show a partial veil obscuring the gills.

Cap color is not a very good character for identification. Cap color in this species ranges from an extremely deep red through oranges, tans, and yellows to a very near white color. The specimens in the photographs above are all of Amanita muscaria variety flavivolvata (recognized by the conspicuously yellow universal veil). This variety has a strikingly red cap when young. Sunlight fairly rapidly fades the caps, and the photos above shows some specimens with caps that have faded to an orangish-tan coloration.

Normally, the friable univeral veil splits into warts which are left on the cap - a conspicuous feature widely represented in art. However, the warts can easily be washed off, and specimens with no warts at all can be found.

If cut in half, the flesh inside is solid, firm (if fresh), and white. The red color from the cap extends a couple millimeters down into the cap flesh below the surface of the cap.

The primary effects from eating A. muscaria are due to ibotenic acid and muscimol. Muscimol has between 5 and 10 times the potency of ibotenic acid by weight. In experiments, about 6 milligrams of muscimol cause the central nervous system effects. This quantity is typical of a single cap of A. muscaria. The fatal dose is about 15 caps, but the level of toxins varies considerably from specimen to specimen. The toxins exist in all parts of the mushroom.

During drying, some of the ibotenic acid undergoes spontaneous decarboxylation into muscimol. Historically, the native peoples who have used A. muscaria have dried their mushrooms for later use. With storage, the muscimol and ibotenic acid are gradually destroyed. After even one year, quantitative studies of alkaloid content are unreliable. After seven years, only traces remain.

Onset of symptoms is almost always between 30 and 120 minutes after ingestion. There have been unusual cases where onset was delayed up to 6 hours.

The most common symptoms are nausea and vomiting, although not everyone experiences them. The first symptom experienced is usually loss of coordination. The person often finds themselves unable to walk or walks as if drunk. Another striking symptom is that the activity level will rise and fall - for a time the person seems asleep and may be difficult to arouse, then they become almost uncontrollably active. Muscle twitching frequently develops. Some persons experience hallucinations. The most commonly described hallucination is macropsia - the perception that an object is much larger than it actually is. Changes in color perception, subjective changes in one's physical abilites, and amnesia may occur. Generalized siezures rarely occur, but are most frequent in children.

Typically the symptoms peak in 2 to 5 hours, and the duration of the symptoms is 8 to 24 hours. With very few exceptions, all symptoms disappear within 48 hours. Many persons report a hangover type headache.

Overall, there is usually a greater risk of harm from medical overtreatment than there is from the mushrooms themselves.

In the state of Colorado, Amanita muscaria is the most common cause of mushroom poisoning where a species can be identified, followed by Amanita pantherina, then Chlorophyllum molybdites. Anyone who is considering eating them should do so in small quantities, to minimize the potential unpleasant effects, until they know the actual potency of their specimens and what the effects will be.

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Happy mushrooming!

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