Edible

Collect if you are 100% sure and can distinguish from poisonous ones!

Although this mushroom is called "fly agaric", it is quite edible. In terms of taste, it is, of course, a B minus, but you will certainly be able to surprise your guests (and feed the especially brave ones). You can prepare a dish of fly agaric mushrooms for the arrival of your mother-in-law... (just kidding). The most important thing when collecting edible gray-pink fly agarics is not to confuse them with their poisonous counterparts: panther and red fly agarics. The cap of the edible fly agaric is up to 20 cm in diameter, gray-pink or dirty red in color with dirty gray flakes. In damp and humid weather, the mushroom cap is slimy and wet. The flesh of the mushroom is white; if you break it on the stem, it gradually turns red. The plates at the bottom of the cap are white; in adult and overgrown fly agarics, they are slightly reddened with spots. The stem of the mushroom is white, hollow inside, club-shaped at the end. There is a white dense ring on the stem. With age, the leg turns a little red. The smell is inexpressive. The mushroom grows from June to October in deciduous and coniferous forests. Usually grows in large groups. Adult specimens of the mushroom in the area of ​​thickening of the stem are usually worm-like, which is another property of the edibility of the mushroom.

Photos of edible gray-pink fly agarics in nature

Description of edible fly agarics from literary sources

Edible fly agaric mushrooms are known only to a limited number of mushroom pickers. Others avoid the edible fly agaric, suggesting that it is not suitable for consumption. Look at the edible fly agarics in the photo and read their botanical characteristics.

Caesar's fly agaric, Caesar's mushroom. What fly agarics can you eat?

It’s worth starting the material about which fly agarics you can eat with a magnificent mushroom - Caesar's fly agaric or Caesar's mushroom. The cap is 6-20 cm in diameter, thick-fleshy, initially ovoid, semicircular, flat-convex, bright red or orange-red, fiery red, naked, very rarely with remnants of a common spathe, with a striped edge. The young basidioma in the “egg” stage is covered with a common membranous cover, which breaks at the apex and a reddish cap appears from it. The plates are orange-yellow, free, frequent, convex or widened in the middle. The leg is 8-20 x 1.5-2 cm, cylindrical, with a tuber at the base, bright orange-yellow, striped above the ring, smooth underneath. The ring is located in the upper part of the leg, hanging softly, white, striped, with yellowish flakes along the edge. Volva is free or semi-free, white on the outside, white on the inside or partially or completely yellowish. The pulp is white, with autoxidation yellowish along the periphery, with a pleasant smell and taste. Spore powder is white.

Amanita Caesar, Caesar's mushroom, grows in deciduous forests and is found in August - September. Edible.

Below are edible species of fly agarics with photos and descriptions that will help identify these representatives in the forest:

Photo gallery

Amanita saffron

The cap is 3-9 (12) cm in diameter, initially ovate-bell-shaped, then flat with a rounded tubercle, with a grooved edge, shiny, from bright orange to orange-ocher, buffy-brown at the apex, thick-fleshy, glabrous, weakly -mucous, shiny and smooth when dry. The plates are whitish or cream-colored, free, often widened towards the periphery and narrowed at the stem, frequent, soft. There are plates of different sizes.

Leg 6-15 x 0.8-1.5 (2) cm, cylindrical, with a swollen base, solid, then hollow, brittle, with flaky-fibrous, ocher-brownish scales, with orange fibrousness. The ring is missing. Volva is loose, thick, white, light yellow on the inside.

The pulp is whitish, thin, soft, sweetish, without any particular smell or taste. Spore powder is white.

The saffron fly agaric grows in damp places in coniferous and mixed forests, on rich soils, and is found in July - September. Edible.

Fly agaric tall

The cap is 7-15 (25) cm in diameter, initially convex, then flat-spread, with a blunt, smooth, sometimes wrinkled-ribbed edge, slightly mucous, whitish, then honey-brown, brownish-gray, brown, darker in center, covered with sparse, powdery, white, patchy, quickly disappearing remains of the general blanket. The plates are white, sometimes with a slight reddish tint, free, very wide, up to 1.5 cm, broadly lanceolate, sometimes with a finely pubescent edge. Leg 5-15 x 1.5-2 cm, smooth, cylindrical, thickened or without thickening at the base, with a root-like outgrowth, with concentrically located rows of flaky dirty-whitish scales below the ring, colored a tone lighter than the cap, above - smooth, white , filled in young and hollow in mature specimens. The ring is whitish, wide, with an uneven edge, ribbed-striped, sometimes disappearing. Volva is attached, dirty grayish or whitish. The pulp is white, loose, brittle, with a mild taste and a damp smell. Spore powder is white.

The tall fly agaric grows in various types of forests and is found in July - August. Edible.

Fly agaric (floater) yellowish-brown (brown)

The cap is 3-8 (12) cm in diameter, initially bell-shaped, then hemispherical or flat with a rounded tubercle, smooth, slightly mucous, with a striped-ribbed edge, golden-brown, yellowish-brownish, with a brown, darker central tubercle color tanned leather, along the edge with flaky, silvery-silky, yellowish remains of the general cover, disappearing in the mature state. The plates are white or cream, free, wide, frequent, soft, convex. Leg 5-10 (15) x 1-1.5 cm, cylindrical, widened towards the base, white or the same color as the cap, brittle, smooth, silky or slightly fibrous, sometimes with a moire pattern. The ring is missing. Volva is saccular, loose, yellowish, pinkish or reddish. Spore powder is white. The pulp is white or yellowish, thin, soft, sweetish, without much odor.

The yellowish-brown fly agaric (brown float) grows in various types of forests, at the edges of raised bogs, and is found in July - September. Edible.

Fly agaric (float) snow-white

The cap is 3-10 cm in diameter, initially bell-shaped, over time it becomes flat-spread, with a rounded tubercle protruding in the center, with a radially striped ribbed edge, snow-white, light beige in the middle, slightly mucous when young, then dry, with falling white flaky remains from the general blanket. The plates are white, free, widened towards the edges and narrowed at the stem. Leg 6-8 (13) x 0.8-1 (1.5) cm, cylindrical, swollen at the base. The ring is missing. Volva is bag-shaped, loose, white. The pulp is white, thin, with a pleasant sweetish taste and a slight smell of raw flour. Spore powder is white.

The snow-white fly agaric (floater) grows in various types of forests, in meadows, and is found in August - September. Edible.

Amanita thick

The cap is 6-10 (15) cm in diameter, initially hemispherical, then from flat-convex to flat-prostrate, often with a fibrous edge, grayish, brownish, smoky-brownish, darker in the center, thick, slimy in wet weather, silky when dry , covered with small, powdery-flaky, whitish-grayish scales. The plates are white, adherent or slightly descending, form longitudinal stripes on the stem, silky, frequent, soft.

Leg 5-7 (10) x 1.5-2 cm (up to 4 cm at the base), cylindrical, thickened or root-like elongated at the base, white or grayish, powdery in the upper part, flaky-visibly scaly under the ring, solid , then hollow.

The ring is located in the upper part of the leg, soft, membranous, striped, white or grayish, hanging, its edges form folds. The volva is loose, adherent to the base in the form of several flocculent-scaly rows.

The pulp is dense, white, grayish under the skin, the taste is weak, rare, there is no smell, either in young specimens - anise, in old specimens - rare. Spore powder is white.

The thick fly agaric grows mainly in forests and is found in June - September. Edible.

Amanita pineal

The cap is 6-8 (16) cm in diameter, thick-fleshy, initially hemispherical, then from flat-convex to flat-spread, with a blunt, smooth edge, whitish, white-fawn, over time becomes dirty white, with thick, large, fluffy , pyramidal, off-white, bristly scales. The plates are white or fawn, free or attached to a tooth, broadly lanceolate, wide, soft. The leg is 6-10 x 2-3 cm, cylindrical, root-like and elongated at the base, white, solid, all covered with thick, large, flocculent, imbricated scales, pointed at the top. The ring is located in the middle part of the leg, soft, membranous, narrow, disappearing, initially whitish, then light yellowish, torn, with velvety scales, striped. The volva is cup-shaped, attached to the stem, very loose, white or grayish. The pulp is white or grayish, dense, with a pleasant taste and smell. Spore powder is white.

The fly agaric grows in mixed forests, in clearings, singly, and is found in July - September. Edible.

Fly agaric gray, gray float

The cap is 3-8 (10) cm in diameter, initially rounded-bell-shaped, then flat-spread, with a ribbed-ribbed edge, gray, ash-gray, silver, ash-gray, gray-violet, olive-greenish, ocher-gray , with a darker tubercle in the center, smooth, thin-fleshy, weakly mucous, drying out, often naked, less often with remnants of a common blanket on the surface and along the edge. The plates are white or slightly grayish, free, frequent, very wide, broadly lanceolate, unequal in length, soft. The stem is 6-12 x 0.8-2 cm, long, evenly widened towards the base, whitish or colored a tone lighter than the cap, hollow, longitudinally fibrous, sometimes with a powdery surface and covered with longitudinal gray scales. The ring is missing. Volva is bag-shaped, free, membranous, white or grayish, deeply buried in the soil. The pulp is white, thin, tender, soft, without much taste or smell. Spore powder is white.

The gray fly agaric (gray floater) grows in various types of forests and is found in June - October. Edible.

Is it possible to eat edible pink fly agaric?

Whether pink fly agaric can be eaten depends on the stage of its development. You should definitely not take older specimens into your basket. The cap is 5-10 (15) cm in diameter, initially hemispherical, then flat-convex, with a ribbed-striped edge, brownish-red, dirty pink, fading, as if pearlescent, weakly mucous or dry, covered with small dirty white , pinkish warts and flaps that are spiny, angular or flat in shape. The plates are white (they turn red when pressed), in mature specimens they are reddish or reddish-brownish, free, frequent, rather wide, soft. The stalk is 7-10 x 1-2 cm, evenly expanded towards the base, solid, then hollow or spongy, under the ring it is flocculent and finely scaly, white, turning red with age. The ring is located in the upper part of the leg, wide, initially white, then becomes dirty - pink, filmy, striped. Volva is attached, scaly, dirty pink, dirty white, reddening. The pulp is white, turns red when cut, with a pleasant taste, without any particular odor. Spore powder is white.

The edible pink fly agaric grows in various types of forest and is found in June - September. Edible.

Kira Stoletova

One of the most poisonous representatives, the fly agaric mushroom, is distributed throughout the globe. Belongs to the hallucinogenic variety. You can be poisoned by fly agaric; symptoms appear 15 minutes after consumption.

Description of appearance

Fly agaric is a poisonous mushroom. It was named after an ancient method of use in baiting flies. The species name "Muscaria" translates as "fly".

The cap of a young fly agaric is convex, as it grows it becomes flat, less often it takes on the shape of a saucer, concave in the central part, the diameter of which is 8-25 cm. The color is bright orange or red. Most often covered with a mucous sticky secretion. In North America there are fly agarics with white and yellow caps. White flakes are located over the entire surface. In older specimens, the dots are washed away by precipitation. These flakes represent the remains of the general blanket in which the young fruiting body of the fungus was located.

Along the edges, the surface of the cap is ribbed and striped - it has this appearance due to the fact that the hymenophore plates are visible. The hymenophore is tubular, white in young hymenomycetes, yellowish in old ones. The leg is cylindrical in shape, grows from 8 to 20 cm in height. There is a tuberous thickening at the base. As they grow older, the inside of the leg becomes hollow. In the upper part and below, membranous rings with uneven edges, formed in the form of wide flounces, are clearly visible.

The flesh is white, just under the skin is pale orange. When it reacts with air, the color of the pulp changes. The taste is sweetish, the smell is barely perceptible. Propagated by spore powder. The spores themselves have a smooth structure and are colorless.

Fly agarics grow in coniferous or deciduous forests, the first representatives appear in May.

Kinds

The international classification includes several types of fly agarics, which differ in their structural features, color, origin, and degree of toxicity.

  • Red fly agaric (Amanita muscaria): grows in Eurasia and the western region of Alaska. The color of the fly agaric cap is red, with characteristic warty growths of white color.
  • Yellow-orange fly agaric (Amanita gemmata): The variety is distinguished by a yellow or orange cap. The pulp is compact, white, and does not change color when in contact with air. The leg is smooth, cylindrical, white. Grows in North America. Dangerous for humans and animals.
  • Golden fly agaric (Amanita muscaria var. aureola): leg-cap representative, dangerous to humans. It is distinguished by a smooth orange cap without warty flakes. The diameter of the cap is no more than 5 cm.
  • Fly agaric (Amanita strobiliformis): the bright red cap becomes flat with age, reaching 5-25 cm in diameter. The species M. cone-shaped is similar to the Caesar mushroom.
  • Leopard or panther fly agaric (Amanita pantherina): poisonous, has a pleasant aroma. It looks like a gray-pink edible fly agaric. Grows in coniferous forests. The cap reaches 9 cm in diameter. It is colored gray-brown or brown-black.
  • Toadstool or lemon agaric (Amanita citrina): classified as inedible. Characterized by the taste of raw potatoes and an unpleasant odor. Eating it causes indigestion and causes significant damage to the kidneys.
  • Gray-pink or pinkish fly agaric (Amanita rubescens): It doesn't look appetizing, but is completely edible. The cap reaches 18 cm in diameter, hemispherical in shape. The surface is pale, with a pink tint, and covered with a large number of warty gray dots. The lamellar hymenophore of a young mushroom is pale green, while that of an old one is pink. The pulp is fleshy, thick, white or pale pink; after a while the cut turns red.

Irina Selyutina (Biologist):

The fruiting bodies of the gray-pink fly agaric contain a number of useful substances:

  • about 40% of phosphoric acid compounds useful for humans;
  • about 5% betaine (the presence of which has also been determined in beet roots);
  • 12.8 mg of vitamin B 1 and 12.8 mg of vitamin B 2 (per 1 kg of dry weight).

However, due to fear of confusing it with similar poisonous species, the pink fly agaric is rarely eaten.

  • Fly agaric Caesar or king mushroom (Amanita caesarea): the most delicious edible counterpart of fly agarics, a real delicacy. The cap size is 8-21 cm. The skin is golden-orange or bright red; yellowish representatives are occasionally found in nature. The plates under the cap are painted green. The skirt on the bottom of the leg is clearly visible.

Beneficial features

Red and panther fly agaric are endowed with healing properties, so they are used in folk medicine.

Toxicological composition of fly agaric:

  • poisonous alkaloid muscarine;
  • muscaridine;
  • mycoatropine;
  • psilocybin;
  • muscimol;
  • ibotenic acid;
  • muscaruphine.

Irina Selyutina (Biologist):

In our human culture, there is a generally accepted name for mushrooms that can cause an altered state of mind based on special compounds contained in their fruiting bodies - hallucinogens. These are hallucinogenic or magic mushrooms. A study of a number of sources has shown that one of the most common species in the post-Soviet space, the red fly agaric, was used for these purposes by tribes inhabiting the Far North 3500 years ago. It has long been established that regular use of such mushrooms leads to mental disorders, and then to complete destruction and physical degradation of the individual.

The alkaloid muscarine is classified as a strong poison. Consumption of 0.005 g causes hallucinations, complications in all internal organs, even death. The dosage of muscarine during treatment should be minimal. The lethal dose is 3-5 mg. When consuming poisonous basidiomycetes, the person’s age matters: for children and the elderly, the lethal dose of muscarine is 1-2 mg.

Contraindications

Tinctures and medicines based on extracts from Amanita should be taken with caution. Due to their specificity (the presence of toxins), the drugs are not used to treat pregnant, lactating women and children. More often, medications are used externally, because alcohol tinctures provoke poisoning and cause hallucinogenic effects.

It is contraindicated for people suffering from urolithiasis, gastrointestinal disorders, and neuroses. Symptoms of poisoning can be neutralized by drinking 15 drops of the Belladonna medicinal mixture. Having noticed the first signs of poisoning, before the ambulance arrives, you need to quickly cleanse the body by inducing vomiting and drinking more water.

Application

The poisonous representative of Hymenomycetes amazes with its properties. Toxicity is neutralized by heat treatment. After boiling 3-4 times, the product is dried and then used for its intended purpose. Only caps are suitable for the production of tinctures; do not handle them with bare hands; work with gloves.

Interesting facts about the use of fly agarics:

  • used to get rid of flies: sweet syrup was applied to the caps, which attracted pests;
  • The Vikings used tinctures to gain fearlessness and turn off sensitivity: the medicinal properties of the tincture helped get rid of severe pain after severe wounds;
  • healers used it for pain relief for toothache;
  • there is evidence that shamans took the infusion to put themselves into a trance and achieve nirvana;
  • Fly agaric ointment was used in cosmetology during Ancient Egyptian times as a remedy for wrinkles;
  • resourceful Japanese learned to eat poisonous varieties, passing secret recipes from generation to generation;
  • a poisoned elk tries to find a fly agaric in the forest: it helps to recover from poisoning and has a slight “happy” effect - having eaten the meat of such an animal, a person will also feel a “cheerful” effect.

Spring mushroom is used in treatment. During this period, there is sufficient rainfall, so the toxicity of the mushroom body is much lower. The clearing for collecting medicinal mushrooms must be located in a place far from the road. These mushrooms, like other basidiomycetes, have the property of absorbing toxins from the environment in hot weather.

The product treats not only animals and people, but also plants. Spore powder is used in agriculture for the production of fertilizers and fungicides. The pharmacy sells a balm called: Amanita Fungo-Shi. Use strictly according to prescription.

In cooking

Only edible varieties of Amanita muscaria and Amanita Caesar are edible. They are distinguished by high taste characteristics. Before use, be sure to clean and boil several times.

Various culinary delights are prepared using them. They are equally good marinated, salted and fried. Dried caps are used to make delicious soups. An interesting delicacy salad can be prepared by mixing marinated Caesar salad, boiled squid, quail eggs and mayonnaise.

The benefits of their use are invaluable to the body. Caesar mushroom contains a large amount of protein and minerals that help strengthen the body. Used in dietary nutrition. It is a complete meat replacement.

In medicine

Fly agaric mushrooms are widely used in medicine. They are used to treat radiculitis and stimulate the immune system. External agents are used in the treatment of abscesses, joint diseases, inflammation of the sciatic nerves, as a prevention of cancer, leukemia.

Fly agaric is used in the treatment of oncology as a pain reliever. A small amount of tincture taken orally has an effect similar to antidepressant drugs.

Fly agaric is useful for men suffering from prostatitis, and also as an aphrodisiac. External use (rubbing) eliminates the effects of tuberculosis and has a positive effect on the condition of the lungs. Actively used against skin diseases (psoriasis, eczema), for healing wound surfaces with secondary infection. The medicinal properties of the product are used in cosmetology. Antibacterial soap is made from it.

The fly agaric, described above, can be found from June to September.

Leopard fly agaric

May also be called panther mushroom. Like the previous two types, it is not suitable for human consumption. Otherwise, serious poisoning cannot be avoided. It can lead to death, but not always.

The pulp has a very pleasant aroma, which is often confused with the smell of the gray-pink fly agaric, which is edible. You can often find it in deciduous and coniferous forests. Read on for a description of this miracle of nature.

The hat can reach 9 centimeters in diameter. It has a gray-brown, ocher-brown or even surface strewn with small white warts, which are associated with droplets of milk. The plates located under the mushroom cap are white. The same color scheme is characteristic of the pulp. The smell is reminiscent of radishes. The leg of the fly agaric is hollow, thin, and characterized by a cylindrical shape. It can reach 13 centimeters in length. At the base there is a thickening in the form of tubers with several belts (usually 2-3). The decor of the leg is a filmy ring, often barely noticeable.

The mushroom grows from mid-summer to mid-autumn.

Amanita toadstool

This mushroom is also known as lemon or white inedible fly agaric. Its description is similar to the red species. However, this mushroom is inferior to it both in attractiveness and size. A little earlier, the fly agaric was included in the class of poisonous, but now scientists have excluded it from this list and included it in the class of inedible. These mushrooms are overly bitter, have an unpleasant aroma, and taste like raw potatoes.

The cap does not exceed 10 cm in diameter. When the mushroom is young, it is painted white, but when the mature stage of life begins, the cap acquires a yellowish-green or even brownish tint, and large gray growths appear on its surface. The plates are cream or white in color, with a flaky coating on the edges. The pulp is white or lemon-colored. The height of the leg does not exceed 12 cm, it is characterized by special thinness and decor in the form of a sagging beige ring. The base is expanded, giving rise to a tuberous thickening.

The toadstool fly agaric, the description of which we just looked at, bears fruit from late summer to mid-autumn. One of the varieties of this mushroom is the lemon white fly agaric, the key feature of which is its pure white color.

Fly agaric orange

Although this mushroom is recognized as edible (after appropriate processing), many consider it poisonous. In appearance, it is very similar to the dangerous bright yellow fly agaric. Photos and description are presented below.

The cap at a young age is characterized by an ovoid shape, and when mature it is flat. The maximum possible diameter is 10 centimeters. A clear sign of an orange mushroom is a dark bulge that is located in the center. The very color of the fly agaric cap can be gray or orange and their shades. The skin is smooth. The edges of the cap are decorated with grooves.

The leg can reach 15 centimeters in length, so it is considered elongated. As a rule, it has a pure white color, but visible inclusions of brown are possible. The lower part is widened.

This mushroom is collected from August to September.

Fly agaric gray-pink

Known as the blushing mushroom. At first glance you cannot say that it is edible, because it looks completely unappetizing. But, despite this, it amazes with its taste, both fried and pickled. And this fly agaric is loved not only by people, but also by insects: flies, worms. If you come across a wormy red fly agaric, don't be surprised.

The hat is no more than 18 centimeters in diameter. The characteristic shape is hemispherical for a young mushroom and tuberous-convex at the stage of the mature life cycle. The color of the cap is gray-pink. On the surface there is a mass of gray (less often brown) warty-type growths that look like flakes. The plates are white, but may have a slightly pink tint, which makes it possible to distinguish an old fly agaric. The description also indicates that these partitions are densely located.

The pulp is fleshy, impressively thick, white or pale pink in color. At the site of the break, it gradually turns pink and acquires a wine color. That is why this fly agaric is called the blushing fly agaric. The pulp tastes sweetish. There is no specific smell.

The height of the leg varies up to 15 centimeters. As the mushroom matures, its color can vary from light to dark pink. At the base there is a tuber-shaped thickening.

These mushrooms can be collected in grassy areas from early summer to mid-autumn.

Amanita Caesar

This species is also called Caesar's mushroom. This is one of the most delicious edible fly agarics. It has excellent taste and medicinal properties.

The diameter of the cap can range from 8 to 20 centimeters, and has an ovoid or hemispherical shape. Initially it is characterized by a convexity, but as the mushroom matures it becomes flatter. The skin of the cap is golden-orange or bright red, rarely yellowish.

The fly agaric mushroom, the photo and description of which you have just seen, is popularly called the royal or caesarean mushroom.

Any edible mushroom needs to be cooked before eating.

Attitudes towards edible fly agarics in the world are slowly changing towards more and more positive, which cannot be said about our country. Of course, it’s easier for them - they have in their assets the delicious Caesar fly agaric, which for thousands of years has latently formed a favorable image of these mushrooms in the minds of Europeans, large and tasty edible fly agaric mushrooms from Asia and Latin America are massively collected and sold in markets, etc., and etc. Mushroom-fearing Europeans are now even changing the status of the red fly agaric from “poisonous” to “edible after boiling.” In our country, only the most advanced mushroom pickers know what floats (small edible fly agarics) are and collect them, and there’s not even any talk about collecting large edible fly agarics (grey-pink, thick, knobby, bristly). By the way, the Caesar mushroom is already growing in full force in our south, and in the Far East its almost equally tasty relative, the fly agaric caesar mushroom, is found.

In this review, I want to tell you about the edible fly agaric reddened, or as it is more often called in our literature - gray-pink.

Gray-pink fly agaric - a delicious edible mushroom, the collection of which is the lot of experienced mushroom pickers. They tried to “rescue” me several times when they saw gray-pink fly agarics in the basket. Since not everyone dares to talk to a strange bespectacled man with fly agarics, it can be funny to catch looks of bewilderment (are they eating?!), sympathetic (what a fool...) and suspicious (drug addict, probably...). One kind-hearted grandmother once chased me from the bus stop to the train (which was half a kilometer). She swore touchingly at the town idiot and even tried to take away the basket...

Although the mushroom is edible fresh (and even raw), it is usually consumed fried after preliminary boiling. This is what Europeans do, who boil it well and drain the water before cooking. Red fly agaric is good pickled and salted, it is great for drying. It is from dried, not raw, caps of this mushroom that the most delicious soup is obtained. Young fruiting bodies with unopened caps can be grilled like sausages, or eaten raw, added to vegetable salads. A very good result with them is either a salad with a marinade containing a little vinegar and sugar, or a salad with boiled squid, quail eggs and mayonnaise added. Boiled blushing fly agarics behave well when frozen, remaining until the next season. The taste of the flesh of this mushroom is reminiscent of chicken, accompanied by a characteristic subtle fly agaric taste, which is difficult to describe to a person who has not tried it.

What does the blushing fly agaric look like and where does it grow?

Its cap is large, 8-20 cm in diameter, dirty-reddish or gray-pink (the British call the gray-pink fly agaric “Blusher”, which means “blush”, thus conveying the characteristic uneven pink color of the cap), less often reddish-brownish , covered with dirty gray flakes, first round-ovoid, then prostrate, slimy in wet weather. The pulp is white, without any particular taste or smell, and turns pink or red at the break and in places where there are wormholes. The taste of the flesh is a bit like white chicken meat. The plates are white, slightly reddened and spotted in mature mushrooms. The stalk is 7-15 x 1.5-2.5 cm, hollow, tuberous-thickened at the base, white, then reddish, with a hanging white wide membranous ring, striped above, with pinkish fibers below. Volva adheres to the base of the leg, in the form of concentric folds.

The mushroom inhabits light deciduous and mixed forests. Grows on any type of soil, everywhere in the temperate climate zone of the Northern Hemisphere except western North America. Since the end of the 20th century, the fungus has spread to South Africa, where it was introduced along with seedlings brought from Europe. The fruiting period is June-October, throughout the forest zone of Russia. The mushroom has a rare and very beautiful variety, which differs from the usual one by a bright yellow ring. In all my years, I was lucky to find such a mushroom only once. There is also an albino (white) form.

White form of the blushing fly agaric

In dry weather, as well as at the very beginning of the season, the redness of the flesh on the scrap may be less pronounced, so some care should be taken not to confuse the gray-pink fly agaric with the light-colored panther fly agaric or the red fly agaric faded after rain. It has been noticed that gray-pink and panther fly agarics often grow nearby. Sometimes the mushroom is confused with the edible fly agaric, which, however, is not dangerous.

In the Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe and other countries of Central Africa, since the 30s of the last century, specialists have known the so-called Congolese form fly agaric blushing. When young, it is quite light-colored, like its northern relative, but with age both the cap and the stem become orange-brown or brown-red. Despite the rather bitter taste of the pulp, local tribes Shona And Bemba They enjoy collecting it and eating it.

Amanita muscaria is different and medicinal properties. Betaine (a vitamin-like substance, a choline derivative) with physiological activity was found in fresh fruiting bodies. Betaine is used as a medicine and food additive. Traditionally, betaine has been used as a hepatoprotective and metabolic agent. Included in a number of drugs to improve liver function. Attempts are being made to use betaine as a means to correct obesity, but there is no serious scientific data on the effect of betaine on the development of excess weight. Attempts to use betaine for Alzheimer's disease are being studied. There is evidence that high betaine intake may prevent the risk of breast cancer.

I wonder what the mushroom contains one of the so-called “non-poisonous poisons”. Such poisons include either toxins that are dangerous for animals, but not for humans, or poisons that can only act if they enter the blood in their pure form (they must be injected with a syringe), and they are not absorbed by the digestive system and therefore are not dangerous. Examples of such non-toxic poisons include phallo- and virotoxins of the toadstool, flammutoxin of the winter mushroom, pleurotolysin of the oyster mushroom and rubescenslysin of the blushing fly agaric. Rubescenslysin is a hemolytic, i.e. a toxin that destroys the blood. It is an acidic protein that directly destroys the cell membranes of red and white blood cells (as well as muscle, liver and kidney cells) due to its surfactant properties. When administered intravenously (experiments on mice and rats), it is very toxic. LD50 averages 0.25 mg/kg. Poisoning is accompanied by extensive intravascular destruction of blood, massive release of plasma due to increased vascular permeability, and additional disturbances in the functioning of the heart and central nervous system. At large doses, death of mice occurs within 10-15 seconds and is accompanied by seizures. Doses in the LD50 region or slightly higher kill mice in 30 seconds to 1 hour, rats in 7-15 minutes. Death occurs as a result of hemorrhagic pulmonary edema.

Fortunately, rubescenslysin, firstly, is not absorbed by our digestive system and cannot penetrate into the blood, and, secondly, it is destroyed even with not very significant heating (more than 80°C, i.e. both during cooking and during frying). Taking this into account, as well as the always successful use of this mushroom in the world (not a single case of poisoning), I would consider the reputation of the gray-pink fly agaric to be unshaken.