Fly agaric

Description:

The cap of Amanita muscaria ranges from 10 to 20 cm diameter at maturity and is red or occasionally orange. Caps usually flatten or even become slightly concave when fully developed, but occasionally the fly agaric remains broadly convex. Caps of the fly agaric usually retain irregular, white fragments of the universal veil, but in wet weather they can wash off even while the caps are young and domed. In all but the driest of weather, Amanita muscaria caps flatten at maturity. When damaged, the flesh just below the pellicle of a fly agaric is initially white but soon turns yellow on exposure to air. Amanita muscaria has white, free, crowded gills that turn pale yellow as the fruitbody matures. Stems are 10 to 25 cm long and 1.5 to 2cm in diameter. White and ragged with a grooved, hanging white ring. The swollen stem base retains the white remains of the sack-like volva, which eventually fragments into rings of scales around the base of mature specimens.

Habitat:

Usually recurring in the same place for several years, Amanita muscaria is found frequently throughout the northern hemisphere, including Britain and Ireland, mainland Europe, Asia, the USA and Canada. Amanita muscaria is ectomycorrhizal. It forms mycorrhizal associations with a range of hardwood and softwood trees, notably birches, pines and spruces.

Notes:

Spotted in a mixed forest bordering heathland in Spielderbos, Veluwe, Holland. (sources:see reference)