Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Autumn Season Mushroom Season

Röd flugsvamp


Apparently it's a good year for mushroom hunting. But you shouldn't try to eat this one. We call it Röd Flugsvanp, in English fly agaric. It's very poisonous, but also very photogenic. Legend has it that the Vikings used it when they went berserk. I did meet a group of people at Lake Rudan today and we talked about the fact that a man died from liver failure after eating the white version of the fly agaric just the other day. It also contains muscimol, a major psychoactive alkaloid.

23 comments:

Pedro D. H. said...

poisonous?

B SQUARED said...

I think I'll call Alice.

MrsLittleJeans said...

Looks like a fairy tale mushroom, so pretty...and thank you for the chemistry lesson,speaking my language now!

Dejemonos sorprender said...

fantastic photo, I like.

Olivier said...

Macro magnifique, presque en relief..

Sharon said...

I've never seen a mushroom like this except in pictures. I always thought of this type as a "fairy-tale" mushroom.

Sharon said...

I meant to add that it sure makes a gorgeous photo!

Luis Gomez said...

Really cool Steffe. I haven't ever seen one of these for real.

RedPat said...

Incredible - it looks like an imaginary mushroom. Love your shot.

Susan said...

This is a cool shot! It doesn't even look real! I love it!

Lisa Wilson said...

They are so pretty! They do look like they belong in Alice in Wonderland.

Halcyon said...

Really nice macro. These look like the kind of mushrooms they have in children's books and such. :)

Lowell said...

Re your question on Ocala DP: No go-go dancing at the car sales. The sales people will dance around a lot, but it usually involves the truth!

Re this photo: my philosophy is not to eat any mushrooms so long as there is a lot of other good stuff to eat! No problem.

Tracy said...

Wow, that is a gorgeous photo, I lvoe the colours, and the details

irinapictures said...

So beautiful photo! We call it mukhomor in Russian, fly-killer. Sounds dangerous in Swedish, too)

paul said...

Fairytale photo! Just beautiful, and in time before the insects (or slugs?) could take a bigger bite out of it.

Your autumn - our spring.

Chattahoochee Valley Daily said...

I agree, very photogenic.

Carlos Lorenzo said...

Beautiful and yet so deadly. That's what happens with colorful stuff. Look at those flashing colors in small frogs in South America and how poisonous many can be. Or corals that burn, etc. And many blond beauties around there :)

Stefan Jansson said...

Thanks all.

Good one Paul. I actually took a photo of a slug that was crawling on the top of one of these mushrooms today! Might upload it to flickr some day.

I know what you mean with the Alice in Wonderland comments. I always expect some tiny figure to step out from behind the mushroom when I get this close.

VP said...

This is like the fairy tales ones!

T. Becque said...

It's like out of a fairytale!

Anonymous said...

A request ...I'd like to see some miniature vikings under one of these fab mushrooms. Thanks!

Laurence said...

I will keep this picture in mind today!!! as a future botanical illustrator, I am particularly fascinated by mushrooms. These are gorgeous. Thanks for visiting my denver daily photo blog. I see that you are not shy and often ask people if you can take a picture of them. I should be more adventurous...I think I will ;-) I'll come back and visit your blog.
Laurence