Amanita Muscaria, commonly known as the Fly Agaric or Fly Amanita, is a Basidiomycete of the genus Amanita. This picturesque mushroom contains Muscimol (also known as agarin or pantherine) is one of the principal psychoactive constituents of Amanita Muscaria and related species of mushroom. Muscimol is a potent and selective orthosteric agonist for the GABA A receptors and displays sedative-hypnotic, depressant and hallucinogenic psychoactive properties.
Native throughout the temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, Amanita Muscaria has been introduced to many countries in the Southern Hemisphere, generally as a symbiont with pine and birch plantations, and is now a true cosmopolitan species. It is associated with various deciduous and coniferous trees.
Arguably the most iconic toadstool species, the Fly Agaric is large, white-gilled, white-spotted, normally red mushroom, and is one of the most recognizable and widely encountered in popular culture. The extensive use of Amanita Muscaria in the Mario Franchise and its Super Mushroom Power-Up along with the houses in The Smurfs Franchise, makes this mushroom a Star on TV.
Despite its easily distinguishable features, Amanita Muscaria is a fungus with several known variations, or subspecies. These subspecies are slightly different, some having yellow or white caps, but they are all usually called Fly Agarics, and they are most of the time recognizable by their notable white spots. Recent DNA fungi research, however, has shown that some of these variations are not the same species at all!
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