Fly Agaric
By Daniel Butler: author and forager
There’s no point ducking the general conclusion that so far this has been a deeply-disappointing season. A cold, wet, summer is largely to blame, but not in the way that most people might assume. Weather obviously has an influence on mushrooms, but for most woodland species it is not a direct correlation. It is the impact of the weather on their hosts that is more important.
A cool damp summer and autumn has led to disappointing fungal yields
(Photo: author's own)
The summer of 2024 was most notable for its overcast skies rather than low temperatures and rain – at least as far as trees were concerned. The gloomy conditions led to poor growing conditions and this means woodland mycorrhizal fungi have had fewer sugars to tap into. As a result most have failed to fruit – at least so far.
By now one would expect to be deluged with bay boletes, porcini, blushers and yellow russulas, but things have been extremely slow, to put it mildly. Indeed, last weekend, for only the second time in almost 30 years of leading edible fungi forays, I failed to find one porcino (although the tiny remnants of a solitary stalk did turn up).
Fly agaric is generally recognised as a deadly toadstool, but is actually the forager's friend
(Photo: author's own)
This isn’t to say all hope is lost. Until now very few of the ‘heralds’ of things to come have been visible. By this I mean fungi which tend to presage the emergence of the real prizes. Here I am referring to the very visible yellow russulas and amanitas. In particular I look for fly agaric, the classic ‘toadstool’ beloved by children’s book illustrators.
Sadly this has been almost non-existent this year – at least this was the case until about a week ago. Things have begun to change, however, and last weekend we found a fair number of young specimens, while I spotted a lovely cluster of emerging volvae at the base of a local holly yesterday. The great thing about this mushroom for a forager is its visibility. I was driving reasonably fast with my eyes on the road, but the flash of red was impossible to miss.
Amanita muscaria is a beautiful and magical fungus
(Photo: author's own)
It is an interesting mushroom in its own right, of course. Despite its popular reputation as a deadly toadstool, it can actually be made edible with careful preparation (this involves boiling and discarding the water). It is, however, more notable for its medicinal properties, thanks to the muscimol and ibotenic acid it contains. These are potent hallucinogens, but can also be used in tinctures to treat sciatica and – possibly – long-term depression. It is, however, also a Class A drug and experimentation without qualified medical advice is unadvisable.
Fly agaric can act as a red flag for the porcini hunter - look closely . . .
(Photo: author's own)
For the forager its most valuable quality is its fondness for exactly the same conditions as highly prized edible species such as boletes. Indeed, there is an American saying ‘Where there’s a queen [fly agaric]; look for the king [porcino].’