Check this out, spotted by Mitch Spute on Halloween afternoon (Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010) at Green Lake Dr N & N 79th St:
Earlier today, Mitch shared the above picture via twitter.
Colin Meyer saw the tweet and helpfully chimed in with this information: “You’ve got a group of Amanita muscaria mushrooms, growing in a clump, that got moldy before maturing.” Katie D’Amato tweeted that she had seen these too. She likened them to Smurf toadstools.
From wikipedia:
Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric (pronounced /ˈæɡərɪk/) or fly Amanita (pronounced /ˌæməˈnaɪtə/), is a poisonous and psychoactive basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita. [...] The quintessential toadstool, it is a large white-gilled, white-spotted, usually deep red mushroom, one of the most recognizable and widely encountered in popular culture. [...]
Amanita muscaria | Photo courtesy wikipedia
Although generally considered poisonous, deaths are extremely rare, and it has been consumed as a food in parts of Europe, Asia, and North America after parboiling in water. Amanita muscaria is now primarily famed for its hallucinogenic properties, with its main psychoactive constituent being the compound muscimol. [...]
The red-and-white spotted toadstool is a common image in many aspects of popular culture, especially in children’s books, film, garden ornaments, greeting cards, and more recently computer games. Garden ornaments, and children’s picture books depicting gnomes and fairies, such as the Smurfs, very often show fly agarics used as seats, or homes.Fly agarics have been featured in paintings since the Renaissance, albeit in a subtle manner. In the Victorian era they became more visible, even becoming the main topic of some fairy paintings. Two of the most famous uses of the mushroom are in the video game series Super Mario Bros., and the dancing mushroom sequence in the 1940 Disney film Fantasia.
Ed. note: We are by no means mushroom experts here at My Green Lake. While Colin’s identification does appear to be accurate, we can’t vouch for it.
Love it! I went into the mountains today, up near Mt. Baker, for probably the last day of the chanterelle season. This fall has seen a SPECTACULAR mushroom season. The wet, wet weather and the warm (until this past week) nights have been perfect for a bountiful crop of nearly every variety of mushrooms, chanterelles is particular. Notice that chanterelles at Ballard Market and Greenwood Market are at an all time low price of $7.98/pound. But, of course, if you go foraging yourself they are free!
I had never seen a mushroom like this in person before and didn’t think they grew in the PNW, though I did know they existed in Europe. Lo and behold I read this this afternoon and later after hopping off the bus on my way home from work I saw one of these gleaming bright red in the parking strip near Meridian and N 107th. Didn’t see Mario around though.
It has been an amazing fall for mushrooms. Here are some photos I did:
http://william-alan-photo.photoshelter.com/gallery/Mushrooms/G0000vfNEfhgoQ8k/
Great photos, William! Thanks for sharing.