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matt1720

A.muscaria in aus, locations, enviroments an more.

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hi im looking to find an a.muscaria in australia qld, Not to try exactly but just for curiosity of nature.
so i know the basics, ive done much research and i know it grows under berch trees an some natives of aus but not exatcts an im a padantic person who likes to be sure what im looking at. No point wanting to find the mushroom an then just ending up beinged amazed with is poisonous counterparts.

So please any info.

Edited by matt1720

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I don't think amanita muscaria has too many lookalikes, it's pretty distinctive. I don't know about qld, but in nsw it seems hard to find a radiata pine that DOESN'T have amanitas underneath at this time of year. So pine plantations are a good bet.

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Not sure about qld nut they are in plague proportions right now in Victoria and nit only below Monterey pine (radiata) and birch but now sometimes hosted by Eucalypt!

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Thanks so much, i found this info a Great help guys, ill get to it.
And any id tips? (other then red or god cap with whit flecks, white gills, white frill, an an egg it grows from. im refering to id tips about differences betewen the looklikes an so on, but ill take Photos of what i find an post them to see if i seen the actule amanita or not.

Edited by matt1720

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so what i dont understand is why they can a red, gold or green caps for the same species?

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also is this colour difference from poisionous mixes of species with A.m sorts? Youd think if it were people would die an youd hear about it if it was possible but still, what the go?

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A. muscaria never has a gold or green cap, some variations or genetic lines can have orange to yellow cap, but if it's more golden, it is a different species like A. gemmata or A. pantherina. And only deadly Amanita species have green caps. A. muscaria growing in Australia is invasive from Europe, so it should almost always be vivid red.

Also, A. muscaria never grows out of an egg, but has a bulbous bottom, if you eat an Amanita with a veil that grows out of an egg, you are very likely to die.

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Ok, a bit more info...

There are probably a few mushrooms that could be mistaken for AM, the ones that spring to mind are:

*some red Russulas - no bulb at base of stem, no veil, or veil fragments on cap

*other Amanitas - I think A. rubescens & flavoconia both grow in oz(?), and there are probably other species as well. These are different colors (not red) but could possibly mistaken for older muscarias. To be safe, I would recommend selecting only choice young bright-red specimens for identification, avoid the older faded caps which become orange or gold. Which you probably want to do anyway, as the older ones smell bloody awful!

So maybe look at some pictures of these possible lookalikes before you go hunting, but it sounds like you've got it pretty much covered. I'm sure someone will help ID your pics if you're not confident. And there are some great old threads around here about proper drying techniques and such. Happy hunting!

Edited by Anodyne

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What area of Queensland are you? It may help if someone has already seen in your area??

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Not sure about qld nut they are in plague proportions right now in Victoria and nit only below Monterey pine (radiata) and birch but now sometimes hosted by Eucalypt!

I've noticed small muscarias sometimes lately in native areas in SA where I couldn't see any pines within a few hundred metres at least. So it's confirmed they have naturalised to some extent? Are there particular natives they'll grow with?

I like muscaria but it seems a little weird to see it amongst natives.

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I've seen them with native nothofagus (myrtle) and in wet eucalypt forest down in these parts.

As far as introduced its more than pines and birches....alders,poplars and list goes on...

Really easy to ID...should be able to spot from beyond spitting distance

Not sure where your info above came from Matt1720....some of it is worrying.

I do not recommend munging them BTW....

P1010027_zps3d530ea0.jpg

P1010026_zpse64086f1.jpg

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I seen lots underneath Antartic Beech trees in Werrikimbe N.P. about a month ago (and underneath Casuarina, Allocasuarina, Pinus (and other conifers) trees).

Edited by Synthase
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I seen them in damp mountain grey gum forest with no other species in sight.

Ive got a big softspot for mountain grey gums, remind me of the great times Ive had around Wollongong and Moruya

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Matt, i don't know what you mean by the red-gold-green cap colours thing. Amanita muscaria is RED. Like really, really red. See waterboys pics. It would be helpful if you could link to the place you got this info so we know what the hell you're talking about. :)

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Some variants of the species can have light orange to vivid yellow coloured caps.

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Ok Tangich thanks for clearing that up, everyone please ignore my last post then. Thought he might've been talking about pantherina or something. But do you know if any of these variants are found in Australia?

And not green, right?

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No, you're right, as I've said in my previous post, probably all of the muscaria in AUS has been introduced from Europe, and is pure red. But just wanted to mention that it can sometimes be some other colours, and still be considered Amanita muscaria. In Europe there is only one vivid yellow variant, mostly growing in the north-east.

I've seen pictures of green A. muscaria, but the ones you find in the woods are unlikely to be photoshopped.

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vivid red is the dominant in these parts...see the odd yellowish/orange-red one rarely and only when its been damaged by something....but its still red.

There is still no mistaking them, unless they are on the point of collapse/decay

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Ive got a big softspot for mountain grey gums, remind me of the great times Ive had around Wollongong and Moruya

if you came to my house you could meet Gandalf's staff - our ancient and massive mountain grey gum 12 feet from our house - 42 metres tall and with a five foot thick trunk. We get gliders in it and all.

amazing trees but by god when they cone down the wood is so dense and heavy - poor fire wood and back ruining to lift lol.

they blossum and cover our whole garden in little yellow things and then when the bulbs cone off their seed pods it rains softly for weeks lol.

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Kids seem to love kicking amanita muscara - a big bunch near a play ground didn't last.

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