Fungi facts about the Fly Agaric Amanita muscaria toadstool

With its bright scarlet cap covered with white or yellowish warts, white gills and a white stem with a white or yellowish ring, it is unmistakable.

It attracts attention and admiration as it glistens in the autumn sun amongst birches or pine trees, sometimes growing in unmistakeable rings.

The colourful red cap, with their signature white spots, compliment the yellowing foliage and bracken as the days grow shorter.

The association of Fly Agarics with birch and pine trees is not co-incidental.

Beneath the ground, a web of fine fungal filaments, or hyphae, extend out from the fruiting body to link up with the finest rootlets of birch or pine, which they envelop.

That way, they can take carbohydrates made by the tree in the process of photosynthesis and use them to grow and prosper.

But the process is not one way.

The fungal hyphae, being good decomposers, break down the leaf litter releasing nutrients which the tree can take up and use efficiently.

This symbiotic relationship is known as mycorrhizal and we now know that a very great number of plants form specific associations with fungi enabling both to grow sand perform better.

From earliest childhood, Fly Agarics have formed the motif of numerous toys and decorations - commonly known as toadstools.

It has turned up in many fairy stories and features in the story of Alice in Wonderland.

They were commonly depicted on Victorian and Edwardian Christmas cards as a symbol of good luck.

Because they are so different in appearance from edible mushrooms they are frequently considered to look poisonous.

Fly Agaric is indeed poisonous but it is not deadly.

Fly Agarics are best enjoyed where they are; a fleeting reminder of the seasons.

This autumn, Fly Agarics together with some other fungi have been less frequent than in many years but they can be found in woods across the Island wherever there are pines or birches.

Fly Agaric in Parkhurst Forest (Image: IW Natural History and Archaeological Society)