Does amanita muscaria grow in central florida?

[the_integerian]

OK. amanita muscaria grows throughout temperate regions in close association with coniferous trees. Here in central florida we are temperate (yes, subtropical is still temperate) and we have pines growing EVERYWHERE. Yet I have never ever found one of these awesome fungi. It is interesting to note though that I do believe I have found amanita gemmata once or twice. On erowid in the amanita vault, there are a couple of photos of muscarias taken in north florida. So if they grow just miles north of me do they grow in my vicinity? I realize that if they do they are still on the more rare side.

 

[shepj]

Amanita muscaria cothurnata do (so I read).

 

[Jesusgreen]

I can't remember where I read this, but I have heard that Amanita Muscaria seems to be more common in close proximity to Silver Birch trees. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria/content/images/2007/03/12/silver_birch_353x470.jpg) - I'm not sure whether these grow in Florida or not, but you could try looking near some of those if you find any.

I know a few people who have spent years mushroom picking and have found many different varieties of Psilocybe mushroom, but have never managed to find Amanita Muscaria, so just because you are not finding any doesn't mean they're not around, they're just a little harder to find since Psilocybe mushrooms tend to grow together, while with Amanita Muscaria there may be an entire forest with one or two mushrooms (if any) in it.

 

[the_integerian]

I can't remember where I read this, but I have heard that Amanita Muscaria seems to be more common in close proximity to Silver Birch trees. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria/content/images/2007/03/12/silver_birch_353x470.jpg) - I'm not sure whether these grow in Florida or not, but you could try looking near some of those if you find any.

I know a few people who have spent years mushroom picking and have found many different varieties of Psilocybe mushroom, but have never managed to find Amanita Muscaria, so just because you are not finding any doesn't mean they're not around, they're just a little harder to find since Psilocybe mushrooms tend to grow together, while with Amanita Muscaria there may be an entire forest with one or two mushrooms (if any) in it.

I heard they grow all over the place in Poland.

 

[toocoolforschool]

I can't remember where I read this, but I have heard that Amanita Muscaria seems to be more common in close proximity to Silver Birch trees. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria/content/images/2007/03/12/silver_birch_353x470.jpg) - I'm not sure whether these grow in Florida or not, but you could try looking near some of those if you find any.

I know a few people who have spent years mushroom picking and have found many different varieties of Psilocybe mushroom, but have never managed to find Amanita Muscaria, so just because you are not finding any doesn't mean they're not around, they're just a little harder to find since Psilocybe mushrooms tend to grow together, while with Amanita Muscaria there may be an entire forest with one or two mushrooms (if any) in it.

I voulenteer at the a local fungus fair every year and though they might grow in florida I highly advise you to NOT GO MUSHROOM HUNTING unless you are an expert. mushrooms can be verry difficult do distinguish and identify and many of the Aminita family look fairly similar to one another but most if not all are poisionous.

If you do perhaps get a mushroom properly identified, it is fairly easy to harvest the spores and cultivate a mushroom of known variety.

If you are a mushroom expert though, happy hunting fellow fungi lover.

 

[Black]

I voulenteer at the a local fungus fair every year and though they might grow in florida I highly advise you to NOT GO MUSHROOM HUNTING unless you are an expert. mushrooms can be verry difficult do distinguish and identify and many of the Aminita family look fairly similar to one another but most if not all are poisionous.

but most species of the amanita genus are white or off-white.
if you stick to amanita muscaria var. muscaria, i don't see much potential for misidentification. i don't know any other mushroom that's intensely red coloured with white spots on the top and a cap with a diameter of about 15cm. there may be one in north america but over here the only species that's remotely similar is amanita caesarea, which is perfectly edible.

 

[toocoolforschool]

yeah true. i didnt do much research on it, i just remembered that there was a whole table of aminitas, some of which cause horrific deaths.
I think my main point is that there are other active substances in aminitas that are present in unknown quantities.

There seem to be few cases of florida lookalikes in the research i did but that doesnt mean it's safe.