#255 Toxic? | 毒蘑菇 My entry for the 🐜 7 DAYS MACRO-PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST 3 🐜

Following my last post, here's another photo I took as my entry to the 7 DAYS MACRO-PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST 3 🐜 hosted by @flamingirl.

My first impression of this bright red mushroom dotted with white spots might come from the classic Super Mario Bros, and the mushroom house of Smurfs. :) And I did spot this mushroom in Belgium, birth place of the famous Smurfs.

This type of mushroom is called Amanita muscaria — commonly known as fly agaric, or fly amanita. Though considered toxic to humans, the compound muscimol it contains could make people feel less anxious and more relaxed. So the fly agaric has been used in religious practices for their hallucinogenic properties, especially in Siberia. That's why it has been associated with the rituals of northern European and Asiatic shamans.

A few more I found at the same place:

这些颜色鲜艳的蘑菇是我在离住处不远的一片草地上看到的。红底白点的毒蝇伞（蛤蟆菌）似乎是毒蘑菇的经典代表？它所含的蝇蕈醇具有镇静安眠和刺激精神的效果，在一些国家的民间被作为安眠药物。它的致幻功能还常被西伯利亚和北欧的一些巫师用来通灵。据说有些地区会用这种蘑菇来毒死苍蝇、老鼠等动物，德国还有人把它们浸入酒中来治风湿痛。

回想起来，我对这种蘑菇的最初印象似乎来自小时候痴迷的游戏超级马利奥，还有蓝精灵们住的可爱蘑菇房。而《蓝精灵》也正是诞生于比利时，去年正好是它们的60周年生日，布鲁塞尔还举办了一系列的展览庆祝活动。

^{All content by @itchyfeetdonica
图文 by Donica多}

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