Fly Agaric Fungi

Fly Agaric Distribution Map
© Buckinghamshire Environmental Records Centre

Fly Agaric is one of the easiest species of fungi to recognise. It has a white stalk and a bright scarlet cap that is covered with distinctive white pyramid shaped warts. When it rains the warts are washed off leaving the cap almost smooth and the colour slightly faded.

Richard Bowsher

Generally the best time to see fungi is in the autumn when there is plenty of rain and it is not too cold. Fly Agaric is usually found in woods where it grows under birches and pine trees.

Although Fly Agaric is common in Bucks, the Environmental Records Centre has very few records because there are not many people who have been out to look for it.

Fly Agaric is poisonous although the effects of eating it can be unpredictable; some people are unaffected while others suffer from nausea and vomiting. The name Fly Agaric comes from medieval times when people used to break the cap into a saucer of milk and use it to kill flies.

For more information call 01296 696012 or email erc@buckscc.gov.uk

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