Among other reasons people shouldn’t inject religion into biology is that knowledge of biology can protect one from harm. From Dorigo, at A Quantum Diaries Survivor, in this case, a little mycological knowledge is not only useful to prevent illness, it allows appreciation of beauty:
This morning while following the trail to Malga Nemes, above Passo di Montecroce Comelico, we found a spot of the woods very densely populated with specimens of Amanita Muscaria, a venomous mushroom which has a very esthetic appearance. The intense red color of the cap, covered with white warts, is very distinctive.
Here is a trio which was particularly good looking:
Definitely NOT Texas.
Dorigo is a physicist, and usually very interesting. Don’t take my word for it — go check out his blog.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
Thanks. I’m a mycologist myself… but this definitely isn’t pantherina or aprica. The volva’s all wrong, none of the specimens have an annulus, and the brown staining doesn’t fit. The thing about the genus is that the species really aren’t well-defined in many cases and tend to form complexes without very distinct boundaries; they tend to grade into one another. I’ll be posting images of my find soon over on my blog… you’ll see what I mean about the problem with ID’ing amanitas.
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Hmmmm. Check out this site:
http://www.hlasek.com/amanita_pantherina_ac0831.html
And this one:
http://www.msu.edu/user/hallenhe/Research.html
And this one:
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/amanita_aprica.html
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My mycological friend in Freeport, Maine, I’ve not heard from in too many months. I’m more a vascular plant guy myself. . . any readers able to help out?
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Coincidentally, I’ve been trying for hours to identify another amanita apparently from the same section as A. muscaria that I collected this afternoon. The pileus is dark brown but is losing color upon drying. There are no partial veil remnants and the volva is indistinct. The stipe stains brown, most strongly at the basal swelling, when damaged… but this certainly isn’t A. brunnescens.
More mycological knowledge of Amanita is needed. North American species are poorly characterized and in many cases share nomenclature with European species to which they likely aren’t closely related. Quite frustrating, really.
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