Amanita muscaria
Formation of the Amanita muscaria
The Amanita muscaria is a cool looking mushroom that pops its
head up looking something like a golf ball. It quickly grows and before you know
it has matured into a reddish mushroom with bits of its protective casing still
sticking to it. This mushroom was a bit pale but some can be quite a rich red
colour.
In the first photo (below), the Amanita muscaria is just poking
through the forest floor. The mushroom is encased in a protected sheath called
a universal veil. The veil encases the mushroom like an egg. As the mushroom grows
it breaks through this protective sheath.
In the second photo the mushroom has started growing and, as the
stem grows up, it breaks through the universal veil. The veil is now broken in
two and remains on the top, as you can plainly see in the photo, and on the bottom
as you can just make out in the forest floor. Photo taken just a few days later.
The last photos show a mature Amanita muscaria (not the same
one but a neighbour) about a week later. It has grown tremendously and the veil
now is broken into little pieces on the top and hanging from the edge. |
