Fly Agaric

Amanita muscaria — laid out from egg to flat cap on birch litter

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My heart beats softly, so as not to startle the volkhv — let him work, let him brew me up some whatnot from fly agaric, herbs and grasses: tuluba-tea, lulukwort, juice of babaka, and the rest.

Ten of them, in order

Specimens of Amanita muscaria laid out on the forest floor through the stages of fruiting: from the button still half-sheathed in its white universal veil, through the domed cap, to the flat one, veil left behind as flecks — and one turned over on its gills.

Ten fly agaric specimens arranged on dark soil and fallen leaves, showing the sequence of development from veiled white button to flat red cap
Ten fly agaric specimens arranged on dark soil and fallen leaves, showing the sequence of development from veiled white button to flat red cap

CC BY 4.0 · Леонид Савельев · Wikimedia Commons · licence

And where you find them

A young one, shot from the ground, its white flecks nearly all washed off.

A single young fly agaric with a pinkish-orange cap, standing in birch and pine litter at ground level in an autumn wood
A single young fly agaric with a pinkish-orange cap, standing in birch and pine litter at ground level in an autumn wood

CC BY 4.0 · Давид Андронов · Wikimedia Commons · licence