The quintessential toadstool

And the only other fungus I can recognise without any ID keys – fly agaric, amanita muscaria.  This is a young one that I unearthed (almost literally).  It does actually attract (and kill) flies and has been used as an insecticide.  Although poisonous, it used to be seen as a symbol of good luck and used to feature on Victorian Christmas cards.  It can be found from summer through to November and, as it gets older, the cap gets flatter and more disc like.  After a lot of rain, even the young caps can lose their white scales and become plain red so it is a good job I found this on Saturday, before the rains came.

fly agaric

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