Super Mario is well-known for not just the plumbers or the turtles but also the mushroom. As such, for those curious to know what exactly are the Super Mario red and white mushrooms, their real name is the Amanita muscaria.
Red and White Mushrooms
The Amanita muscaria is also loosely known as the Super Mario Mushroom due to its iconic red and white colors. There are many varieties of this mushroom, but the most common one is the mushroom with a red cap, similar to what gamers are used to.
These mushrooms can be found mostly in the northern temperature around boreal regions. They are forest mushrooms and are easily recognizable due to their bright red top with white spots.
The Amanita muscaria is also known as the fly amanita which comes from the Amanitaceae family. As for whether this mushroom can be eaten, the fly amanita is considered a poisonous mushroom.
The Fly Agaric can grow to 30cm tall and 20cm wide and can sometimes be confused with the blusher, or Amanita rubescens. The blusher has a similar shape but comes with a reddish-brown cap.
The mushroom was traditionally known as an insecticide due to its ibotenic acid, which attracts flies and also kills them.
Poisonous and Hallucinogenic
The mushroom was once used as fly poison and includes hallucinogenic components. There are reports of accidental ingestion of the mushroom which makes it a common cause of mushroom poisoning.
However, sometimes this is done intentionally by people looking to experience its hallucinogenic properties. Ingesting the mushroom for its hallucinogenics can still lead to side effects like nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, perspiration, and other effects.
Those who eat the mushroom can also experience excessive salivation, difficulty in breathing, dilated pupils, and excitability. It is also a cause of confusion and illness, which often happen just a few minutes to a few hours of ingestion.
Recovering from the symptoms usually takes 12 hours, and dying from this mushroom is also rare. Ingestion by small animals like a small puppy can be fatal with just a single pantherina.
Super Mario Mushroom Psychotic Disease States
Fly agaric has bufotenine, which is considered a weak hallucinogenic agent that some people know to come from toad poison. This type of poison can block serotonin action in brain tissue and has the power to increase blood pressure and constrict blood vessels.
Bufotenine is sometimes used in modern medicine as an experimental process for psychotic disease state simulation. It has been used in psychiatric studies and has not been considered an official medical approach.
The mushroom can be found in New Zealand, Tasmania, and Australia. As for its mythology, the mushroom has been said to be an ingredient in sacred rituals for over 4,000 years.
Examples of these rituals include the Indian and Iranian "soma," which is a ritual drink. Siberian shamans were also known to give out the mushroom as a gift.
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