Amanita muscaria, common names ENG= Fly Agaric, FR= Amanite tue-mouches

Named the Fly Agaric because of it's use, when mixed with milk, as a method of killing houseflies. Its color may fade drastically with age, especially in direct sunlight or after a soaking rain.

They are in fact poisonous and also strongly psychedelic. In some parts of Europe they have long been associated with magic and legend. In Lapland, reindeer regularly get high on them and are seen to leap around, giving rise to the story of Santa's flying reindeer. Lapps have a custom of deliberately feeding them to their deer, and then collecting and drinking the urine because most of the toxins are filtered out by the reindeer's digestive system!

(text contributed by Simon Lisney)