fly agaric

American  

noun

1. a very poisonous common woodland mushroom, Amanita muscaria, having a glossy red or orange cap with white spots, formerly a fly poison.

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fly agaric British  

noun

1. a saprotrophic agaricaceous woodland fungus, Amanita muscaria , having a scarlet cap with white warts and white gills: poisonous but rarely fatal See also amanita

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Etymology

Origin of fly agaric

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

Vishnevsky became fascinated by fly agaric through the accounts of explorers in the 17th and 18th centuries witnessing mushroom rituals and shamanism in Siberia.

From Salon • Feb. 20, 2025

It resembles the psychedelic fly agaric mushroom, a fungus as bright red as Rudolph's schnoz sprinkled with white flecks like snow.

From Salon • Dec. 15, 2022

In winter, keep an eye out for red and white-speckled fly agaric mushrooms or the booted knight mushroom.

From The Guardian • May 25, 2018

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: "There are several hundred fungi species in the palace garden, including a small number of naturally occurring fly agaric mushrooms."

From Reuters • Dec. 12, 2014

There were the fungi such as the amanita toadstools and fly agaric, not to mention the purely Omegan vegetable poisons like redcup, flowering lily, and amortalis.

From The Status Civilization by Sheckley, Robert