Amanita muscaria

There are many types of fungi in the New Forest and I often takes pictures of them. I am going to try and identify some. In the autumn many people come to the forest to collect the fungi. many of the species are edible and can be sold for high sums of money. At times crowds descend on the forest pick everything in sight and then the carparks are littered with discarded specimens that are not edible. The policy seems to be pick everything and let the experts discard those that are not edible.
These pictures are of The Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria). It is probably one of the easiest to identify and is the fungi of storybooks where pixies are seen sitting on the scarlet and white polka dot caps.
These mushrooms are poisonous and apparently have a mild taste and no scent.
Although small amounts are unlikely to prove fatal they contain Muscimol which cause hallucinations and other disturbances of consciousness. They also contain other poions that may be harmful to health.
Apparently if you put pieces of the mushroom in milk it is very effective at killing flies.
It is very common in the forest and I like to think that maybe the pixies come out to play when we are not looking.