Fly Agaric vs Madwoman'S Milk

Amanita muscaria compared with Euphorbia helioscopia

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Fly Agaric	Madwoman'S Milk
Kingdom	Fungi (Fungi)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)	Malpighiales (Malpighiales)
Family	Agaricaceae (Agarics)	Euphorbiaceae
Genus	Amanita (Amanitas)	Euphorbia
Species	Amanita muscaria	Euphorbia helioscopia

Conservation Status

Fly Agaric

LC — Least Concern

Trend: Stable →

Madwoman'S Milk

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Fly Agaric	Madwoman'S Milk
Diet	Decomposer	—
Average Lifespan	1 years	—
Average Length	20 cm	—
Average Weight	100 g	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Fly Agaric

Habitat

Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (4 countries), North America (United States), Oceania and the Pacific (New Zealand), and South America (Brazil, Chile, Colombia).

Madwoman'S Milk

Habitat

Inhabits flooded grasslands and savannas and deserts and xeric shrublands within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Namibia, South Africa), Asia (China, Taiwan, Uzbekistan), Europe (17 countries), North America (Canada, Mexico, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia), and South America (Chile).

Fly Agaric

Among the most iconic and recognizable fungi on Earth, fly agaric mushrooms display striking red caps with white flecked warts across boreal forests of the Northern Hemisphere. Despite their fairy-tale appearance, they contain potent psychoactive compounds including muscimol and ibotenic acid and are moderately toxic. They form critical mycorrhizal symbioses with birch, pine, and spruce trees, exchanging mineral nutrients for carbon and playing essential roles in boreal forest nutrient cycling.