Mushroom Mania!

I am not hunting Smurfs in this picture. I was never very clear on what purpose Gargamel had in mind for them.

In fact, I never knew this mushroom existed in reality before a few years ago!

It’s very prevalent in fairy tale illustrations, Christmas decorations, and, of course, as Smurf domiciles. However, I always thought they were strictly a flight of fancy. I should have known, too, because I spent a childhood obsessed with fungi. There’s a certain area next door to my parents’ home that sprang up a lovely crop of white toadstool after summer rains. I’d harvest these mushrooms, smush them into paste and pretend to feed them to my stuffed animals. I did this sort of thing with a great variety of garden plants—tulips, berries, begonia leaves, horse chestnuts, etc. I was always careful to avoid the nightshade growing all over the back fence because my father assured me it could kill little girls.

Naturally, it wasn’t until I was an adult that I learned just how poisonous most of the other plants I played were. How on earth did I survive into adulthood?

Anyway, these cute little guys spring up all around Northern Europe. In Norway they’re called “fluesopp” or “fly mushroom.” Knut tried explaining that people used to think they were the source of fly larva? Who knows? Their caps can grow to about the size of a spread hand and they’re generally jolly and cute. They’re also exceedingly poisonous. Knut informs me that Vikings used to take a tiny nibble just before battle to fuel their berserker rages. Apparently they trigger some sort of nasty hallucinogenic reaction—not for recreational use! As a result, Knut and I referred to them as “insanity mushrooms.”

Because I was so taken with them (Norway is an awesome source for fungi. We used to go on fungus walks in the Fall.), I had to show them to any Americans who visited. No one else knew they really existed either!

My mom still refers to these as “insanity mushrooms” which makes it very amusing when we shop for Christmas ornaments.