September 02, 2004

Magic Mushroom

Image is near life-size. Photograph taken with Canon G3 digital camera on Saturday, August 28th, 2004 on Abbey Hill, Co. Clare.

For the next few mornings, you should be able to see Saturn and Venus close to each other in the dawn sky. Or rather, you could if it wasn't raining all the time. Of course, munch on a few of these colourful plants, and you can see all the planets even with your eyes closed.


P.S. I'd be grateful if anyone can give me the official/Irish name of the plant above.

Posted by Monasette at September 2, 2004 07:36 AM
Comments

Looks like Boletus edulis to me (called ceps in France and Italy, and regarded as gourmet fungi). It's one of the Boletus family anyway.
Psilocybe semilanceata and Amanita muscaria are the ones that do the planets thing. The Boletus species is mostly pretty edible (especially edulis, as the name suggests) but one or two are mildly toxic if eaten with alcohol.
Best
/tonym

Posted by: tony mulqueen at September 2, 2004 11:09 AM

Not a pookie, then.

Posted by: brendan at September 3, 2004 05:09 PM