Fungi stamp series of Benin 1997 ( 2nd page)

This souvenir sheet depicted Amanita muscaria on one value stamp. This sheet as part of other six single stamps that described in the previous issue.

Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric or fly Amanita, is a poisonous and psychoactive basiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita.Fully grown, the bright red cap is usually around 8–20 cm in diameter, although larger specimens have been found. The red colour may fade after rain and in older mushrooms. The free gills are white, as is the spore print. The stipe is white, 5–20 cm high by 1–2 cm wide, and has the slightly brittle, fibrous texture typical of many large mushrooms. At the base is a bulb that bears universal veil remnants in the form of two to four distinct rings or ruffs.

Their habitat native to conifer and deciduous woodlands throughout the temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including high elevations of warmer latitudes in regions like the Hindu Kush, the Mediterranean and Central America. As an Ectomycorrhizal fungus forms symbiotic relationships with a wide variety of trees, including pine, spruce, fir, birch, and cedar.

Amanita muscaria contains a number of biologically active agents, at least two of which, muscimol and ibotenic acid, are known to be psychoactive. However, Amanita muscaria is now primarily famed for its hallucinogenic properties with its main psychoactive constituent being the compound muscimol.