Distribution and Habitat
Amanita muscaria is a cosmopolitan mushroom, native to conifer and deciduous woodlands throughout the temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, includes high elevations of warmer latitudes in regions like Hindu Kush, the Mediterranean and also Central America. A recent molecular study proposes an ancestral origin in the Siberian–Beringian region in the Tertiary period before radiating outwards across all of Asia, Europe and North America. Though generally encountered in autumn, the season can vary in different climates: fruiting occurs in summer and autumn across most of North America, but later in autumn and early winter on the Pacific coast. It is often found in similar locations to Boletus edulis, and may appear in fairy rings. Conveyed with pine seedlings, it has been widely transported into the southern hemisphere, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South America, where it can be found in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná.
Ectomycorrhizal, Amanita muscaria forms symbiotic relationships with a great variety of trees, including pine, spruce, fir, birch, and cedar. Commonly seen under introduced trees, A. muscaria is the fungal equivalent of a weed in New Zealand, Tasmania and Victoria, forming new associations with southern beech (Nothofagus). It is also invading a rainforest in Australia, where it may be displacing the native species. Furthermore, it appears to be spreading northwards, with recent reports placing it near Port Macquarie on the New South Wales north coast. Although it has not spread to eucalypts in Australia, it has been recorded associating with them in Portugal.
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