Mycology

Amanita muscaria, a magic mushroom.


Amanita phalloides, a deadly mushroom.

As soon as Angel
Said to herself: I am the Angel of Death
She became at once very practical and went out into the woods and fields
And gathered some A. Phalloides, commonly called the 'white' or deadly
Amanita, a mushroom of high toxicity. These poisonous fungi
She put into a soup, and this soup she gave
To Hark, and her mother, Malady, for supper, so that they died.

Stevie Smith, 'Angel Boley' pp. 530-534 in The Collected Poems of Stevie Smith (London, Penguin 1985) p. 533

He began to hunt around for some twigs with which to make a little fire, and almost at once his eye fell upon another fungus, of singularly interesting shape, and of a pearly pallor that spoke volumes to the student of Nature. He recognized it at once as the Death Angel, that liberal scientists give a grosser name, calling it Amanita phalloides, if the ladies will pardon the Latin. It combines the liveliest of forms with the deadliest of material, and the smallest morsel will fell a man like a thunderbolt. Henry gazed respectfully at this formidable fungus, and was unable to repress a shudder.

John Collier, 'Three Bears Cottage' pp. 64-69 in Fancies and Goodnights (New York, New York Review Books 2003) p. 67