I obsessively read mushroom field guides, paying particular attention to the amanitas.
The hook was set, and amanitas in the wild continued to intrigue me. I carried that paper in my wallet for years and eventually identified it as a grisette, a member of the Amanita vaginata group, one of the many edible Amanita species found here in California.
It was too beautiful to disturb, so I sketched it on a bank deposit slip, the only scrap of paper that I had with me. Barely three inches tall, it glowed pearly gray and grew from the middle of my favorite Bay Area hiking trail. Over twenty five years ago, a tiny perfect grisette seduced me into the world of mushrooms. Further Reflections on Amanita muscaria as an Edible Species by Debbie Viess
