THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

A tingle of excitement ran through her body.  She knew immediately that these fungi were different from anything she or science had seen before.  She instantly knew their genus too.  Amanita, the genus which includes probably the most famous mushroom in the world – fly agaric, the fairytale toadstool, renowned for its red and white-speckled cap.  But the Amanita Giuliana found that afternoon had a night-black cap starred with white scales.  “When I looked into the black of the cap,” Giuliana said later,  “I knew I was looking into a very ancient, very deep night sky.  So I called it Amanita galactica.’

Macfarlane/River, 2025