Posted on 01/26/2026 3:16:59 PM PST by BenLurkin
Only recently described by science, the mysterious mushrooms are found in different parts of the world, but they give people the same exact visions.
Every year, doctors at a hospital in the Yunnan Province of China brace themselves for an influx of people with an unusual complaint. The patients come with a strikingly odd symptom: visions of pint-sized, elf-like figures – marching under doors, crawling up walls and clinging to furniture.
The hospital treats hundreds of these cases every year. All share a common culprit: Lanmaoa asiatica, a type of mushroom that forms symbiotic relationships with pine trees in nearby forests and is a locally popular food, known for its savory, umami-packed flavor. In Yunnan, L. asiatica is sold in markets, it appears on restaurant menus and is served at home during peak mushroom season between June and August.
One must be careful to cook it thoroughly, though, otherwise the hallucinations will set in.
"At a mushroom hot pot restaurant there, the server set a timer for 15 minutes and warned us, 'Don't eat it until the timer goes off or you might see little people,'" says Colin Domnauer, a doctoral candidate in biology at the University of Utah and the Natural History Museum of Utah, who is studying L. asiatica. "It seems like very common knowledge in the culture there."
But outside of Yunnan and a couple of other places, the strange mushroom is largely an enigma.
"There were many accounts about the existence of this psychedelic [mushroom], and many people who looked for it, but they never found the species," says Giuliana Furci, a mycologist and the founder and executive director of the Fungi Foundation, a non-profit group dedicated to discovering, documenting and conserving fungi.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Demons.
Thanks. It would be interesting.
I was thinking of the mushroom eaters as well. If there is such commonality of hallucinations how far does it go?
I haven’t done any drugs in decades but I might give these a go just to experience “the little people.” I’d want somebody around though to make sure I didn’t lose my chit.
Im Irish we’re used to little people. 😉
They eating Lucky Charms or are the Keebler Elves up to their old tricks again?
What? What? the little people are real... mushrooms just allow you to see them.
Regards,
amazingly odd
Might have been recalling “Doozers”
So, which fungi are responsible for leprechauns in Ireland and faeries in Scotland, and gnomes in Nordic countries? This could be the mycelium of all such legends and folk tales.
I never eat anything that looks like a cat dropping.
Don’t tell anyone asked, but where can I get some of these mushrooms?
It will be another itme on the lefts shopping list Lanmaoa asiatica it will blend in with all the other things they see.
I just looked it up. Yeah the way they are described machine elves and Doozers are pretty similar. I remember Fraggle Rock but forgot the name of the weirdo little construction guys. I certainly never made the connection until now. I wouldn’t be surprised if Henson did that on purpose.
Freegards
I love that commercial, but haven’t seen it in a long time.
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