Television gardener Alan Titchmarsh was filming at Queen Elizabeth II’s Buckingham Palace, when he made a shocking discovery on the grounds: psychedelic mushrooms.
Titchmarsh was filming the ITV gardening show The Queen's Garden when he found mushrooms that cause hallucinations called Amanita muscaria.
A spokesperson for Buckingham palace has confirmed to The Sun that the mushrooms are “beneficial to trees” and “are not used in the Palace kitchens.”
Titchmarsh was touring the grounds with ecology expert Professor Mick Crawley when they made the discovery of the red and white spotted plant.
Crawley told the television personality “It's eaten in some cultures for its hallucinogenic effects. But it also makes people who eat it very sick.”
The palace spokesperson also explained, “There are several hundred fungi species in the palace garden, including a small number of naturally occurring fly agaric mushrooms.”
Titchmarsh’s special The Queen’s Garden will air on Christmas Day in the UK after he got permission from the Queen to spend a year studying the 40-acre historic garden at the palace.
image via INFphoto.com