Mushroom

Those of you who follow this blog know that I'm fascinated with local plants and indigenous plant knowledge. I'm always interested in learning plant uses and herbal remedies. Despite my usual interest, I tend to avoid mushrooms. This is probably due to the many difficult subtleties of mushroom identification. I've heard too many stories of illness and even death from people who ingest misidentified mushrooms. To be honest, they scare me, so I avoid them.

Having said that, my friend and I stumbled upon this beautiful mushroom during a hike through the woods. Does anyone know its identity? Also, does anyone know of any stories or uses of mushrooms from a northwestern Indian perspective? This is one area I know nothing about.