Cheap books at the NT

[daved]

Popped in to the shop at our local National Trust place (Osterley Park) and found a cheap book:

Collins Nature Guides: "Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and Europe"
Reduced to £2.99. Seems pretty good and put it to good use at the weekend in Richmond Deer park. Pictures and descriptions seem good and it is well organised. Some strange classifications into edible/poisonous (destroying angel was not marked as poisonous) so best to cross check with another guide if you are looking for food. The descriptions seem sound and it is small enough to carry.

They also had a similar book on animal tracks at the same price - don't find many bears and muskrat in west london though so not so handy!

 

[Povarian]

Collins Nature Guides: "Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and Europe"

Not so cheap (£12.99 cover price), but Collins also do a book "How to Identify Edible Mushrooms". After a section on what sort of things to look for to aid identification, it has pages of nibblables in nice and clear artwork, not photos. This allows the artist to draw attention to salient id features. Of particular use is the fact that each opposing page also has a set of drawings identifying easily mistaken varieties, esp. highlighting the poisonous ones.

Not a substitute for learning from someone who really knows their fungi, but I'd recommend it as a useful field guide when out and about. Even comes with a clear plastic cover to keep muck off the outside of the book.