Mushrooms please!

[naturn007]

Hi everyone, does anybody know of a good book about wild mushrooms, I am trying to find one with clear pictures and clear descriptions. At the woodland where I regularly camp there are lots of mushrooms, but I dare not pick or eat any!

i have found some books but they are a bit vague, any ideas?

Cheers

 

[Shewie]

Try doing a search for mushroom ID books, I have a couple which I like though. The Collins Gem and the Blacks are personal favourites.


EDIT:

I forgot Roger Phillips

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mushrooms-Roger-Phillips/dp/0330442376

 

[bushcraftbob]

I bought the River Cottage handbook one, its pretty good

 

[Shewie]

I bought the River Cottage handbook one, its pretty good

I had a day walk out in early autumn last year with a couple of non bushy mates. It was really funny because they kept finding all these mushrooms and asking me what they were, I knew a few of them but most of the time I had to get HFWs book out. I don`t know if it was just bad luck that day but just about every one we found I couldn`t ID from the book. I ended up bringing a load home to ID and found nearly all of them in a couple of other books I`ve got.

It was really funny at the time but I suppose you had to be there.

A couple of things I did like about the book were, the info for the listed species was quite detailed and useful, and the second thing was all the recipes to try.

 

[BigShot]

I think the issue with using guides about edible mushrooms, is that they leave out MASSIVE numbers of inedible ones which makes a positive ID for non-food more difficult.

I've found a good few I couldn't identify positively (which I always take as a positive ID of poison to be on the safe side) and so far only a couple I could ID as edible, but have never eaten my findings yet, and don't intend to until I get to go into the fireld with a proper mycologist to learn it properly.

 

[ForgeCorvus]

Someone told me that in France you can take your gathered mushrooms to the local chemist for IDing......we need to lobby the Government

 

[xavierdoc]

Roger Phillips books use his own, high quality photos for illustration; superior to paintings and drawings used in some books (nice though they are).

His website is free and gives a taster: http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/

Be aware of subtle differences between American and european varieties when using US-based material.

Be careful but enjoy!

 

[bushcraft_lad]

keep an eye out for the collins gem one

jordan

 

[BigShot]

xavierdoc...
...I've heard some people saying drawings are preferable to photographs in that a photograph shows a particular specimen wheras drawings can be made to include all the necessary detail for an ID.

Not that photos can't help, I'm sure they can.

I suppose the key is to use a couple of guides and - if you're intending to eat what you find - get yourself taught by someone who knows what they are doing.

 

[xavierdoc]

xavierdoc...
...I've heard some people saying drawings are preferable to photographs in that a photograph shows a particular specimen wheras drawings can be made to include all the necessary detail for an ID.

Not that photos can't help, I'm sure they can.

I suppose the key is to use a couple of guides and - if you're intending to eat what you find - get yourself taught by someone who knows what they are doing.

I have books with both, though I much prefer the photographs. I suppose it depends on personal preference and quality of work. Roger Phillips photographs are taken to show the salient features. Specimens are photographed in toto from many angles with proper lighting, rather than a snapshot of the fungus half-hidden in its natural habitat with available light.

As the appearance of fungi can change with different ambient lighting, moisture, age/maturity, damage etc, I find I can extrapolate more easily from a photo than a drawing.

I suspect a good drawing is better than a bad photograph, though.

 

[BigShot]

Ah that's different. I'd quite like to see that book
And yes, I'd definately take a good drawing over a bad photo.

I think my ideal would be a book with good drawings and also photos of those bits to get a real world example.
It starts to be a pretty big book then though.

 

[Mooseman1]

I like the river cottage book also, easy to use and the info is for over here, not from species all over the world. My advice mate is to take a two day wild fungi foraging course, about 70 to 100 pounds. Better to be safe than....dead.

 

[VirusKiller]

It might be worth signing up for a course on fungi identification if you're at all serious about foraging for mushrooms. It's just not worth taking the risk IMO.

Edit: As the man said above...