The Mushroom Guide and Identifier: The Ultimate Guide to Identifying, Picking and Using Mushrooms

Product Information

We have used over 600 photos, simple descriptions and easy techniques to help you identify these tasty wild edibles for yourselves, and learn how to avoid some important poisonous lookalikes. It is not one that you would sit down and read from cover to cover, but is an excellent resource to have on the bookshelf and flip through from time to time. Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast is a beautiful display book with spectacular images of California mushrooms. Additionally, the book features a comprehensive introduction that covers important topics such as safety, equipment, laws, ethics, and preparation methods. Then using that information, refer back to your Rodger Phillips mushroom identification book to narrow down the species!

With such a large number of species to choose from, identification can be both difficult and frustrating, and if edibility is a factor then obviously getting a correct identification is even more important; a mistake can be, and sadly has often been, fatal. We kind of live in a culture of “mycophobia” in North America, and many kids are taught (intentionally or not) to avoid mushrooms in the woods. It doesn’t work like most identification guides, and that’s a nice change – it forces you to get to a “scientific” level by doing a spore print to understand and access the key. Edible Wild Mushrooms of North America by Alan Bessette and David Fischer is just what the title says – a detailed identification guide to the edible species.You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. This book is an ideal tool to expand one’s mycological identification skills and knowledge of the science of fungi.

Despite its comprehensive coverage, it remains compact enough to be carried as a useful field guide. You’ll get very good at Googling, which I think beats any app-based identification method currently available. It includes a clear picture and illustration of the species, a brief description, the size, habitat, similar species, smell, taste, and season.When it comes to carrying a comprehensive book in your rucksack, this pocket-sized guide is second to none. This guide comes from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s brand, River Cottage, and foraging expert John Wright. Collins is excellent for the beginner, with its culinary sections and histograms, without dumbing down the whole thing.

It is an excellent little guide for beginner foragers who are looking for the top edible mushrooms in Maine and want to know how to prepare them.

The National Audubon Society’s Field Guide to North American Mushrooms is thick, comprehensive, densely packed with information, and fits in a backpack. so don’t be surprised if the names in this book are different from what is commonly acceptable in 2020. Invest in trustworthy field guides or mushroom identification apps to aid you in accurately recognising mushrooms.