A field guide to mushrooms and their relatives

This handy all-color guide will help you identify the 350 most frequently found species of mushrooms and related fungi. Hundreds of mushrooms from such groups as puffballs, jelly fungi, toothed fungi, thelephores, rusts, and club fungi are described and illustrated. Includes a concise explanation of what mushrooms are, when they are found, where to find them, and the role of fungi in the ecosystem. Also includes 120 illustrations of mushroom characteristics that will aid in identifying genus and species, as well as over 400 color photographs. The capsule descriptions include only those characteristics that distinguish one species from another, and there is no repetition of extraneous and confusing characteristics. The author has also included the "ten commandments" for avoiding poisonous mushrooms. In each description, readers will find common and Latin binomial names, cap or body size, appropriate height of stem, spore color, growth habit, gill or tube characteristics, edibility, ecological roles, and much more. A Field Guide to Mushroom and Their Relatives is a valuable volume that will make mushroom hunting productive, satisfying, and safe.