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Astounding Mushrooms
"Beautiful ... we're given a glimpse into the wild world of mushrooms that exists like another realm beneath our feet. With over one million species of mushrooms said to exist worldwide, this book shows us some of the world's most diverse.... There is much in nature that goes unnoticed on a leisurely afternoon trek of the woods. Astounding Mushrooms inspires us to explore with new vision. You won't wander the same way after reading."
-- Ontario Nature Blog A heartfelt appreciation of the beauty and diversity of fungi. Astounding Mushrooms features gorgeous full-color photographs of more than 200 mushroom species in their wild habitats. The close-up images reveal every size of growth, every shade of color, every shadow of silhouette and every detail of texture. Chapter text sheds light on this unique living species, neither animal nor plant. Concise captions identify the mushrooms and provide further description of their biology. As Astounding Mushrooms reveals, mushrooms are astonishingly diverse. Shapes include buttons, nests, fans, feet, clubs, hooves, trumpets, mesh, tentacles, stars, tubes and spines. Textures are smooth, shiny or pimpled. They can be dry or wet, edible or deadly. Nuanced colors and blushes include yellows, reds, blues and greens. They may be speckled, stinky, slimy, hairy or fuzzy. Some wear a hat, some a "skirt", and some can even move. Wild mushrooms are enjoyed by an increasing number of locavores, vegans and wild food enthusiasts. Chefs everywhere are foraging wild foods, including mushrooms. Mushroom hunting tours have become popular, and mycolophiles are sharing their enthusiasm and identification tips online. Astounding Mushrooms invites readers into the extraordinary fungi universe.
-- Ontario Nature Blog A heartfelt appreciation of the beauty and diversity of fungi. Astounding Mushrooms features gorgeous full-color photographs of more than 200 mushroom species in their wild habitats. The close-up images reveal every size of growth, every shade of color, every shadow of silhouette and every detail of texture. Chapter text sheds light on this unique living species, neither animal nor plant. Concise captions identify the mushrooms and provide further description of their biology. As Astounding Mushrooms reveals, mushrooms are astonishingly diverse. Shapes include buttons, nests, fans, feet, clubs, hooves, trumpets, mesh, tentacles, stars, tubes and spines. Textures are smooth, shiny or pimpled. They can be dry or wet, edible or deadly. Nuanced colors and blushes include yellows, reds, blues and greens. They may be speckled, stinky, slimy, hairy or fuzzy. Some wear a hat, some a "skirt", and some can even move. Wild mushrooms are enjoyed by an increasing number of locavores, vegans and wild food enthusiasts. Chefs everywhere are foraging wild foods, including mushrooms. Mushroom hunting tours have become popular, and mycolophiles are sharing their enthusiasm and identification tips online. Astounding Mushrooms invites readers into the extraordinary fungi universe.
200 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 20, 2021
This collection of lovely photos represent a very divers cross section of the fungal kingdom including some examples not often seen in other mushroom books. It reads like an Instagram feed, with snippets of info about each species, including latin binomial and whether the author thought it was pretty. Chapters present species grouped together based on bizarness and colorfulness. Each chapter is introduced with a paragraph about the grouping that includes many questionable sentences presenting some confused mycology.
This book works as a coffee table book rather than a book to read cover to cover as I did. I wish the text had been omitted and images had all been bleed prints of higher resolution.
This book works as a coffee table book rather than a book to read cover to cover as I did. I wish the text had been omitted and images had all been bleed prints of higher resolution.
July 25, 2017
It was very good and had very beautiful pictures. I wish they showed more edible mushrooms though.
June 14, 2018
Photos are amazing. descriptions are compelling but short and make me want to learn more.
February 10, 2019
A must have coffee-table book for every Mycophile!
July 31, 2019
A lovely collection of mushroom photography with good commentary
December 31, 2016
Great pictures and descriptions! I love mushrooms, so this was a great book for me. My favorite mushroom in the book is probably the tiny jelly babies.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews