Reddit reviews Mushrooms Demystified
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Mushrooms Demystified A Comprehensive Guide to the Fleshy Fungi
Two general types of experience you can get: hands-on, and book learning.
The former is very important, but not too difficult to do. A fair number of people in the Portland area go mushroom hunting occasionally, even if they only know a species of two. Sucking up to the right people is surprisingly effective. Also, getting in touch with or joining organizations like Oregon Mycological Society or the Cascade Mycological Society can be immensely helpful in making contacts and finding hunting partners/mentors.
The latter is also very important, as there is some much you can learn without actually holding a mushroom in your hands. For books, accessible guides like Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest and All That the Rain promises and More are great for getting started, and heftier books like Mushrooms Demystified are good for those looking to take the next step in learning. Online, the hunting and identification board on The Shroomery, Mushroom Observer, and /r/mycology are great places to lurk and just soak in info, while sites like Mushroom Expert are good places to explore and follow what interests you.
A friend took me when I was a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed college kid. I took our findings to a mycologist on campus who spent 20 minutes describing proper browning-in-butter protocol. I was hooked- both on mushrooming and the goofy people involved. I already collect field identification books, so I have a shelf in my bookcase just for mushroom ID and foraging. Every time i go out i try to ID a new mushie. Anything im super lost on i take to a mycologist friend in town, or i email the prof at OSU (which is 30 minutes drive) and bug them with it.
I also have permits for personal collection of mushrooms in all the local national forests (most were free) and researched the county and state park rules for collection on their property. Gotta be responsible, yo.
I recommend picking up All That Rain Promises and More (link) and the unabridged Mushrooms Demystified link2 because i reference both a TON, The first one is waterproof, and David is a certified goofball.
Here is a good start
Seconding u/theUnmutual6's recommendations, in addition to u/BlueSmoke95's suggestion to check out Ann Moura's work. I would like to recommend Ellen Dugan's Natural Witchery and her related domestic witchery books. Ellen is a certified Master Gardener and incorporates plants into much of her work.
Some of my favorite plant books!
Plant Science:
Foraging & Field Guides:
Herbalism:
Ethnobotany:
I also encourage y'all to look into fungi as well. I work with both plants and fungi and I think they bring a fascinating and fulfilling aspect to my work. Plus, hunting for mushrooms is super fun! I can recommend field guide books for folks who are interested, they just tend to be very region-specific so I'm not going to list all of them here.
For general fungus reading I recommend the following:
That really is the best, and if you like
mushrooms https://www.amazon.com/Mushrooms-Demystified-David-Arora/dp/0898151694
or https://www.amazon.com/All-That-Rain-Promises-More/dp/0898153883
or rocks https://www.amazon.com/Gem-Trails-Oregon-Garret-Romaine/dp/1889786446
Buy a regional guide. Here are a few if you are in the US. It's important to know the terminology that goes along with mushroom hunting.
Also Use the links in the sidebar here, they will tell you the active mushrooms in your area. Once you do this do individual research on each one.
Regional guides
Alaska
Common Interior Alaska Cryptogams
Western US
All The Rain Promises and More
Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest
Mushrooms Demystified This is an old book, while still useful it definitely needs updating.
The New Savory Wild Mushroom Also dated but made for the PNW
Midwestern US
Mushrooms of the Midwest
Edible Wild Mushrooms of Illinois and Surrounding States
Mushrooms of the Upper Midwest
Southern US
Texas Mushrooms: A Field Guide
Mushrooms of the Southeastern United States
Eastern US
Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians
Mushrooms of Northeast North America (This was out of print for awhile but it's they're supposed to be reprinting so the price will be normal again)
Mushrooms of Northeastern North America
Macrofungi Associated with Oaks of Eastern North America(Macrofungi Associated with Oaks of Eastern North America)
Mushrooms of Cape Cod and the National Seashore
More specific guides
Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World
North American Boletes
Tricholomas of North America
Milk Mushrooms of North America
Waxcap Mushrooms of North America
Ascomycete of North America
Ascomycete in colour
Fungi of Switzerland: Vol. 1 Ascomycetes
PDFs
For Pholiotas
For Chlorophyllum
Websites that aren't in the sidebar
For Amanita
For coprinoids
For Ascos
MycoQuebec: they have a kickass app but it's In French
Messiah college this has a lot of weird species for polypores and other things
Cultivation
The Mushroom Cultivator: A Practical Guide to Growing Mushrooms at Home (If your home is a 50,000 sq ft warehouse)
Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation: Simple to Advanced and Experimental Techniques for Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation
Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms
Mycology
The fifth kingdom beginner book, I would recommend this. It goes over fungal taxonomy Oomycota, Zygomycota and Eumycota. It also has ecology and fungi as food.
The kingdom fungi coffee table book it has general taxonomy of the kingdom but also very nice pictures.
Introduction to fungi Depends on your definition of beginner, this is bio and orgo heavy. Remember the fungi you see pop out of the ground (ascos and basidios) are only a tiny fraction of the kingdom.
Mushrooms Demystified is a good general ID book. It's a little dated, so some of the taxonomy has been updated since it's last edition, but it'll get you started. I'd also recommend looking into more regionally specific guidebooks for your area. There are tons such as Musrhooms of the Mid West or Mushrooms of Colorado and the Southwest Rocky Mountains. A quick web search should get you in the ballpark.
Check out Robert Rogers' Fungal Pharmacy. Most comprehensive book on the medicinal qualities of fungi that I've encountered.
Edit: Also, I like The Deerholme Mushroom Book for the culinary angle.
There are no quick tips on how to tell the poisonous ones from the delicious ones from the hallucinogenic ones.
Buy an identification book (this is a good one) or make friends with someone who knows what they're doing (they'll have that book, and others, on their shelf).
If you're not 100% positive about a species identification, don't eat it. Some of the poisonous ones don't just kill you, they kill you in one of the most painful and nasty ways to die (liver failure).
Invest in a good field guide. All That the Rain Promises and More is good to get your feet wet, and Mushrooms Demystified is the bible. Also, see if there are any mushroom clubs near you. Have fun!
The mushroom you have there is a Red Chanterelle, inactive, although rather delicious.
If you're hunting for the real deal, try searching for Panaelous Cinctulus. They often grow in well fertilized lawns, and in or around horse dung. P. Cinctulus occurs in all 50 states and in many countries worldwide.
My best advice to you if you are serious about doing this (which you seem to be), is to learn how to properly identify a mushroom. I highly recommend you purchase a field manual such as "Mushrooms Demystified" by David Arora; it was my first mushroom book and is what spurred my now unending interest in fungi.
I know some people have made suggestions about further reading online, but, I urge you to check out shroomery.org. Besides having a ton of free information on what you're looking for, they have a very active and helpful forum that will be able to assist you in correctly identifying mushrooms. Be sure to read the rules (stickied at the top of the forum) before posting.
Goodluck and be safe. If you have any questions in the future or need a little help, feel free to PM me. Peace.
I would suggest picking up Mushrooms Demystified and All That the Rain Promises and More. Great books to get you into identification.
And remember; There are old mushroom hunters, and there are bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old bold mushroom hunters!
For a pocket guide I'd recommend All That the Rain Promises and More. It has a little bit of a bias towards species in western North America, but it's still very useful in the east (I'm in New England and I love it). Mushrooms Demystified is pretty big for taking into the field, but it is a great companion to ATtRPaM, and it is the best all around field guide for North America, in my opinion.
My favorites are:
Roger Phillips Mushrooms and Other Fungi....
https://www.amazon.com/Mushrooms-Other-Fungi-North-America/dp/155407651X
David Arora Mushrooms Demystified
https://www.amazon.com/Mushrooms-Demystified-David-Arora/dp/0898151694
Audubon Society Field Guide:
https://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-Society-American-Mushrooms/dp/0394519922
DK Mushroom Book:
https://m.barnesandnoble.com/p/mushrooms-dk/1127751094/2689838557184
This last one is a big beautiful hardcover book with a lot of different mushrooms from around the world and some excellent pictures:
https://www.amazon.com/Book-Fungi-Life-Size-Hundred-Species/dp/0226721175
Other than that it would depend on your region because I have some guides I love that focus on my region.
If you are planning on eating wild mushrooms, I really recommend using more than one guide to identify. Get at least a good general guide, like Mushrooms Demystified, and then a more regional guide. I live in Minnesota and just got Mushrooms and Other Fungi of the Midcontinental United States. Both of these have information on spore prints.
I've been getting a lot of information from foraging accounts on Instagram. The folks there can be really helpful. (I wrote a post on my blog about getting into foraging here with some resources and Instagrammers listed at the bottom.)
Also, check out Mushrooms Demystefied. Great book. I got it for myself when I wanted to get started.
All That the Rain Promises and More by David Arora. Fantastic guide with a lot of information on edibility. Also highly recommended is its companion guide by the same author, Mushrooms Demystified
Plants of Southern Interior British Columbia and the Inland Northwest
Mushrooms Demystified
Ought to get you started.
Far too simple. I use Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora, it's basically a 500 page flowchart for figuring out what species you're looking at.
Retired pro chef here and long-term wild mushroom forager pick up some Oyster Mushrooms, Pleurotus ostreatus common in grocery store especially those with an Asian audience.
Get a saute pan so hot you'd be worried about damaging it, add a little clarified butter and before it catches fire, put the mushrooms in, gill side down, and sear them hard get them brown. Use a spatula to hold them hard against the hot pan. Turn them and brown the other side. You will be richly rewarded. Oysters are about as easy to identify as a wild mushroom can get.
Mushrooms Demystified is a fine field guide but, considering that you are taking your life in your hands when foraging wild stuff, the learning curve is a bit steep. In my earliest foraging days, I spent more time learning to recognize what not to pick than anything else.
Best wishes and good fortune be upon you.
Kudos on studying mycology, do you intend to get a degree? Chanterelles are steady awesomeness. But Macrolepiota procera is some tasty meat...as are M. americana and M. rachodes. Mmmmm. Did you find them in the woods, or in an urban habitat? Also, what species of chanterelle did you eat?
Sooo, uhm.
I can't speak to some of those questions with great certainty, I don't have any formal education in this topic. Though I know enough to hunt for many edible mushrooms.
And a copy of Mushrooms Demystified.
What book are you referencing?
Concerning the spore measurements, you do indeed need a microscope to discern individual spores.
Though taking a spore print of a mushroom is pretty simple, Here ya go.
> If you don't want to separate the cap from the stem, make a hole in an index card, place the card on a paper cup and slide the stem of the mushroom through the hole until the underside of the cap is resting on the card; then proceed as above.
You assure that you will not make a big mistake by sticking to tried and verified mushrooms that are well documented.
Search engines are an incredible resource for learning this kind of thing.
Many people who love mushrooms love to share their knowledge so many resources are available online.
Most importantly you should find people to hunt with to help you ID your finds.
Good luck, happy hunting!
These could be false morels, though I hope they aren't and you can eat a yummy meal. I would check them out on multiple sites and make a shroomery account. Also, if you plan to hunt often, Mushrooms Demystified and the Audubon Society's Mushroom Field Guide are both very necessary guides.
LOL oh geez dude, are you sure you want to go down that rabbit hole? Mushrooming has a reputation for causing otherwise normal people to get a little obsessive... I never thought it'd be such an addiction but it really is - I mean we're talking a literal treasure hunt in the wilderness, depending on what you're after. (morel$ are just about to start fruiting)
This is THE book you want: https://www.amazon.ca/Mushrooms-Demystified-David-Arora/dp/0898151694/
This is how you do that: mushrooms demystified
Again, I wouldn't recommend it. Pick up a decent field guide (or, preferably, this tome) and learn how to ID, then post here and/or at other sites (Mushroom Observer is an awesome one) for confirmation.
Big flat white ones with brown spot in middle are a Lepiota species. I think the little bell shaped ones are a Mycena species. Not sure about the other guy.
As for resources: I think this is still considered "the bible" . Lots of the names are out of date now-a-days but you can't beat David Arora's keys and descriptions. For websites Mushroom Observer is the best place to see well identified pics. Just don't post there until you get more experience as they are not always welcoming to amateurs.
Anyone that's interested in identifying, cultivating and consuming wild mushrooms, check out Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora.
Essential reading for everyone; from the budding mycologist to anyone who wants to eat wild mushrooms but is afraid of poisoning themselves.
Hey, you. Yeah, you reading this. Don't think these LBM's (Little Brown Mushrooms) that look an awful lot like the ones growing in your yard are safe. Never, ever, EVER pick and eat mushrooms you find unless you have extensive knowledge of mycology. LBM's are notorious for being difficult to identify, as they have no real phenotypic traits (fancy way of saying that there are few visual cues as to what they are and if they're safe or not).
LBM's usually require spore prints to identify the species, and even then you need a keen eye and lots of experience to use those to identify the mushroom. There are plenty of books to help, but remember that microscopic features can be the difference between a trip and a trip to the hospital.
it's interesting how afraid of fungis we all are. out of the thousands of species of mushrooms in the united states, there are only four or five that are deadly.
source: Mushrooms demystified.
If you want to learn more about them, and learn about IDing them, Mushrooms Demystified is a thorough, although a bit dated, discussion of them. If you get more serious into it, I'd recommend finding a more recent and region specific guide on your local fungi, but Arora is a great start.
I recommend a good region specific mushroom guide if she doesn't have one or Mushrooms Demystified if she doesn't have it. Another good option could be a mushroom knife.
For mushrooms in general (not specifically psychedelic ones) I recommend All That the Rain Promises and More by David Arora. If you like that then check out Mushrooms Demystified which is his famous tome. Two newer books with beautiful color photographs are Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast by Noah Siegel and Christian Schwarz, and California Mushrooms by Desjardin, Wood, and Stevens.
The best way though is to go foraging with someone who knows what they're doing. Check out MSSF or one of the other clubs in the area. If you join MSSF now, you can still get a spot on the Mendocino Woodlands camping trip, which is an absolute blast.
https://www.psms.org/id-clinics.php
https://www.amazon.com/Common-Mushrooms-Northwest-Western-Northwestern/dp/0973981962
https://www.amazon.com/All-That-Rain-Promises-More/dp/0898153883
https://www.amazon.com/Mushrooms-Demystified-David-Arora/dp/0898151694
Well, that's a good thing to be and do
If you're really interested, this is a good book to have
Many fungi are indeed edible and many of those are medicinal along several fronts. It's good to learn about them :D
If he's into plants and animals and is really detail-oriented, he might get into something like identifying mushrooms; the best book out there is Mushrooms Demystified and the only other tools you'd need are maybe a soil knife and a magnifying glass.
I'd either find a guide specific to your locale or read up on something more broad. Anyway, for the "basics" I'd recommend Arora's works.
The pocket guide: https://amzn.com/0898153883
The bible: https://amzn.com/0898151694