Fungi: A Species Guide: Volume 2

Description

Fungi are an indispensable part of the great chain of life: more than 90% of the world's plant species depend on them for their nutrition. There are believed to be about 1.5 million species, thriving in virtually every habitat, from temperate to tropical, Antarctic to marine. Using beautifully coloured illustrations, this book dips into the whole range, showcasing the unusual, the familiar, the poisonous and the delicious, and sharing the stories of puffballs, deadly webcaps and devils' fingers, among others. Some are cultivated for use in different cuisines, while others are heralded for their hallucinogenic properties, or valued for use in medicine. Essential information on distribution, uses and growth partnerships is included for each species featured. Get to know what makes mushrooms magic in this handy, colourful book.

Dr Peter Roberts was for 14 years a senior mycologist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He has undertaken field trips throughout the British Isles and Europe, as well as North, Central, and South America, the Caribbean, and Africa, and has published extensively on temperate and tropical fungi. He is the co-author of New Naturalist: Fungi and is on the editorial boards of the journals Field Mycology, Mycological Progress, Czech Mycology, and Persoonia. Shelley Evans was conservation officer for the British Mycological Society for ten years, and is on the executive committee of the European Council for the Conservation of Fungi and the IUCN world specialist group for fungi. She is co-author of Pocket Nature: Fungi and is on the editorial board of the journal Field Mycology. She is an experienced field mycologist, having undertaken field trips throughout the British Isles and Europe, as well as North America.