annieb123
Written on Oct 16, 2022
Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest is a well illustrated field guide to the mushrooms of the PNW written by Dr. Steve Trudell. Originally published in 2009, this revised and updated edition is due out 25th Oct 2022 from Timber Press. It's 416 pages and will be available in flexibound format in this edition.
Amateur mycologists, wanderers, forages, and lovers of nature will enjoy this well photographed and scientifically correct field guide specifically aimed at the Pacific northwest. Graphically the book is full of clear color photos which will help with ID and location. The field guide sections contain many color photos of each species including closeups and at different stages of development. The author also does a good job of explaining the *differences* between look-alike species to help with positive ID. Each entry includes the name, the binomial (Latin) name (including an English translation of the Latin), common name(s), identifying descriptions, look-alikes, and some taste/smell descriptors.
The entries are arranged logically and thematically: Gilled mushrooms are further divided into light and dark spored species (with a good general guide on spore printing and the life cycle of various fungi), club/coral/fan fungi, polypores & crust fungi, morels false morels & elfin saddles, cup fungi, pink & brown spored gilled mushrooms, boletes, spine fungi, puffballs, jelly like fungi, and truffles and false truffles. There are useful appendices, including a glossary and a solid resource/links list for further reading as well as additional comments to the first edition, and a cross referenced index.
Five stars. Useful, with clear and specific directions. This would be a good selection for library acquisition, smallholders, self-sufficiency folks, gardening and foraging readers, nature lovers, and similar.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.