The Book of Fungi: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around The World

Description:

Colorful, mysterious, and often fantastically shaped, fungi have been a source of wonder and fascination since the earliest hunter-gatherers first foraged for them. Today there are few, if any, places on Earth where fungi have not found themselves a home. And these highly specialized organisms are an indispensable part of the great chain of life. They not only partner in symbiotic relationships with over ninety percent of the world's trees and flowering plant species, they also recycle and create humus, the fertile soil from which such flora receive their nutrition.

In this lavishly illustrated volume, six hundred fungi from around the globe are featured; each species is reproduced at its actual size, in full color, and is accompanied by a scientific explanation of its distribution, habitat, association, abundance, growth form, spore color, and edibility. Location maps give indications of each species' known global distribution, and specially commissioned engravings show different fruitbody forms and provide the vital statistics of height and diameter.