My thoughts on The Little Book of Mushrooms so far: I like the simple, clean format the author used on the pages. The foreword is worth reading too since the author explains what mushrooms are, how they grow, and what each part of a mushroom is. He also explains common mycology terms that the reader will see throughout the book, which I appreciate. For the entries on the mushrooms, there’s a painted illustration on the left side, with information on it on the opposite page. Some entries have more than one page. I researched which shrooms are native in my state and I was delighted to see that the author covered most of them!
My state’s native edible mushrooms are:
Black Trumpets (Craterellus cornucopiodes)
Chanterelle (Cantharellus)
Dryad’s Saddle (Cerioporus squamosus) - Also used for papermaking.
Giant Puffball (Langermannia gigantea)
Maitake (Grifola frondosa) - Also known as Hen-of-The-Woods. Not to be confused with Chicken of The Woods!
Morel (Morchella esculenta)
Shaggy Mane (Coprinus comatus) - Also used for mycoremediation and nematicide.
My state’s native non-edible (and deadly!!!) mushrooms are:
Destroying Angel (Amanita virosa/Amanita bisporigera/Amanita ocreata)
Deadly Galerina (Galerina marginata) - Also known as Funeral Bell, Deadly Skullcap, and Autumn Skullcap.
Death Cap (Amanita phalloides)
False Morel (Gyromitra esculenta)
Fool’s Funnel (Clitocybe rivulosa) - Also known as the False Champignon.
Poison Paxillus (Paxillus involutus) - Also known as the Brown Roll-rim, and Common Roll-rim.
Yellow Stainer (Agaricus xanthodermus) - Also known as the Yellow-staining Agaricus, and Yellow-staining Mushroom.
I am definitely adding the info of all of these to my herbal grimoire!