Book of Fungi Makes Us Want to Go Mushroom-Hunting
Rhubarb Bolete Taylor Lockwood The new Book of Fungi, by Peter Roberts and Shelley Evans, is a couple of kilograms worth of beautiful mushroom book. The lurid photographs and enticing, offhandedly witty descriptions make the reader want to go out collecting specimens right away -- but the hardcover book's glaring flaw is that, with actual-size glossy pictures of 600 species of fungus, it's hardly a portable companion to the wonders of the woods. Click here to see a few of our favorites. So instead it sits on the desk, where we alternately admire the images (a gallery of which we've pulled together here for your enjoyment); marvel at the collected facts (some fungi use microscopic lassos to rope in worms to eat!); and titter at species names like Drumstick Truffle-Club, Mousepee Pinkgill, and The Sickener. For each species, the book gives an interesting description, including geographical distribution, habitat, edibility, on a scale...