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Mushrooms, Mycology and Psychedelics > Mushroom Hunting and Identification
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mushroom identification
    #1324315 -

whats the best mushroom identification book out there? one with nice colored pictures......thanks :grin:


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Drugs may be the road to nowhere, but at least they're the scenic route.

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Re: mushroom identification [Re: sancho]
    #1324443 -

There are several very good books, and which is best depends mostly on where you are.

Mushrooms Demystified has practically been the bible for most mushroom hunters for years now. It is probably the best general book out there. The focus of the book is the west coast, centered around northern California. The keys are outstanding and there is a great deal of educational material in the book that would be of use no matter what.

Mushrooms of Northeastern North America is a more recent release which does a better job of covering - you guessed it - northeastern North America. Again, the keys are outstanding and I would recommend it to anybody wonting to learn identification.

The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms is a well written book which shines in the photography category. Unfortunately, there are no keys of significant value - the emphasis seems more on matching pictures to what you've found. While this can be a good way to identify if you have some experience, I have seen many beginners make mistakes trying to identify that way. Other virtues of this book include its low price and convenient size. If you do use it, make sure you verify your photo matches against the textual descriptions in the back of the book. The geographical focus of this book seems to be the United States.


There are a ton of other good books out there besides those above. In particular, books about a specific genus or group of mushrooms can be very useful. For example, if you want to know about boletes, a book specific to the Boletaceae would be better than the general books above.

If you look around, you will be able to find some incredible books from Europe with great photographs and descriptions (often not in English). An obvious example would be Breitenbach (Pilze der Schweiz). Unfortunately, these books tend to be very expensive (Breitenbach is about $125 per volume). While these books are some of the best I've ever seen, you should be cautious about using them for identification in the US. There are species in Europe (or wherever) which do not occur in the US and vice versa. So there is the possibilty of misidentifying a poisonous mushroom as edible. This is actually one of the more common causes of mushroom poisoning (immigrants misidentifying a poisonous mushroom as an edible one they are familiar with), and it has resulted in several deaths.


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Happy mushrooming!

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Re: mushroom identification [Re: ToxicMan]
    #1324500 -

When in need of an ID, I just pick up my Stamets, anyone with me on that one?

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Re: mushroom identification [Re: cube421]
    #1324544 -

Does stamets have an ID book for all mushrooms...not just hallucinogenics?

Well, I'll say it again: Get "Mushrooms Demystified" by David Arora.... Now! :wink:

It has ID's to all mushrooms... 

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Re: mushroom identification [Re: angryshroom]
    #1324786 -

true angry

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Re: mushroom identification [Re: sancho]
    #1326784 -

just in case you're not convinced yet, buy mushrooms demystified, it's a great book. audobon's is good too.


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Attn PWN hunters: If you should come across a bluing Psilocybe matching P. pellicolusa please smell it.
If you detect a scent reminiscent of Anethole (anise) please preserve a specimen or two for study and please PM me.

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Mushrooms, Mycology and Psychedelics > Mushroom Hunting and Identification
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