Learning More, Mushroom Books

Here is a list of thirteen mushroom books. Each book has some nice features as well as some drawbacks.
Beginning Field Guides
  1. George Barron, Mushrooms of Northeast North America, Lone Pine Publishing, 1999 –one of my favorites, it is informative and beautiful with more than 600 species; no key.
  2. Clyde M. Christensen, Common Edible Mushrooms, The University of Minnesota Press, 1943 –black and white photos of 62 common species. (out of print)
  3. Booth Courtenay and Harold H. Burdsall, Jr., A Field Guide to Mushrooms and their Relatives, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1982 –short descriptions and small color photos of approximately 334 common Wisconsin mushrooms; no key. (out of print)
  4. Orson L. Miller, Jr., Mushrooms of North America, Chanticleer Press, 1978 –good color photos and descriptions of 422 species; contains keys. (out of print)
  5. Alexander H. Smith and Nancy Smith Weber, The Mushroom Hunter’s Field Guide, The University of Michigan Press, 1980 –photos of and keys to 282 species.
Miscellaneous Books about Mushrooms
  1. R. T. Rolfe and F. W. Rolfe, The Romance of the Fungus World, Dover Publications, 1925 –mushroom folklore. (out of print)
  2. George W. Hudler, Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds, Princton University Press, 1998 –historical overview of fungi and man, with an emphasis on fungal pathogens.
  3. Elio Schaechter, In the Company of Mushrooms: A Biologist’s Tale, Harvard University Press, 1998 –well written overview of all things fungal.
  4. Sara Ann Friedman, Celebrating the Wild Mushroom, Dodd, Mead & Company, 1986 –sort of a mushroomer’s autobiography, whimsical, light reading; contains some recipes. (out of print)
  5. Nancy Smith Weber, A Morel Hunter’s Companion, TwoPeninsula Press, 1988 –a complete guide to the true and false morels.
Advanced Field Guides
  1. David Arora, Mushrooms Demystified, Ten Speed Press, 1979 –a humorous and enjoyable field guide as well as a good source of general information about mushrooms, though it covers primarily West Coast mushrooms; does contain a very good key.
  2. Alan E. Bessette, Arleen R. Bessette and David W. Fischer, Mushrooms of Northeastern North America, Syracuse University Press, 1997 –has it all; 1500 species, color photos and a good key to species and a regional nature that covers Wisconsin.
  3. Alan E. Bessette, William C. Roody and Arleen R. Bessette, North American Boletes, Syracuse University Press, 2000 –keys to more than 300 boletes.
  4. Kent H. McKnight and Vera B. McKnight, A Field Guide to Mushrooms of North America (The Peterson Field Guide Series), Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987 –drawings and good descriptions of approximately 1000 mushrooms and their look-alikes, no key.
  5. Gary H. Lincoff, The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1981 –color photos and descriptions of approximately 730 mushrooms and hundreds of look-alikes, no key.
  6. Roger Phillips, Mushrooms of North America, Little, Brown & Company, 1991 –comprehensive field guide, covering a large number of species, color photos, Key to genus only. (out of print)