Collins Fungi Guide: The most complete field guide to the mushrooms and toadstools of Britain & Ireland

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Remove the specimens carefully from the substrate, noting especially if the stem base is rooting (inserted deeply into the ground, rather like a carrot root). Make a record of any features that are immediately obvious and striking (a hairy cap, a smell of almonds or a bright red colour for example) and also those characters that change on handling (such as a colour change similar to bruising where the tissues have been touched, or an aroma that becomes suddenly apparent). Whenever possible, try to take at least one immature fruit body but remember that without some fully mature individuals identification will usually be impossible. It is much better to place only one collection in each container for bringing home; many toadstools look remarkably similar, especially when seen apart from their habitat, and trying to relate a mixed collection to one species can cause endless frustration. The need not to mix collections is even more important when collecting fungi to eat because an inedible or poisonous species can so easily be tossed into the pan along with the edible ones. Shape. Cap shape shows the greatest difference between mature and immature specimens and this difference should be noted. The description of cap shape used normally in species descriptions relates to the mature form and five main types are recognised: bell-shaped, conical, convex (or in its extreme form, domed) with the appearance of an upturned bowl, flat and, finally, uplifted, where the entire cap is depressed into a bowl-like form with uplifted margins. In describing shape, the presence and form of any central bump or depression should also be noted. A cap with some form of central bump is called umbonate or, if the bump is very small and pimple-like, papillate; one with a depression is called depressed although a very deep depression rendering the cap funnel-shaped is found quite commonly and is characteristic of some genera. A depression in the cap with a small bump or pimple in the centre is also fairly common and is called umbilicate.

Collins Fungi Guide by Stefan Buczacki, Chris - Scribd Collins Fungi Guide by Stefan Buczacki, Chris - Scribd

Collins Bird Guide provides all the information needed to identify any species at any time of the year, with detailed text on size, habitat, range, identification and voice. What a great book. It adds a needed publication for the amateur's library which goes beyond other field guides. The illustrations of crust fungi are excellent and it is a pleasure to see them receive their rightful place in a fungal manual. I am sure you will stimulate many to look at the lower Basidiomycetes in a different light and overcome that fear of looking for and at them. Great stuff! [...] A book which should be in lots of naturalists’ hands, not just field mycologists. I would gladly recommend [it] to anyone attending my forays and to my apprentices.’ Shape. Most stems are equal (more or less parallel sided) but some taper either upwards or downwards; most species with rooting stems taper downwards into the ‘root’, while others are markedly club-shaped (clavate) with a highly pronounced taper upwards or even bulbous (with a pronounced swelling at the base like an onion). Some bulbous forms have a marked and rather sharp margin around the upper edge of the bulb; these are called marginate bulbous while those that swell very abruptly at the base are called abruptly bulbous. Stem shape in transverse section should be noted if it is other than circular; some species have markedly flattened or grooved stems for instance, while it is sometimes important to observe if it is solid in section, hollow or stuffed (apparently with a central hollow filled with cottony tissue). Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2022-01-24 08:20:52 Boxid IA40334722 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifierThis is the most comprehensive field guide to mushrooms ever published. With descriptions of over 3,000 species that can be identified with the naked eye, this book is all the reader will need to correctly identify any fungus. Note: we cannot stress strongly enough the caution with which you should approach mushroom identification. Some mushrooms are edible, but some are deadly, and identification can be very difficult. As Geoffrey Kibby says below, if in doubt, throw it out!). Collins Fungi Guide. The Most Complete Field Guide to the Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain& Ireland. London: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. ISBN: 978 0 00 724290 0. Jordan M (2004) The Encyclopaedia of Fungi of Britain and Europe... In certain groups, application of one of the following reagents to the cap, stem or hyphae gives a characteristic colour reaction:

Collins Complete Guide to British Mushrooms and Toadstools - NHBS Collins Complete Guide to British Mushrooms and Toadstools - NHBS

The sixth title in the bestselling Collins Guide series, this book covers the fungi of the British Isles, with considerable relevance for Europe and the wider temperate world. Leading mycological artists have been specially commissioned to ensure accurate, detailed illustrations. The second edition draws on an additional three years of surveying done over a wider area, adding 23 new species to the 177 already described in the first edition Dimensions. The diameter to be used is the average measured in centimetres across at least two diameters of a mature cap. The height, which is used normally only with markedly conical or bell-shaped caps, is the average in centimetres of at least two heights measured from the apex to the cap edge. Cap diameter and height vary considerably with overall growing conditions, and whilst there are obviously large and obviously small types of agaric, size alone is almost never a criterion for determining the limits of a species. Moreover, the size ranges given in the species descriptions should never be considered as excluding the existence of some particularly large or small individuals.

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Finally, it should be noted if the gills are deliquescing or self-liquefying and turning inky, a characteristic of many species in the genera Coprinus, Coprinopsis, Coprinellus and Parasola. To produce a spore print, use a fresh, mature but not over-ripe fruit body. The freshness is important because it can be difficult to obtain a print from specimens that have been kept in a fridge or allowed to dry out slightly. It is an operation that should be started immediately on returning home after a collecting expedition. Cut the cap from the stem at the apex with a sharp knife and place it gills downwards onto a piece of smooth, stiff white paper or card. Cover the cap with an inverted jar or similar cover and leave it undisturbed. Depending on the state of cap maturity, it may need to be left for anything between half an hour and 24 hours. The spores will then be discharged from the gills as described later and produce a pattern on the card; this is the spore print, and for most identification purposes the colour of the pattern on the paper, when dry, can be used. For critical genera like Russula, however, scrape the spores into a small heap with a microscope slide cover glass, flatten the heap gently with the cover glass and assess the colour of this mass of spores in daylight (take the card to a window during the daytime, because evening light in autumn and artificial light can give confusing colours). Chemical tests on the fruit body