Help for newcomers to the world of fungi

[Ditiola]

Hi
Having read recent threads started by newcomers to fungi and replies to ID requests, what often happens is numerous photos are put forward for ID and a list of names is given back when possible. The trouble is the newcomer learns very little about the fungus from this process. I though perhaps we need to keep directing the newcomers to a good reference source that just covers macroscopic features. The only one I know of is How to Identify Mushrooms to Genus I: Macroscopic Features. I checked with a well known internet bookseller and it is available new for £22-95 and even cheaper second hand. Some of the names may have changed but the fungi haven't


Then I did a Google search and found that Fungi John has also had the same thought as me in 2006

Please see:

How to identify mushrooms to genus

(I do not know how to directly link it from this thread)


Peter

[cybershot]

I think you just did, and it was Ken Burgess we have to thank for the guide.

Good thinking on your part Peter

Cheers

David

[FungiJohn]

Originally Posted by Ditiola

Hi
Having read recent threads started by newcomers to fungi and replies to ID requests, what often happens is numerous photos are put forward for ID and a list of names is given back when possible. The trouble is the newcomer learns very little about the fungus from this process. I though perhaps we need to keep directing the newcomers to a good reference source that just covers macroscopic features. The only one I know of is How to Identify Mushrooms to Genus I: Macroscopic Features. I checked with a well known internet bookseller and it is available new for £22-95 and even cheaper second hand. Some of the names may have changed but the fungi haven't


Then I did a Google search and found that Fungi John has also had the same thought as me in 2006

Please see:

How to identify mushrooms to genus

(I do not know how to directly link it from this thread)


Peter

No, not me Peter. This excellent article was added by our Ken

John

[SusieBee]

Yeh thank-you for info.....Took me a while to find it interesting read. I will get a book eventually, for now I shall just read and learn and stop annoying you experts!
It's easy to get carried away sorry, anyway thanks for your patience.

Cheers SusieBee

[Ditiola]

Sorry Ken, and yes it is an excellent article.

It is east to forget how difficult it is for newcomers, and very easy to make flippant remarks such as 'Have you made a spore print' not thinking that maybe one is talking in a foreign language, and I am as guilty as anyone! However to all newcomers to fungi there is also a good reason for such remarks and we are all really trying to help!

I was thinking back to when I started (somewhere around 1980) after learning the basic macro features by attending our local annual foray, I joined a well know mycological organisation and attended their annual forays with my cheap Russian microscope. These forays were held in September each year based at Universities just before the students got back. There used to be between 80-100 mycologists attending ranging from a few newcomers to the top mycologists of the day. On my first foray I was fortunate to share a workbench with Professor Terrance Ingold, who was a great teacher.

What invariably happened was if you took a specimen to one of the many expert mycologists they would seldom give you a name, they would first ascertain what effort you put in to trying to find out yourself, with questions like 'Have you checked the cystidia' or 'What size are the spores' and then point you to the best current work on the fungus group in question. While at the time this sometimes smacked of the experts being a bit high-and-mighty it was looking back the best way to learn, as if they had just told me the name I would not have bothered to examine the fungus in detail to learn why it was what is was and you remember the name much better after two hours of detailed study.

Another thing that is not always obvious is that when an expert puts a name to a fungus photograph, knowing what it is only part of the process. The main part is knowing the other 2000-3000 fungi that it is not! When experts in one group try to look at a fungus in an unfamiliar group they also have to return to careful study using basic principals and techniques for every specimen.

I'm probably rambling on a bit now, but just tying to help newcomers. There is probably lot of On-line help these days but I am not sure where the best places are to find it as I tend to still use old fashioned books.

As the risk of also appearing high-and-mighty I would, like my early tutors, and other similar WAB threads like to ask all newcomers to try their best at idntifying a fungus by looking at all its featurs (see help us to to help you thread by Fungi John) before posting your photographs as I feel you will all learn and remember much more from this process.

Peter

[solus]

Originally Posted by Ditiola

There is probably lot of On-line help these days but I am not sure where the best places are to find it ...

Right here is the best place I've found!

[TeresaW]

I've learned an awful lot from this site alone, in the few weeks I've been a member, and recieved a lot of useful help from the experts on here.

I do agree, at times much of it seems to be a foreign language, but a good book on fungi helps clear up some of the mysteries.

I've now learned how to do the simple task of taking a spore print, which is interesting and helpful too. My problem is the latin scientific naming of fungi, which, as has been mentioned on another thread, can change. I'm happier with the ordinary common name where applicable, but I do realise that in the main, this site deals more in the science of it.

For me, the joy and fascination of finding so many different types, growing on different mediums, the varying characteristics, colours, and smells, even unpleasant ones, ie Stinkhorn, which I'm still getting nasal flashback from, is what it's all about. It's exciting when you have been searching for a few weeks, and found little due to the dry conditions, to have had a couple of nights of rain, and to find an abundance of types have popped up in the same area.

I'm sure in a few years time, with a bit of practise, I'll be able to recognise the less obvious types with some ease, even if I dont' have access to microscopy to competently ID a species exactly.