Learning about fungi

[jandersen]

I can just about recognise the most common fungi (mushrooms, shiitake, yeast and athlete's foot), but I would like to be a bit more confident about the ones you find in nature - but where can I learn?

1. What are the best books for studying the subject? I have "Mushrooms" by Roger Phillips, which seems good, but somehow I can't quite use it - I never find the one I am actually holding in my hand.

2. Where can I find a good course - I am in Swindon, a place that seems amazingly short of any fungi, but I probably just don't know the places.

[nobby c]

Hi there,

I am very new to the fungi lark too. I have River cottage handbook No1
"Mushrooms" by John Wright.. It covers some of the more common mushrooms and has a key to help you identify them.
Another good thing is that it also tells you which other they can be confused with. The photos are great but don't go just by the photo's !!

I also have Dorling Kindersley handbook "Mushrooms" by Thomas laessoe.
I think this has a very good key as well. There are a lot more mushrooms in this one, but maybe a little to many.

Read very carefully and follow ALL the steps. NEVER eat any unless you are 100% sure what it is !!

I hope this has been of some help.

[FungiJohn]

Originally Posted by jandersen

I can just about recognise the most common fungi (mushrooms, shiitake, yeast and athlete's foot), but I would like to be a bit more confident about the ones you find in nature - but where can I learn?

1. What are the best books for studying the subject? I have "Mushrooms" by Roger Phillips, which seems good, but somehow I can't quite use it - I never find the one I am actually holding in my hand.

2. Where can I find a good course - I am in Swindon, a place that seems amazingly short of any fungi, but I probably just don't know the places.

Hi jandersen and welcome to WAB

For a good selection of books see the list at the bottom of this reference page:

Fungi | Wild About Britain

and I'm sure there are good places for fungi in Swindon too!

John

[BROCSMAN]

If you are serious about learning you need to spend time with people who know the subject. You won't get it from books. Join a local group. Contact BMS or ABFG to find out where your nearest one is.

Be careful you don't get addicted, or you'll end up here!

[jandersen]

Thanks, everybody, what an overwhelming response.

I will study the book lists carefully; always a dangerous step for me, as I will inevitably end up spending money.

BROCSMAN: I do intend to learn, but it seems hard to find local groups. They seem to have gone underground, perhaps inspired by the habit of their quarry.

The problem I find in particular is that the characters used in the keys seem rather more fluid than is the case for plants, and the path from "a toadstool" to a given species invariably ends up in the limbo between several similar genera. I probably just need to learn what is the really important bit to look for...

[Lancashire Lad]

Hi Janderson and welcome to WAB.

You are certainly at the right place (as far as the internet goes) to learn about fungi.

I've just had a quick look at the Association of British Fungus Group's website, and they have local group(s) in Wiltshire, so your best bet for finding like minded people would be to make contact with them.

I'd strongly recommend that you do join a group. I joined mine (North West Fungus Group) and was made very welcome - even as a complete novice.

There has been no pressure to go down any specific fungal avenue. The local forays are always excellent, and the amount of knowledge readily given by the long time members is phenomenal.

You certainly won't regret it.

Regrds,
Mike.

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by jandersen

.

The problem I find in particular is that the characters used in the keys seem rather more fluid than is the case for plants, and the path from "a toadstool" to a given species invariably ends up in the limbo between several similar genera. I probably just need to learn what is the really important bit to look for...

Originally Posted by jandersen

.

I probably just need to learn what is the really important bit to look for...

Bits to look for

You do need a good general key to get them to genus level. I use one by Archie McAdam a lot for the agarics and boletes. It could have been slightly better arranged in my opinion, it can be a bit confusing , but is still good, and it is free ...
Resources
It does go into microscopic details in places but it has usually narrowed it down to a small number of genera before it does that, so you can then at least flick through the pages of Phillips or Jordan for those genera that you have narrowed it down to, and see what appears to fit, rather than be flicking though a whole book in the hope of hitting the right page ....

I did some fungi courses years ago, and then did one more recently. With the more recent one as it was part of an ecology course we were required us to do coursework and that took the form of doing a field notebook. I found that was by far the best way to learn, it forced me to look very carefully at all the details and to note them down. I did it very systematically, and I learnt much more quickly and retained the information much better than I had done on the first set of courses.

Here is an example of my notes:

So you can see it forced me to look at and note the habitat, how it grew, all the features of all the parts including a cross-section, smell, textures etc.

If you don't have people or groups to go fungi looking with then don't worry, you can go a long way just by doing it this way. It also means you don't become unduly reliant on others .. it is very easy to just accept what they say without really looking hard at what you have before you, and then find you've come away little the wiser

Melanie