Mushrooms and Other Fungi

PREFACE This authoritative and highly attractive book on mushrooms and other jungi by the eminent mycologist Albert Pilát will be found to be of considerable value both to the amateur collector and the serious student. For mycology is recognised as an independent and vital branch of natural science, and this new book represents an important contribution to the already-considerable body of literature on the subject. Although, therefore, this book is bound to find its place among the standard textbooks of mycology it is designed equally to attract the interested general reader, who may be assumed to possess some practical experience but not necessarily extensive specialised knowledge of this absorbing field of research. There are classified and detailed accounts of more than one hundred and sixty species of jungi, particularly toadstools; the information relates to the parts of the world where they commonly grow, the seasons when they are most likely to be found, the ways in which they may be identified without any possibility of error, the most satisfactory methods of preparing the edible varieties for the table, and many other interesting and relevant facts. Each species, furthermore, has been accurately and beautifully illustrated in full-colour, in close cooperation with the author, by Otto Ušák. The fungi are depicted in their natural sizes and, as a positive aid to identification, in various stages of development. A fair amount of space has been devoted to the genera Russula, Lactarius, Tricholoma and Cortinarius. The last-named is most prolific, and since the fruit-bodies when young vary considerably in appearance from the adults, the value of reproducing a dozen or more illustrations of a single species is here self-evident. Drawings of the spores, magnified 2,000 times, are also included on each colour plate. This book, in short, will appeal to both amateur and professional mycologists. It is concisely and lucidly written, a delight to look at and a pleasure to read.