Mushrooms provides a concise guide to the world’s major mushrooms and toadstools. Each entry includes details of the fungi’s main features, such as the shape and colour of the cap, the gills and the stem, plus details of the mushroom’s typical environment and whether it is poisonous or edible.

Mushrooms are one of our planet’s most amazing and unusual organisms. Used for millennia as a source of food, medicine, and occasionally poison, mushrooms and toadstools have become part of our cultural histories: for example, a ring of mushrooms was believed to be a magnet for fairies to come out to dance, while in Greek mythology, mushrooms were said to originate from Zeus’s lightning because they appeared after rainstorms. Mushrooms is a photographic guide to the world’s major species of fungi, from the familiar porcini mushroom, prized for its meaty texture and nutty taste, to the vivid hues of the red-and-white spotted fly agaric, known to cause psychotic reactions if eaten, and the well-named Jelly Ears, its large tan-brown fleshiness found growing on tree branches. Illustrated with 300 photographs and including dimensions and characteristics for each entry, Mushrooms offers a vivid pictorial introduction to fungi for foragers, cooks and all those interested in mycology.