Mushrooms and Organic Mushrooms: A Specialty Within A Specialty
A.H. Smith, Price £7.50 ,Mushrooms in Their Natural Habitats (1973) Hafner Press,New York Mushrooms...
1
38 REVIEW Mushrooms in Their Natural Habitats. by A.H. Smith Hafner Press, New York (London: Cassell & Collier Macmillan Publishers Ltd.) 1973. Price £7.50 This is a reprint of Volume 1. of an American work originally published in 1949, and reviewed by A.A. Pearson in TBMS 34, 139-140. Volume 2 which consisted of 33 discs each containing 7 stereoscopic pairs of colour transparen- cies to be viewed in a "View-master" is not reissued. The preface to this reprint explains that with a tremendous increase in the number of field and extension courses, there has been a continuous demand for it as a serious approach to the study of mushrooms. The first 130 of its 636 pages cover the place of fungi in the plant kingdom, fruiting habits and habitats, methods of collection, macro-examination, laboratory techniques and the study of microscopic characters, nomenclature and aspects of mycophagy. For the serious beginner at the stage when use of the microscope becomes a necessity, the relevant section, with its clear line drawings, is both comprehensive and practical. The major part of the book is devoted to the species depicted by the col- our illustrations of Volume 2. The total of 231 species is made up of 19 fleshy Ascomycetes, 42 Basidiomycetes spread over Tremellaceae, Clavariaceae, Canth- arellaceae, Polyporaceae, Hydnaceae and Gasteromycetes (Puffballs), and 170 in Agaricaceae and Boletaceae. Analysis of this selection of the North American fungus flora indicates 15, 22, and 112 respectively as occurring in Britain. Each family and genus has introductory comments on diagnostic characters, and each species, in addition to notes on edibility, habit, habitat and distribution, with a full technical description, has a valuable "general discussion" in which field characters and points of comparison with possible confusing species are given. A number of keys are provided but are limited to the described species. Thus, for example, Lactarius covers but 15 and Hygrophorus only 6 species. The nomenclature is at times puzzling, but the synonomy is generally sufficient to enable the currently accepted names to be ascertained, a process facilitated by the exemplary index. Type, paper and hard-cover binding are first class. The original two volumes were priced together at 26.50 U.S. dollars, at the then rate of exchange equiva- lent to rather less than £10.0. Now, 24 years later, £7.50 for the really important part of the work would appear to be one of the more modest price increases in this age of astronomical inflation. Pearson's 1951 review commented that this work was primarily intended for the beginner and hoped that it would bring many new recruits to the ranks of American mycologists. The demand for a reprint appears to have been fully justified, and if it now lacks the illustrations, it remains in the present review- er's opinion, an excellent practical handbook for the serious amateur, American or otherwise. Stanley Porter NEWS OF PUBLICAnONS PHYTOPHTHORA NEWSLETTER has been established. It is 'informal... to promote exchange of general and technical information (including experimental observations) and encourage free expression of ideas, in particular where more formal publication would be inappropriate or premature'. Further information
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Transcript of A.H. Smith, Price £7.50 ,Mushrooms in Their Natural Habitats (1973) Hafner Press,New York Mushrooms...
38
REVIEW
Mushrooms in Their Natural Habitats. by A.H. SmithHafner Press, New York (London: Cassell & Collier Macmillan Publishers Ltd.)1973. Price £7.50
This is a reprint of Volume 1. of an American work originally published in1949, and reviewed by A.A. Pearson in TBMS 34, 139-140. Volume 2 whichconsisted of 33 discs each containing 7 stereoscopic pairs of colour transparen-cies to be viewed in a "View-master" is not reissued.
The preface to this reprint explains that with a tremendous increase in thenumber of field and extension courses, there has been a continuous demand forit as a serious approach to the study of mushrooms.
The first 130 of its 636 pages cover the place of fungi in the plant kingdom,fruiting habits and habitats, methods of collection, macro-examination, laboratorytechniques and the study of microscopic characters, nomenclature and aspectsof mycophagy. For the serious beginner at the stage when use of the microscopebecomes a necessity, the relevant section, with its clear line drawings, is bothcomprehensive and practical.
The major part of the book is devoted to the species depicted by the col-our illustrations of Volume 2. The total of 231 species is made up of 19 fleshyAscomycetes, 42 Basidiomycetes spread over Tremellaceae, Clavariaceae, Canth-arellaceae, Polyporaceae, Hydnaceae and Gasteromycetes (Puffballs), and 170 inAgaricaceae and Boletaceae. Analysis of this selection of the North Americanfungus flora indicates 15, 22, and 112 respectively as occurring in Britain.
Each family and genus has introductory comments on diagnostic characters,and each species, in addition to notes on edibility, habit, habitat and distribution,with a full technical description, has a valuable "general discussion" in whichfield characters and points of comparison with possible confusing species aregiven. A number of keys are provided but are limited to the described species.Thus, for example, Lactarius covers but 15 and Hygrophorus only 6 species.
The nomenclature is at times puzzling, but the synonomy is generallysufficient to enable the currently accepted names to be ascertained, a processfacilitated by the exemplary index.
Type, paper and hard-cover binding are first class. The original two volumeswere priced together at 26.50 U.S. dollars, at the then rate of exchange equiva-lent to rather less than £10.0. Now, 24 years later, £7.50 for the really importantpart of the work would appear to be one of the more modest price increases inthis age of astronomical inflation.
Pearson's 1951 review commented that this work was primarily intended forthe beginner and hoped that it would bring many new recruits to the ranks ofAmerican mycologists. The demand for a reprint appears to have been fullyjustified, and if it now lacks the illustrations, it remains in the present review-er's opinion, an excellent practical handbook for the serious amateur, Americanor otherwise.
Stanley Porter
NEWS OF PUBLICAnONS
PHYTOPHTHORA NEWSLETTER has been established. It is 'informal... topromote exchange of general and technical information (including experimentalobservations) and encourage free expression of ideas, in particular where moreformal publication would be inappropriate or premature'. Further information
