National Audubon Society Mushrooms of North America

📖 The Scoop

The most comprehensive and authoritative guide to the mushrooms of North America, updated for the first time in decades to reflect the impact of climate change and the advancements in DNA sequencing that have radically altered the classification process.

Created by the world’s most trusted name in nature field guides, this handsome volume is the result of a collaboration among leading scientists, scholars, taxonomic and field experts, photo editors, and designers. An indispensable resource, with nearly 2,900 full-color photographs, it reveals the astounding variety of forms, colors, and conditions of 668 species of mushrooms that can be found all throughout North America.

For ease of use, the book includes a glossary, an index, and a ribbon marker, and is organized according to the latest phylogenetic arrangement from the Assembling the Fungal Tree of Life project. Each species features up to five vibrant photographs, to aid with identification, along with notes on range, season, spore print, look-alikes, conservation status, and more. Introductory essays explain the various parts of a mushroom—both above and below ground—common host trees, nomenclature and taxonomy, mushroom ecology, and the impacts of our changing climate.

Whether marveling at species like the "shaggy rose goblet" and "dead man's fingers," or getting to know the miraculous forms that take root in the backyard, readers will come to rely on this work of remarkable breadth, depth, and elegance. It is a must-have reference for the library of any nature lover, and is poised to become the number-one guide in the field.

Genre: Nature / Plants / Mushrooms (fancy, right?)