Alaska's Mushrooms: A Wide-Ranging Guide

by Gary A. Laursen, Neil McArthur

Overview

For the seriously dedicated as well as the merely curious ’shroomer, Alaska’s Mushrooms is a wide-ranging guide to the fungi of the Last Frontier.

The book, featuring detailed descriptions of 114 species, includes: color photographs; family and common names; genus and species; striking field characters; both a macro- & micro-description; habitat and role; edibility, taste, and odor; look-alikes, and comments. This comprehensive collection also provides:

• information on mushroom seasons and habitats
• hints for collecting mushrooms for food and study
• tips on how to tell the real mushrooms from their “imposters”
• directions for making spore prints (an essential test for identifying mushrooms)
• hundreds of black-and-white line drawings
• a section listing all poisonous mushrooms by toxin groups
• a list of frequently asked questions
• a range map of Alaska’s biogeographic zones

Alaska’s Mushrooms provides authoritative natural history, informative color photographs, and black-and-white line drawings for clear identification, and lively notes from the field. It’s a must-have for anyone who has a passion for hunting mushrooms.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781943328499
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	07/04/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	634,811
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Dr. Gary A. Laursen is an adjunct Research Professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, was instrumental in maintaining the state's largest and longest-running outreach program for secondary STEM research, now directs the UAF Honors Program, and faculty advises Golden Key. He has written and published over 375 pieces while also serving twenty years as a high school teacher concomitant with his thirty-five years of university instruction and research. He is the coauthor of the book Common Interior Alaska Cryptogams: Fungi, Lichenicolous Fungi, Lichenized Fungi, Slime Molds, Mosses, and Liverworts, University of Alaska Press, (2009).

Neil McArthur grew up in Scotland, Quebec, and western New York, earned a B.Sc. in forestry from Syracuse in 1962, and ran away to Alaska. He worked as naturalist, forester, game biologist, cartographer, greenhouseman, carpenter, and museum facility manager. Neil helped his wife, Harriette Parker, author the 1994 Alaska’s Mushrooms, and provided most of its photos.

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS MAP MEET THE MUSHROOM Mushroom Phyla Roles Played by Mushrooms Identifying Wild Strangers Mushroom Groups, Their Names and Spore Producing Surfaces Use of Common Names The Species List Describing and Labeling Treasured Finds Fungal Collecting Labels Formal Fungal Descriptions Hunting Mushrooms in the Wild Mushroom Spore Prints Safe ’Shrooming Collecting with Care Questions Often Heard Mushroom Toxin Classification MUSHROOM DESCRIPTIONS EATING MUSHROOMS, ALASKAN-STYLE Preparing Wild Mushrooms for Use: Mushroom Recipes: Morel Mushroom Stroganoff Morel Mushroom Gravy Morel Mushroom Soup Psilly’s Bruschetta With Chanterelles L. McLaren’s Wild Rice Mushroom Soup Salmon Fillet with Morels Sautéed Mushrooms Mushroom and Noodle Soup An Outdoorsman’s Seasonal Specials Pan-fried Puffballs Spicy Tofu and Hedgehog Stir-fry Moose and Mushroom Stew MUSHROOM FIELD & REFERENCE GUIDES LITERATURE CITATIONS PICTORIAL GLOSSARY TERMS GLOSSARY SUBJECT INDEX AUTHOR BIO LIST OF FIGURES PHOTO CREDITS