Table of Contents
How to Use This Guide 8
The Mushrooming with Confidence Method 9
What does "edible" mean? 9
Learn to leave a mushroom 9
Look-alike poisonous species 10
The tools of the trade 11
Worm-infested mushrooms 11
Cutting or pulling? 11
Raw mushrooms 11
What Is a Mushroom? 12
Gills, Ridges, Tubes, and Spines 15
Gills 16
Ridges 20
Gills and Ridges in Comparison 23
Tubes 26
Spines 27
Positively Identifying Mushrooms 29
Mushrooms with Gills 31
The Field Mushroom 33
The Wood Blewit 39
The Shaggy Mane 45
The Parasol 49
The Shaggy Parasol 55
The Oyster Mushroom 61
The Charcoal Burner 67
The Amethyst Deceiver 75
Mushrooms with Tubes 79
The King Bolete 81
The Red Cracked Bolete 87
The Larch Bolete 93
The Slippery Jack 99
The Bay Bolete 103
The Birch Bolete 109
Mushrooms with Ridges 115
The Chanterelle 117
The Trumpet Chanterelle 121
Mushrooms with Spines 125
The Hedgehog Fungus 127
Mavericks 131
The Morel 133
The Common Puffball 143
The Hen of the Woods 149
The Horn of Plenty 155
The Cauliflower Mushroom 159
Trees and Mushrooms 162
Handling, Storage, and Cooking 165
Index 172