The Great Encyclopedia of Mushrooms [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Koenemann Inc (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Great Encyclopedia of Mushrooms is billed by its publisher as a "culinary title," but fungi lovers who just want to look at them will enjoy this reference as much as gourmands. Profusely illustrated with color photos, cross-sections, and close-ups, this book will help you identify the mushrooms you pick and find out which ones are good to eat. (We prefer our customers alive, so heed the authors' warning and get your mushrooms identified by an expert mycologist before eating any you pick yourself.) After a thorough rundown on the parts of a mushroom and a glossary of terms, you'll find detailed descriptions of almost 500 wild species. The mushrooms are arranged according to taxonomy, so mycologists as well as amateurs will find this a useful guide. Both edible and poisonous species--and their look-alikes--are identified in this large book, perfect for figuring out what you've brought home after a pleasant day in the woods. --Therese Littleton

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Konemann; illustrated edition edition (May 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3829017286
• ISBN-13: 978-3829017282
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,117,935 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars beautiful, but not so practical concerning edible mushrooms, September 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Great Encyclopedia of Mushrooms (Hardcover)

This book is quite beautiful and scientific. There is very little advice on how to identify mushrooms, although the scientific classifications are emphasized. There is a useful glossary of mushroom "terms." There are sections that compare the properties of "look-alike" varieties. I was surprised that it only detailed one species of truffle and could not find any of the chinese mushrooms that I wanted to know more about. The index is not very useful, nor were there very many references to common names. There are many beautiful photographs, so I would recommend this book for those who like to look at interesting photos.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Everything you ever wanted to know about mushrooms!, December 3, 2000

By 

J. C. (Thailand) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Great Encyclopedia of Mushrooms (Hardcover)

If you are a mushroom fanatic, this book has it all. Lots of pictures! It is really a thorough encyclopedia with scientific names and data too. You can look up fourteen deadly mushrooms, 100 poisonous mushrooms, plus every other mushroom in the world. The text is interesting, for example: "Poison Pie mushroom is not as bad as its name suggests, being merely indigestible by people with delicate stomachs." This book would be great for a report on mushrooms or as a handy reference to look up mushrooms.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book--awful distributor, November 25, 2011

By 

prince kuyper of california - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Great Encyclopedia of Mushrooms (Hardcover)

Four plus stars for the book. Minus 1 for the distributor--myrockland. Warning: I paid for a new book and was sent a used one with a bent and scratched cover and writing inside. This was supposed to be a gift. So it is very disappointing that the book took nearly three weeks to arrive and was not new as promised. As for the book itself-- it is a super for beginning mushroom enthusiasts. The pictures and the identification information are very helpful. We find the look alikes particularly revealing as well. We appreciate the descriptions of where to find the mushrooms, how to recognize them and particularly their toxicity. Just in case we are tempted to taste.