Customer Reviews

How to Identify Mushrooms to Genus II: Field Identification of Genera

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

While the information in this book is comprehensive, as noted by StephenX, the terminology may be difficult for the non-expert to follow, and there is no glossary provided.

If you are very familiar with mushroom terminology and want a very thin (30 page) reference guide for the field, I'd give this book 5 stars because it is thorough and comprehensive.

If you are relatively new to mushrooming, however, I'd give this book 3 stars because it would be very tough to identify mushrooms to genus with this book alone.

For the beginner, a far better choice exists in the same series. How to Identify Mushrooms to Genus I (which I really like) contains effectively all the same information as volume II, but in addition includes a detailed description of terms, helpful diagrams, a detailed key, and a very easy-to-follow process for identifying genus based solely on macroscopic features. In short, if you already have volume I, there is no need to get volume II unless as noted above you want a very thin guide to carry into the field (though volume II is really not that much thicker).

Overall I gave the book 4 stars by averaging the 3 and 5 star ratings above.

To fully appreciate and use this book, one needs all the books in Largent's series. These books are not for amateurs. One needs to know quite a bit about fungi and mushroom terminology to effectively use these books