Customer Reviews

National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms (National Audubon Society Field Guides)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This Field Guide is one of the best there is on the subject of mushrooms found in the North American continent. I hunt mushrooms regularly and use this guide when I encounter a mushroom that I am unfamiliar with or where there are simular features.

This guide has color photographs and an apt descriptions as to where and what a certain mushroom grows upon. Whether they are edible or not. I found this guide to be indispensable and keep it with me for accurate identification.

This guide is compact enough as to be with you on all hiking treks. It is worth the money as a very valuable tool for spore print color. Sometimes the only way to tell the difference between spieces.

Excellent and well worth reading. The best guide I found, but I own four others for cross reference. Before you harvest mushrooms from the wild you must be certain that what you harvest is what you've got.

Don't leave home without it. Be prepared...

This is a fine field guide, overall. It's not designed for total beginners -- those folks should get some experienced assistance before trying to identify mushrooms with this book alone. But once you know the basics, this guide can be your first reference, and the only one you carry in your pack.

Of the five field guides I have owned, this is by far the best for North American mushrooms. Still, no guide is 100% complete, so having some alternative guides to refer to is a good idea. Also, while it is described as "leather bound," my copy and all others I have seen actually are bound in vinyl with a leather-like texture stamped on it. Don't be fooled into thinking you are getting a real leather-bound book. Of course, vinyl is more practical for field use anyway, where you are likely to get the book wet!

Most people buy this book simply because it is an Audubon Society book. (I made this mistake) It seems the author left out important information in an attempt to keep the book field guide sized. By including a few species from every part of the country, the author made this book of little use to anyone who lives in one place. On the other hand, it does have a lot of pictures... Even if they are small, hopelessly jumbled, and labeled with made-up names. (seriously) This book is for people that have some spare money and want to expand their library. I would highly recommend a couple of other books instead: Mushrooms Demystified (The comprehensive text for beginners and experts alike), and All the Rain Promises and More (The field guide).

I own about a dozen mushroom books and have recently added this one to my collection. "Shooming" can be a dangerous pursuit and, like almost all are aware, absolute identification is required. I don't think I would personally feel competent with this book alone, nor any other for that matter. I feel there are better books but these are very heavy monstrosities. This one, like a few, can be carried into the field while the larger, more definitive guides await at home, or in the car. The pictures are good but I prefer a "Peterson Guide" type approach to indicate what, exactly, I should be looking for. My only other personal objection is that I prefer a guide that uses their Latin name since this knowledge will be more easily transferable from one book to another.

In sum: It's a fine addition to a collection of other books on the subject. It's a decent field guide for someone who has a bit of knowledge on the subject beforehand.

Some reviewers here are not real mushroom collectors. As portable field guides go, this is one of the best ones. Other bigger books may do it better but for preliminary identification and portability this is the one you want. One reviewer says there are no colloquial names. There are for virtually every one where one exists. Another said there were no latin names. There are latin names for every one. Any time you use one photograph to represent a species, there will be questions since most species are quite variable. Other field guides are guilty too. Peterson's guide uses drawings rather than photographs. That said, the photographs are good. The descriptions are a bit economical but this book is almost 1000 pages. Everyone serious about mushroom collecting and identification needs more than one book. Period. This one is for the field. If you need a more comprehensive book or books you may need to buy a 4 wheeler to carry them around. This book has served me well since 1981.

Comparing many books on mushrooms I am still looking for a great combination of features. 1) must be portable and not the size of a large size volume; 2) color photographs, possibly full page, in a natural setting, possibly at natural size; 3) text adjacent to photograph; 4) warnings on look-alike mushrooms when looking at one mushroom specifically; 5) usage of scientific names as primary references instead of common names. While this field guide excells in many of the above, each page has three color photograps, thus often the mushroom displayed is 20% the size of the actual real mushroom. Also, the text pages are separate from the photograph pages due to different type of paper used (text is on white paper), so while the picture may be on page 200, the text is on page 400. Another disappointment was the prevalent usage of common names instead of scientific names, which can be a turn-off for readers who are not from North America and couldn't care less of the local mushroom naming.

Though it's Audobon, it's not a comprehensive guide to North American mushrooms. Also grouped by colloquial or made-up names. This book has many mushrooms from all across the country but skips even more. If you use this for general identification you'll be lucky to identify anything. If you're looking to identify things get a book localized to the area you're in. Other than that, it has pretty pictures and can ID some of the most major mushrooms in the country.

-- JJ Timmins

This book is, without a doubt, the most complete and comprehensive guide to wild mushrooms I have ever read. Stunning and accurate photography, a decent spore print chart, and a comprehensive introduction make this guide a must-have for the wild mushroom enthusiast.

I was hoping to identify at least a few of the 11 different mushrooms in my garden. Unfortunately not a single one is shown in the picture plates. I am now in search of a better book.

This is the best book for mushroom hunting. It has wonderful pictures, descriptions, and appropriate warnings about all the poisonous and look-a-like mushrooms for beginners. Can't get no better!