Mushrooming without Fear

People love mushrooms. They want to pick them and eat them. but when they get home and try to check them, the fears crowd in. The reference books are vague. Too many dangerous look-alikes. Is the colour in that photograph exaggerated? A field mushroom suddenly seems worryingly like a Destroying Angel....the mushrooms are all discarded.

Here is a mushrooming guide with a totally new, positive approach. Forget all the other 500 species. You only need to know these 24. And you need to know them fully, without a shadow of a doubt.

Alex Schwab's mushrooming rules are few but they are fixed rules. His key identification points leave no room for uncertainty. And he promises you these mushrooms will all taste delicious.

Mushrooming without fear for the first time.



How to use this guide  8

 The mushrooming without fear method  9

 What does 'edible' mean?



Learn to leave a mushroom



Look-alike poisonous species  

The tools of the trade



Worm-infested mushrooms



Cutting or pulling?



Raw mushrooms

What is a mushroom?   12

 Tubes, spines, ridges and gills  15

 Tubes  16

 Spines  17

 Ridges  18

 Gills.  20

Comparing ridges and gills  24

 Mushrooming without Fear

 Mushrooms with tubes  29

 Cep or Penny Bun Bolete  30



Red Cracked Bolete  34



Dotted Stemmed Bolete  38



Larch Bolete 44



Slippery Jack   48



Bay Bolete  52



Birch Bolete  58

Mushrooms with ridges  63

 Chanterelle  64



Trumpet Chanterelle  68

Mushrooms with spines  73

 Hedgehog Fungus  74

Mavericks  79

 Morel  80



Common Puffball  88



Hen of the Woods  92



Horn of Plenty  96



Cauliflower Mushroom  100

For those who want to know



more about mushrooms with gills

 Mushrooms with gills  109

 Field Mushroom  110



Wood Blewit  116



Shaggy Ink Cap  120



Parasol  124



Shaggy Parasol  130



Oyster Mushroom  134



St George's Mushroom  138



Charcoal Burner  142



Amethyst Deceiver  148

Background

 Trees and mushrooms  152



The mushrooming season  154



Handling, storage and cooking  154



Fascinating folklore  157



Index  159