Plants and Fungi: The Definitive Visual Encyclopedia

by D.K. Publishing

Comprehensive, accessible, and lavishly illustrated, this is an essential and timely guide to the world's key plant and fungus species.Written by specialists, Plants and Fungi is a botanical exploration of the world's most fascinating plant and fungus species, many of which are also highly valued for their ecological, economic, and cultural importance.Covering all of the main groups—from the fleeting wildflowers that bring life to deserts to the towering giant trees of tropical rainforests, and from the lichens of the Arctic to the cultivated seaweeds of Southeast Asia—the book reveals the spectacular diversity of plants and fungi, the ecosystems they support, their symbiotic relationships, and their use in everything from food to clothing and medicine.Entries explore how plant and fungus species grow and reproduce, and how they have evolved to adapt to every continent on Earth, even in the harshest of conditions, and celebrate their beauty and diversity.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Nature

448 pages, Hardcover

Published September 17, 2024

About the author

Dorling Kindersley (DK) is a British multinational publishing company specializing in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 62 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a consumer publishing company jointly owned by Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA and Pearson PLC. Bertelsmann owns 53% of the company and Pearson owns 47%.

Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including Eyewitness Travel Guides), arts and crafts, business, history, cooking, gaming, gardening, health and fitness, natural history, parenting, science and reference. They also publish books for children, toddlers and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals and activities, as well as licensed properties such as LEGO, Disney and DeLiSo, licensor of the toy Sophie la Girafe. DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto and Melbourne.

Source: Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am absolutely blown away by this visual encyclopedia. It brought back the nostalgia of getting the "Readers Almanac" at the Scholastic Book Fair each year and pouring through it, hoping to take in as much of the most obscure info I could find.

I challenge readers to come up with a plant or fungi that ISN'T covered in this; to call this encyclopedia expansive would be an understatement. And thanks to the pictures, the information actually feels accessible despite the little to no background knowledge I have on the topic. Even if you don't care to read the information, the pictures alone are worth purchasing this book - heck, just use it as a coffee table book!

{Thank you to NetGalley and DK Publishing for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!}

[Lunnaku · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit bias here since I've been a fan of DK books since I was a wee kid and even if the subject itself didn't always interest me, the artwork and illustrations have always been top notch and amazing. I learned a lot and wrote many essays in school using these books as a resource. This book in particular was really great, too. Me and my partner love mushrooms and foraging and I found a lot of the information in this book to be very useful and insightful. I highly recommend it.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

TL;DR: If I had an unlimited book budget, these kind of books would be a constant purchase
Source: Thank you so much to publisher!

Science: I love learning fun new facts and this one impressed me with some things I didn’t know, presented in easy to read snippets.
Photography: The art and photography in this was the type of jaw dropping that makes you just stop and linger on a page.

Thoughts:

I used to read DK guides as a kid, no joke. I’d check out the ones about animals from my middle school library and read them cover to cover. And it wasn’t just once, nope, I’d read those suckers multiple times a year. So picking up Plants & Fungi was almost nostalgic for me and definitely gave me that same feeling of joy.

The photography in this absolutely stunning. If you’re a sucker for nature photography, or love plants and mushrooms you’re going to be fully enchanted by this. Honestly the photography is lovely enough for me to say this is worth the pickup. There were a few times when I’d turn the page and just sit for a minute and enjoy what I was seeing.

The information itself was also well structured, laid out and informative. For a surface level exploration of the topic, with attention paid to the types and history of Plants & Fungi I learned far more than I expected and enjoyed a lot of it. It’s a great casual reading nonfiction if you are looking for a visual introduction to the subject matter.

I loved this, if it’s not obvious. The nostalgia in reading one of these was deep, but I was also just so impressed. I am going to go out of my way to look for more of these books now, I cannot wait to see what other new volumes look like.

5 out of 5 stunning photographs

[Cozy Champagne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plants and Fungi: The Definitive Visual Encyclopedia is a comprehensive and amazing nature guide from D.K. Publishing.

Unlike your typical identification guide, Plants and Fungi: The Definitive Visual Encyclopedia stands out with its stunning, full-color pages. It offers visual entries for plants and fungi from diverse habitats worldwide.

It also includes some interesting info on the science of plants and fungi to help you learn about plant needs, reproductive capabilities, life cycle, and anatomy. This information is the perfect introduction to the chapters that follow.

This is a large book, but it's designed for easy digestion, with chapters and subsections within chapters. The chapters are split up by plant type, making it a breeze to navigate. The guide is divided into sections for trees and shrubs, perennials, annuals, beneficial plants, and specialized plants.

There is a lot of good information in the book, but the photos make this guide stand out among other books on plants and fungi. This book has lots of full-page images and smaller photos with informative captions. The images are beautiful and can be enjoyed without reading a single word.

I think the book would appeal to all nature enthusiasts. I am getting ready to start a naturalist course, and this book gives me an excellent base for the botany portion of the curriculum.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to add an excellent visual encyclopedia to their nature shelf or classroom. It is a book that older children and adults can really learn and benefit from.

Thanks to Net Galley and DK Publishing for the ARC in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plants and Fungi by DK is more than an encyclopedic book, it is an engrossing adventure which whisked me away to my happy place. As a curious master gardener and avid forager, there is nothing more gratifying than forest immersion. It feels very personal, like this book was written with me in mind.

The magnificent photography brought the plant and fungi information to life, such as diversity, pollination, fungal spores and mycelium, habitats (hottest to coldest, drought to rain forest), reproduction, symbiosis such as fungal heart-rot which benefits all parties and quirky complex characteristics. If you yearn to learn about the stinky corpse flower and basket stinkhorn, exquisite orchids, humbling African tree of life, lush ancient ferns or even the poisonous death cap, they are here. There are sections about the Mediterranean (where I live much of the time) which were particularly fascinating. Just yesterday I attended a fig festival and found a fig wasp in one of our figs.

Plants and fungi rely on each other. DK does a wonderful job describing each individually as well as how they work together with root systems, fruiting bodies, nut formation (exotic nutmeg has long intrigued me), invasive species and lichens. Brilliantly organized and written, DK books consistly take my breath away. More books on the topic, please!

My sincere thank you to DK and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this phenomenal book. I look forward to adding a hard copy to my home plants and fungi library.

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful, extensive and interesting book brimming with great photos and information. It will make a fantastic coffee table book or homeschool reference. Do keep in mind that it is not complete (how could it be?) and there are occasional errors. The only mention of elderberries, for instance, is black elder (sambucus nigra) and it incorrectly has a photo of black lace elderberry (a specific cultivar) and says black elder is native to Europe and has striking dark foliage and pink blossoms. While true black elder is native to Europe, only the cultivated black lace elderberry (ˋEvá) has this coloration. There is also no mention of America's elderberry (sambucus canadensis) which grows throughout North America or any other varieties (blue elderberry, red…). The book seemed especially heavy on Asian and European plants, especially hybridized garden plants more than native cultivars. There were many flowers, mushrooms and other plants that were not included that I wish had been covered, but obviously one book could not come close to covering all the species. Beautiful, interesting and fun? Absolutely. Definitive? Not so much, but using that word in the title was unrealistic to begin with.

I read a digital loan of this book for review.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author of "Plants and Fungi" by DK takes an engaging and visually rich approach to presenting information. They use detailed illustrations and photographs to help readers understand complex concepts. Additionally, the text is structured in a way that makes it accessible to a wide audience, including both beginners and more advanced readers interested in botany and mycology. Illustrations play a crucial role in scientific texts by visually conveying information that might be difficult to grasp through words alone. They help to simplify complex ideas, making them more understandable and memorable for readers. In "Plants and Fungi," the use of detailed visuals enhances the learning experience, allowing readers to better appreciate the intricate structures and functions of various species.

[Tasha Mutter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. I havent made my way through this as it is massive but from what I have read so far is amazing. The best thing I can compare this to is a college text book dedicated to only plants and fungus. It breaks everything down and the amount of information is astounding. My littles and I love learning about nature and anything to do with biology. This is not something we would sit down and read all the way through, but reference it from time to time as we mushroom hunt and read it every so often just to gain knowledge.

This is perfect for anyone who is interested in the way that plants and fungus works and identifying them as my family is.

Thank you NetGalley, and DK for allowing me to review.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely stunning pictures.If a book could be described as high def then this is it.A visual treat. This book explores the world of plants and fungi.Im not a huge plant person but I couldn’t put this book down.Easy to understand.
Thankyou Netgalley for this ARC

[Jessica Hembree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievable photographs! Great information. Once again, DK delivers. I love DK books! I’m so glad that I was able to read through an advanced reader copy of this book.