Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms of New England and Eastern Canada: A Photographic Guidebook to Finding and Using Key Species

by David L. Spahr

This beautifully illustrated guidebook provides specific, easy-to-understand information on finding, collecting, identifying, and preparing the safer and more common edible and medicinal mushroom species of New England and Eastern Canada. Author David Spahr, a trained commercial photographer, here combines his mycological expertise and photographic skill to produce an attractive and detailed overview of his subject. Based on decades of practical experience and research, the book is written in a clear and forthright style that avoids the dry, generic descriptions of most field guides. Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms of New England and Eastern Canada also provides useful ideas for cooking mushrooms. Rather than simply providing recipes, the book discusses the cooking characteristics of each variety, with advice about matching species with appropriate foods. Many mushrooms contain unique medicinal components for boosting the immune system to fight cancer, HIV, and other diseases, and Spahr offers practical and prudent guidelines for exploration of this rapidly emerging area of alternative therapeutic practice.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Field Guides, Food, Reference

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Colleen Bellows · Rating 5 out of 5]

The photos are amazing and the background of each mushroom is well received. My favorite field guide. I wish there were more listed.

[Davey Getchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great pictures and descriptions

[Sherry B. Huffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect field reference book. Well done.

[Danielle Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reference for beginner foragers

[Scott Benowitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biologists, micologists and people who study taxonomy throughout the world have identified many tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of species of fungi and mushrooms- some of which are edible, and many of which are potentially poisonous.
Many of the species of mushrooms which grow wild in the northeastern states in the U.S. and in eastern Canada which are edible look very similar to species which are not edible. As the title implies, "Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms of New Englanddible and Eastern Canada: A Photographic Guidebook to Finding and Using Key Species" makes it easy to distinguish between the species of mushrooms which are native to the northeastern U.S. and eastern Canada which are edible from the species which are not edible. This book also offers some very useful advice regarding locations where hobbyist micologists may want to go when we embark on our searches for various species of wild mushrooms.
David L. Sparh also describes the chemical properties of the species of mushrooms which are endemic to the northeastern U.S. and the eastern provinces of Canada which are edible, so people can decide how we want to incorporate the various species of mushrooms that we collect into various recipes.
Anyone who is interested in micology who either lives in the northeastern U.S. or in eastern Canada, or who is planning on traveling in the northeastern U.S. or to eastern Canada will thoroughly enjoy reading this book.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous pictures, nice guide to a few specific varieties of mushrooms. Not a general guide.