# Can anyone recommend a good mushroom identification book? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 19, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-good-mushroom-identification-book/473550 "2008-11-19T23:41:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-good-mushroom-identification-book/473550/1 "2008-11-19T23:41:29Z")
My folks just moved to a new house up in Maine, and they’ve got loads of fungi popping up everywhere. They’ve asked for an identification guide for Christmas. Does anyone have good/bad experiences with particular mushroom guides that cover the Northeastern U.S.? They’re not stupid, they won’t eat anything without being very, very certain of the identification or consulting a local expert, but they’d like to be able to identify what’s growing on their land even if they’re not eating it. Thanks for helping! ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-good-mushroom-identification-book/473550/2 "2008-11-20T15:41:53Z")
National Audubon Society makes the best field guides for everything. We have them all, and the kids reference them \*\*all \*\*the time. > **[National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms (National...](https://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-Society-American-Mushrooms/dp/0394519922)** > > Buy National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms (National Audubon Society Field Guides) on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-good-mushroom-identification-book/473550/3 "2008-11-20T18:40:05Z")
The best field guide I think is still this one, [Mushrooms Demystified](http://www.amazon.com/Mushrooms-Demystified-Comprehensive-Guide-Fleshy/dp/0898151694/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top). The only caveat is that it is rather Pacific-coast centric. However most of what he covers is North America-wide. It will get you to common things and close on other stuff. _However_…unlike things like birds or snakes, there is no such thing as a definitive field guide to North American mushrooms. It is to speciose of a group, with far too many obscure members ( some still being described ) for that to be practical. Shoot, some things can only be properly identified with a good microscope and some chemical reagents. Still I do recommend the above volume. ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-good-mushroom-identification-book/473550/4 "2008-11-20T19:58:09Z")
Have either of you ever had experience with [North American Mushrooms: A Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi](http://www.amazon.com/North-American-Mushrooms-Inedible-Falconguide/dp/0762731095/ref=rsl_mainw_dpl?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER)? I like the idea of including recipes - it makes it more fun to read, even if you don’t decide to eat them. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-good-mushroom-identification-book/473550/5 "2008-11-20T23:06:02Z")
> [@mischievous](#): > > Have either of you ever had experience with [North American Mushrooms: A Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi](http://www.amazon.com/North-American-Mushrooms-Inedible-Falconguide/dp/0762731095/ref=rsl_mainw_dpl?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER)? I like the idea of including recipes - it makes it more fun to read, even if you don’t decide to eat them. I haven’t I’m afraid, but the late Orson Miller was definitely an expert taxonomist and unlike Arora, an academic. It’s probably a fine book, but I’d still recommend Arora’s first as it is almost certainly more all-encompassing. Then again it wouldn’t hurt to get both, as Arora’s is pretty bulky for the field ( he has a much shorter [pocket guide to common fungi](http://www.amazon.com/All-That-Rain-Promises-More/dp/0898153883/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227222277&sr=1-2) as well ) :). ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-good-mushroom-identification-book/473550/6 "2008-11-21T01:27:29Z")
I have the Falcon Guide that you linked to. Not that I’m a fungophile or anything, I just bought it on a whim on vacation at Oregon Caves. I almost got the [Smithsonian Guide](http://www.amazon.com/Mushrooms-Smithsonian-Handbooks-Thomas-Laessoe/dp/0789489864/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227228924&sr=1-1), but it didn’t come with a free poster. Shows you how I shop. The Falcon Guide is printed on heavy stock with tons and tons of color photos. It has more information than I’ll ever need, that’s for sure. I wish it gave the common names for the various species, though.