The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these words:

Ah, too far from me in South Norfolk to offer a fungus foray in Thetford
Forest then.

Would you by any chance know if there are any organised forays in Grisedale
Forest in the Lake District?

Local library service ought to know.

I will order the book.

You will not be disappointed. It gives you some sure (chemical) methods
of identifying some fungi.

Something better than sixpenny pieces turning black, I hope {:-))

Much nicer colours and more interesting indicators: sulpho-vanillin;
Ferrous sulphate; Melzer's reagent; Ammonia; Phenol; caustic soda or
potash.

Cost more than sixpence though. (And BTW, no mushroom turns a silver
coin black. Eggs do.)

Friends of mine who were keen collectors used to go foraging with 2
companion books by the same author. "Edible Fungi" and "Inedible
Fungi".
They restricted their collecting to specimens which they were sure
*were* in
the first volume and *were not* in the second volume. It was they who
taught me to eat giant puffballs.

I've got loads of books on mycology. Got to put up some bookshelves
before I can unpack them all.

Michael Jordan wrote a good guide, as did Pilat and Usak. (Can't
remember where tha accents go!)

All noted for browsing next time I am in a good bookshop.

Careful though. Pìlat and Usak are out of print, so if you do find one
it will be in a secondhand bookshop. You may come upon other handbooks,
and some of these will be out of date with their information.

For instance, many older books list Paxillus involutus and Gyromytra
esculenta as edible. The former has a cumulative poison, and is deadly,
the latter has been known to kill too, even when cooked 'properly'.

The Wild Mushroom Cookbook by Joy O. I. Spoczynska is to be taken with a
pinch of salt too. I don't know how good the recipes are, but her
knowledge of the mushrooms is pretty poor all round.

An elderly but still useful book is Dr. John Ramsbottom's 'Mushrooms and
Toadstools' in the New Naturalist series. That's what got me started.
You'll only get that secondhand, I'd guess.

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
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