Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest:
A Book Review
Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest
Steve Trudell and Joseph Ammirati
Timber Press, 2016
418 pages
ISBN: 978-1643260860
A California Mushroom Geek reviews “Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest,” by Trudell and Ammirati
I have a confession to make: I hate dichotomous keys. Sure they can be useful, but “key” described features can be ambiguous, and it is far too easy to go astray in one of many couplets as you twist and turn your way through a dichotomous key mushroom ID. Even if you bravely carry through to the bitter end, and think that you might just have your mushroom named, there is seldom a color photo with which to compare and confirm your ID, unless your mushroom is a commonly encountered variety.
So thank you, Steve and Joe, for limiting your keys to genera only, and providing color photographs of all of the mushrooms that you describe, and for limiting the species that you do cover to ones which actually occur in your area. It is also nice to see a book on western mushrooms that utilizes so many of the new species and genus names, although we all know that even these names are subject to change, and some of the species so recently published here have already changed names (and not to protect the presumed innocent, either!). I also appreciated your discussion of some of the taxonomic quandaries that we all seem to get mired in, and the realistic attitude that sometimes, you just can’t tell similar species apart!
For a widely covered group of fungi, the chanterelle section was particularly nice, if not deliciously different. It is so refreshing to see the catch-all European name Cantharellus cibarius finally given the old heave-ho in print. “Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest” showcases the colorful and diverse spectrum of PNW chanterelles, like Cantharellus formosus, C. cascadensis, C. subalbidus and C. cibarius var. roseocanus side by side across the pages for comparison sake, as well as picturing some of their far less palatable lookalikes.
But this book is hardly just about edible mushrooms. How delightful to read a mushroom book that often doesn’t even mention edibility! Sure, the most frequently asked question of beginning mushroomers is: “Can I eat it?” closely followed by: “Is it poisonous?” but many times, field guides take this edibility information to extremes. Any information about edibility/palatability is dependent upon the personal bias of the author and/or the accuracy of their sources. Trudell and Ammirati do use the term edible for well-known edible species; notorious poisoners are also clearly delimited. But as to the rest, gosh, can we actually learn to enjoy mushrooms without having to put them in our mouths (other than for that all-important diagnostic tasting, of course)? I would like to think so.
One of the goals of this book, well-met, in my opinion, was to picture and describe mushrooms that are not commonly shown in other field guides, as well as to limit the species covered to those for which the authors had good color photographs. This was an excellent choice, especially for folks like me who depend so strongly on visual cues. But even this fine book, with over 450 species pictured, won’t get you the name of every species encountered in the PNW; the authors estimate that there is something like 5,000 species of fungi that occur in their region!
But we’ll take what we can get. There is a lot to love and learn about if you are a fan of Clitocybes (and who isn’t?), Tricholomas, or even Amanitas. This book won’t get you the name of every mushroom you find, but it will give you a leg up on the most common and recognizable ones. If you have ever had the pleasure of hunting in the PNW, you have undoubtedly come across some of the beautiful and dainty Mycena species that are copiously covered in this book. With Trudell’s gorgeous color photos and thorough descriptions, you can now put some names to the darned things, too; just don’t forget to bring your hand lens!
It is no surprise, with Joe Ammirati as a co-author, that the genus Cortinarius is well represented. Joe highlights and describes some of the most distinctive PNW corts, and thankfully includes their spore measurements. Another difficult to ID genus, the Inocybes, also includes full spore details. Ironically enough, considering how much I usually complain about having to measure spores, the lack of spore measurements in many of the other descriptions is one area where I take exception to the authors’ choices. If you do have a microscope at home, it is nice to be able to check your ID work microscopically, since photos can’t always tell the whole story.
A positive innovation in this book is that indiscriminate, made-up common names mostly fall by the wayside (and good riddance to ‘em!). The few common names that remain are the ones actually used by hunters, like the “Coccoli” for Amanita lanei (BTW, sorry guys, this one is again called calyptroderma) or those with sentimental value, like “Jan’s Yellow Friend” as the common name for Amanita aprica, a species studied and described and published by Jan Lindgren and Rod Tulloss in 2005.
The introduction and basics of mushroom hunting, mushroom hunting ethics, habitat, etc., all geared to the unique Pacific Northwest region, is already cleverly and thoroughly covered by Maggie Rogers in this issue, so there is no need for me to duplicate her efforts. What stood out for me in that section, and what I would like to mention, is the clear and thorough description of the various mycorrhizal strategies that are used by fungi, a topic on which Steve Trudell has spent much time and thought.
So, once again, thanks Steve and Joe, for a fine addition to our mycological libraries, and an essential, portable guide to mushroom hunting in the Pacific Northwest. I can’t wait to revisit your region, book in hand!
Debbie Viess © 2016
