Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fungi of Coastal Northern California

A must have reference!I have had this on pre-order for months and just got my copy. This the most up to date listing of west coast mushrooms, and includes current species names. The photography is excellent-- clear, crisp and color accurate photos with succinct information and descriptions. I can't wait until it rains to get out and use it!I give this book 4 stars not for it's content, but for the poor design decisions made by the publisher if this were to be used in the field: cover has a soft-touch rubbery coating that is already scuffed and is not very durable. Gloss would have been much better. And, unfortunately, the body text is way too light to be legible for us folks with older eyes, especially on a fall day in the woods-- they should have used a "medium" weight of the font vs a "book" weight.But still, I would not hesitate to buy this book!!!

This is an easy-to-use guide to mushrooms found on the northern California coast and inland areas. It covers mushrooms that are common, as well as some rare ones. Excellent, clear, full-color photos show the mushrooms in their native habitat. The photos show views of the mushrooms from multiple angles, cut in half, and some stained. The images show you the natural growth form and also a specimen flipped over so you can see the gills and stipe. This helps enormously with identification.The descriptions of each species are very thorough and, along with the photo, will help you identify anything you find in the woods. Each species description includes: cap, gills, stipe, flesh, odor, fruit body, tubes, pores, taste (when appropriate), spore deposit, partial veil, microscopy, ecology, KOH, edibility, misapplied name (if any). Some species have additional sections in the description, since they may have different features not seen in other mushroom types. The comments section in each species account gives further details that are important or of interest. It’s a very useful text and the photos will make identification of your finds easier.The first section of the book is a quick guide to help you pick out mushrooms by groups. From there, you refer to the appropriate section in the text to further narrow down your identification. The illustrations in the quick guide are also photos, and I found this helpful since drawings are often difficult to interpret.Since I live on the Far North Coast and love learning about mushrooms, this book will be a useful addition to my field guide collection. I hope that the publishers will offer a digital edition for the Kindle as well as the print version. I recommend it for anyone interested in nature, the outdoors, or mycology. Mushroom enthusiasts will love this book and it will get a lot of use on field trips!

Absolutely stunning book. Highly recommend for any forager in the Pacific Northwest . All the information you’ll need to help ID your forest finds. Excellent photos and so much useful information . It’s a heavy book though so probably not one I’d suggest taking out on your adventures. 5 stars all around. Just ordered a second copy for a Christmas gift.

My husband and I have several books of mushrooms for different places we spend time hiking and this is far and away the best guide we have found. The photos and illustrations are both beautiful and easy to understand, and it makes a big difference when identifying species to have a book so specific to that area, rather than find what you think is a match, only to find out it isn't found in your area. It also allows it to include more, rarer species since it's focused on a specific area / climate, rather than having to do a broad overview of, say, North America, and only being able to cover the most common varieties. Well-written and beautiful!

This is a gorgeous book. The photographs are amazing. Fungi names change often, as do families. This is the most up-to-date resource that I have. Although it's targeted to northern California, most of the mushrooms are located in Washington as well. Almost everyone I know who is a mushroom hunter has this book. Worth the money.

Easy to read and understand even for those who struggle in that area like myself. Formatting and outline could be better. Text is also really small. The book’s already thick, so it doesn’t make any sense to cut corners for size.Still, even with it’s faults I recommend this to you.

This book is outstanding -- starting with an excellent introduction on fungi and mushrooms in general, and taking the reader through all the key genera of fungi on the Redwood Coast of CA, including a chapter on Truffles! As a beginner reading this book, I was able to not only recognize key host trees for the mycorrhizal varieties but also identify the mushrooms. This is a must for every serious mycologist, amateur or pro. Given the price of the book, it is a steal! The only feedback I can offer to the authors and publishers is that they increase the font size slightly in future editions.

First impression is that this is the best of the mushroom books I've seen. Well and clearly written, easy to read and understand. Look and feel inspires confidence that someone that knew what they were doing did the writing and the editing.Only complaint so far is that the font is a bit small and difficult to read in low light.

If you live in coastal British Columbia this book is excellent. It has a lot of new interesting scientific info. Recognizes that western North America mushrooms are not properly named. Six hundred plus pages each with excellent colour photos!

The day we got the book we went out for short hunt around our Vancouver neighbourhood. The very first mushroom we found was, almost astonishingly not in the book! However with the information from the book I was able to identify it as a bolete and possibly edible. Something I would have absolutely not had the confidence to do the day before! FYI the Mushroom is a Birch Bolete!!

Love mushrooming but needed a book with better photos as i found the autobon societys allot of mushrooms looked alike . This book is a winner and i cant wait to start hunting with it

This is my go to mushroom book. Great photos and info. Highly recommended to anyone in the PNW.

Love the layout of the book, love the colour pictures. This has become my go-to guide for mushroom IDing.