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obtuse

new book: A field Guide to Tasmanian Fungi

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A new book on fungi within australia has just been realeased, "A field Guide to Tasmanian Fungi" by Dr. G Gates and Dr. D Ratkowsky - launched last thursday (Feb 27th). while it has a Tasmanian focus, it will most likely be useful in mainland states as well, in particular Victoria, and maybe NSW.

I have been awaiting the release of this book for quite a while now, and it has come to fruition sooner than i expected, and is an excellent read. it is most certainly an instant companion to the fuhrer book that many of us refer to on a regular basis, and i look forward to seeing whether it in fact displaces it as the fungi season starts and i get into ID'ing.

The book is broken down into gilled, non-gilled and ascomycetes, and "Includes boletes, polypores, leather fungi, cup and disc fungi, puffballs and all other artificial groups that constitute the macrofungi". and then into the respective Genus. A lovely feature of the book is the discriptions of Genus at the start of their respective sections. then there are photos and descriptions of individual well known and common (or sometimes not so common) species, including a calender of when they are expected to be found - brilliant.

This is a field guide meant for your back pack. it has a solid binding and feels nice in the hands, and im looking forward to seeing how well it ages in tromps through the wilderness in my daypack, particulary in the rain as i try to id specimens. info about spore prints seem limited to the genus introduction which feel a bit odd initially. there is a key and table of key features at the beginning of the book for those so inclined, and a nice intoduction. There is no information on edibility or traditional uses.

Apart from a few photos and consultations on species the book is a solidly tasmanian effort, even being printed in Tas.

Congratulations Dr. Gates and Dr. Ratkowsky on a solid effort, i personally am glad for for this addition to my library as i feel it was needed here in Tasmania.

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Edited by obtuse
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Cool. Another one to add to the collection. Thanks for the heads up obtuse. :)

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Very exciting.

Can we get a sneak peek at some of the inside pages? The layout? The way the information is presented please?

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A new book on fungi within australia has just been realeased, "A field Guide to Tasmanian Fungi" by Dr. G Gates and Dr. D Ratkowsky - launched last thursday (Feb 27th).... it is most certainly an instant companion to the fuhrer book that many of us refer to on a regular basis...

You are (of course) referencing Bruce not Adolf!

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If anyone has this guide can u please let me know what it says about agaricus species.

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I would if i could, but im not at home at the moment. sorry mate.

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That's ok. When ever you can if its convenient I would be interested. Or i could just get off my arse and but it :)

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Worth every cent :wink: and a welcome addition to the shelf....

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I have it in authority that the authors included my almondy agaricus.

If anyone has this guide can u please let me know what it says about agaricus species.

I imagine you may already have a copy of this marvelous book, but anyway:

Agaricus 'marzipan' - A species with a pinkish brown scaly cap (to 5 cm diam.) that bruises orange-yellow, pale brown gills and a white stipe (to 5 cm long, to 1 cm wide) that bruises yellow. It has a strong odour of almond essence.

Has been found nearly all year round, except September, and has most commonly been found in March, April, May and June.

--

Anything else you'd like to know?

Edited by Lichen+

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Thanks mate. Yes that sounds like my mushroom. Have it on agar and one of two id's saying it was Agaricus perobscurus

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That is extremely unlikely, Agaricus perobscurus is a species with unbeliveably narrow fruiting range (in North America), and very late fruiting season. You shouldn't be so concern to slap an existing label on your find, it could very well be an undescribed species or variant. What's in a name anyway? :)

Edited by Tangich
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Haha - again it has been described and lechotyped to the herbarium in Australia. But so was langei and further investigation suggested that had to be wrongly identified.

I'll wait and see what the second id comes back as.

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My almondy Agaricus was growing below Monterey pine - and I believe some but not all of the Pinus radiata that was introduced to Aystralia came via north western united states. Agaricus californicus was also recorded on Australia according to our local agaricus key.

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Got my copy today, nice book. Went to a book club talk by the authors. I was surprised to learn that they were anti-eating fungi.

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yeah we have had that discussion a couple of times now.

she is not anti-fungi-eating, but anti foraging. that if you want to eat them, grow them from a known culture or source.

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It seemed a bit more than that. She was definitely not into people wild foraging for them, but there also seemed to be underlying fear of using mushrooms as food. Good talk non the less, glad I went.

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oh, so she didnt mention her interest in fungi to cure disease, i.e cancer and other immune deficiency diseases, in her talk.

It is of great interest to her.

and no she has no underlying fear of using mushrooms as food. Just a very forthright honest concern for those picking the wrong ones.

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Well now I'm wondering if you are her. She did mention the medicinal interest but seemed more in favor using lab extracts than the whole mushroom. She told a story of how after eating a mushroom she knew was a quality eating mushroom she had picked, she felt sick afterward and thought maybe it was in her head because she had the no eating mushroom rule. Something to that effect. If you are her, thank you for your book and the talk. Just relaying how I experienced it.

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It's not uncommon for experienced mushroom people to recommend only eating store bought fungi. Alison Pouliot is another one with the same attitude.

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Well now I'm wondering if you are her. She did mention the medicinal interest but seemed more in favor using lab extracts than the whole mushroom. She told a story of how after eating a mushroom she knew was a quality eating mushroom she had picked, she felt sick afterward and thought maybe it was in her head because she had the no eating mushroom rule. Something to that effect. If you are her, thank you for your book and the talk. Just relaying how I experienced it.

no, i can report i am not her. we are friends, and happily disagree on the foraging point.

Tasmania is a small place and with a shared interest in mycology its hard not to run into like minds.

when next i chat with her i will pass that on for you, or you can email her and let her know directly, im sure she would be happy to hear.

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