gerbil Posted August 4, 2010 You can search for specific species descriptions on the net, and also learn a lot of the characterisics as well as variations especially with all the photos that are around on all the forums. Bluemeanie used to have a site on a handful of species but I don't know if it's still up, a melbourne fella and member here. Bookwise most fungi books as you aren't just looking at a single species as you need to know the look alikes and other families etc. Paul Stamets Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World, does the psilocybes, some panaeolus and some of the other smaller bits like conocybe, inocybe i think. David Aurora Mushrooms demystified, thick arse text, very broad, mainly nth american but world utilised, families and species in dichotomous keys. Heavy text based with black and white as well as some colour photos. Bruce Fuhrers Field guide to australian Fungi, just a little decent field guide, mainly single colour photos with basic taxonomic descriptions. He is an older melbourne fella who also has supported this community with his knowledge and great kindness and acceptance. You'll find there really isn't a single text with everything in it, you gotta get bits and pieces from everywhere, it's a huge field and we haven't even documented much of it yet, so books usually have small representative of whats really out there. that's off the top of my head, lots of books etc. have been mentioned on the forums Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazonian Posted August 4, 2010 Paul Stamets Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World, does the psilocybes, some panaeolus and some of the other smaller bits like conocybe, inocybe i think. I wasn't overly wrapped in this book. Although it is a good one to have, i was a Little disappointed in the amount of pictures there was for each variety. There is only 1 pic of subs and that is not overly great. So i reckon Googling images over and over again to see the variations and become familiar. And just get out there and have a look around. good luck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mud Posted August 4, 2010 thanks guys any tips for a new hunter? Apprentice under an experienced one ;) Or get some spores to study under the microscope. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
holymountain Posted August 5, 2010 (edited) tips: look out for woodchip mulch beds if you are in a town/city. you don't want the red chips they don't seem to grow on those but the light brown/golden/eucalypt ones. some patches are tricky. you can walk past it everyday for a month and then BAM! after the weekend it has exploded. keep a look out in parks and car parks and outside buildings etc. a friend recently found a great patch in the city in a park near a hospital. if you are treking out to the bush you want to look around the edges of pine forests. the soil has got to be soft. i know as soon as i step out of the car by the way the ground feels under my feet. from my experience they don't really grow in your typical aussie bush. the ground is too hard and there is not enough layers of mulch etc to get them going. i could be wrong though but it seems pine forests and surrounding areas are the way to go. just keep looking at all the awesome photos that people post around here. you'll get a good feel for what to look for and when you find them you'll know it's them (but you should take a photo and post it here for identification just to be sure). always keep your eyes peeled. you never know when they will pop up. a friend thought the season was well over until he found a huge bunch on his lunch break just yesterday..... Edited August 5, 2010 by holymountain Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazonian Posted August 5, 2010 You can tell that they were picked in a hurry, with all the extra bits amongst them . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
holymountain Posted August 5, 2010 yeah lunch breaks just aren't long enough these days. all conservations should relax as well, he assured me that he has since covered over the picked areas with new woodchips so as to minimise damage and has since used the mycellium attatched to the stem buts and twigs to create new patches. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gerbil Posted August 5, 2010 (edited) I wasn't overly wrapped in this book. Although it is a good one to have, i was a Little disappointed in the amount of pictures there was for each variety. There is only 1 pic of subs and that is not overly great. So i reckon Googling images over and over again to see the variations and become familiar. And just get out there and have a look around. good luck. yeah absolutely the sub picture is fairly terrible and not really representative of the species, but then again to get representation it'd probably become a picture book ;) The taxonomic stuff is where it's at imo, visual representation is good, but imo it's very important to be able to sit there and break it down with all it's characteristics, general mushroom biology sorta stuff which can delineate families and species, particularly poisonous look alikes. Edited August 5, 2010 by gerbil Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Deb-One-Amine Posted August 5, 2010 thanks guys ive been looking since march and found a few species around should i get macro shots of them and then would you guys be able to give me help on id factors? ie Vial stem top spores Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Deb-One-Amine Posted August 5, 2010 thanks guys ive been looking since march and found a few species around should i get macro shots of them and then would you guys be able to give me help on id factors? ie Vial stem top spores Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
