Websites
Books
Journals
 
 

Websites

• MykoWeb: http://www.mykoweb.com.  MykoWeb is the best site for photos and descriptions of California mushrooms.  The Fungi of California is utterly indispensable for California mushroom collectors.  I use it almost every week.  The Links page is one of the most complete, useful and up-to-date anywhere.

 
• MushroomExpert.Com: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/  This well-designed and updated site is all about finding and identifying wild mushrooms.  Despite a focus on mushrooms of the Eastern and Midwestern US there is still plenty of useful information for West Coast mushroomers here.

 
• Tom Volk's Fungi: http://www.tomvolkfungi.net Tom's website provides fun articles that can be enjoyed by anyone interested in mushrooms.  A treasure trove of information about all things fungal.
 

Organizations
 

• North American Mycological Association: http://www.namyco.org.  NAMA is a large amateur mycology group that connects the various local amateur groups like LAMS.  LAMS members can get a discount on their NAMA membership by contacting our membership secretary.



Other groups within California:


• San Diego Mycological Society 
• Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz 
• Mycological Society of San Francisco 
• Bay Area Mycological Society
• SOnoma County Mycological Association (SOMA) 
• Davis Mycological Society
• Humboldt Bay Mycological Society 

Books

• David Arora's Mushrooms Demystified, 2nd edition (1986) .  This is the best general field guide to mushrooms in the Southern California area.  It includes excellent photographs, detailed descriptions that are a pleasure to read and easy to use identification keys.  At 959 pages, the book may be a bit daunting to the true beginner, but it is THE book that everyone uses.  Make sure you get the 2nd edition as the 1st edition (1979, found sometimes in used bookstores) has far less information and many more inaccuracies.  The publisher, Ten Speed Press, no longer sells a hardcover edition.  However, I have seen many paperback copies literally coming apart from heavy use, so you may want to consider purchasing a hardcover copy from one of the many used book sites on the Internet.  Hardcover copies of the 2nd edition are scarce, so you may have to be patient.

Although MD II is still the single best field guide for Southern California mushrooms, it was published in 1986.  Mycological taxonomy has not been stagnant during that time so some of the names used in this guide are no longer appropriate for mushrooms we find.  Corrections to the names in this book are available at the website: http://collectivesource.com/taxonomy/arora-changes.html

 
• David Arora's All the Rain Promises and More...   This book is designed to be a gentler introduction to mushrooms than the book listed above.  It provides a good introduction to the most common species, but it is easy to reach the limits of the information it provides.

 
• Thiers et al., Agaricales of California .  These are the most accurate scientific descriptions of mushrooms found in California currently available.  Unfortunately, they do not yet cover all the groups of commonly found mushrooms and they are somewhat expensive.  However, for those who wish to go beyond the information presented by Arora, this is the place to go.

 
• Taylor Lockwood's Treasures from the Kingdom of Fungi.  A beautiful coffee-table-style book that includes photographs from around the world (including many from California).

Journals

• Mushroom, The Journal of Wild Mushrooming - A quarterly journal for mushroom lovers of all types.  Subscriptions are currently $19/year and should be sent to Leon Shernoff (leon@mushroomthejournal.com):


Leon Shernoff
1511 E. 54th St., Garden Apt.
Chicago, IL  60615
(773) 288-2873
 

• McIlvainea - This is the professional-style journal of the North American Mycological Association.  It is published once a year and is included as part of any NAMA membership.

 
• Mycologia - This is the professional journal of the Mycological Society of America (MSA).  It covers a wide range of subjects including ecology, pathogens, genetics, molecular biology, evolution, systematics and research techniques.  See their website, http://www.msafungi.org, for subscription and membership information.  Copies of back issues are available in the libraries of most large universities.

 
• Mycotaxon - This is an independently published, scientific journal devoted exclusively to the taxonomy and nomenclature of fungi (including lichens).  See their website, http://www.mycotaxon.com, for more information.