Neither plant nor animal; destructive yet essential; edible in some varieties but deadly in others – fungi seem to defy classification and it is only relatively recently that they have been subjected to the same scientific scrutiny long afforded to other branches of natural history. The changing attitude revealed a species that is remarkable for its variety, and reflecting that breadth is this selection of books which explores fungi as living organisms, artistic subjects and as the source of inspiration for works of fiction.
Fungi
Thought to encompass about five million species, fungi were once considered to be plants before more in-depth study saw them reclassified as a separate kingdom of organisms that is present in almost all the planet’s habitats. This beautifully illustrated handbook details their structure and role in the ecosystem but also the ways in which they could hold the key to creating a more sustainable way for humans to live, by providing building material, packaging and fabric but also a means to clean up chemical waste and breakdown plastics.
Fungi Collected in Shropshire and Other Neighbourhoods
In the 18th and 19th centuries the male institutions of higher learning disregarded fungi as a lower taxa, with professor John Lindley (1799–1865) declaring that studying it was a form of ‘polite botany’ for the ‘amusement’ of women. One such woman was the mycologist MF Lewis, who spent the latter decades of the Victorian era walking the countryside and painting the species she came across. Her original illustrated notebooks are now held at the Cornell University Library but are reproduced in this omnibus, together building a picture of a life dedicated to her interest.
RHS Fungi for Gardeners
With its ability to kill a wide range of plants and spread via their root systems, the arrival of honey fungus is feared among many a gardener, yet taken as a whole fungi have numerous benefits and underpin a healthy garden ecosystem. In this compact volume Jassy Drakulic follows a guide to the species most likely to flourish in gardens with explanations of how to create the habitats that will actively encourage them or cultivate them in grow bags, on logs or on woodchip.
Wonderland
The startling array of mushroom forms makes them a fascinating subject for close-up and microphotography. Among the species captured by Jan Vermeer in this large-format collection of images are the earpick fungus with its neatly arranged ‘teeth’ filling its underside, the extraordinarily glossy parrot waxcap, wrinkled peaches exuding amber droplets from their caps and stems, and examples of slime moulds whose properties have left scientists struggling to define them.
Fungi
With their transgression of binary categories of classification as well their association with decay, fungi can be interpreted as a source of both physical and cognitive threat. Focusing on the ‘literary mycelium’ from which tales of the fungal weird proliferated, the British Library has brought to the fore early examples of the genre, including Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wall-Paper’, in an anthology that also contains the first printing of Aaron Worth’s ‘The Mykophagoi’, the story of two escaped prisoners, overcome by hunger, who discover a delicious fungus.
