The 9 Best Mushroom picture Guides (2023 reviews)

The national audubon society mushroom picture guide is specially designed for your daily usage and has plenty of most useful features. This book by gary lincoff is a must have for every mushroom hunter who wants to identify species for any reason. It is perfect for new mushroom hunters. It has excellent cross referencing information as well as over seven hundred photographs of wild mushrooms. The pictures are so clear it is as if you are looking at each plant in the field. It is designed for total beginners.

The glossy, high-quality plates are arranged systematically and very clearly refer the user to the pertinent comprehensive text descriptions. The book is well organized so that it is easy to find mushrooms depending on traits.

Why We Like This:

Great pictures and makes it easy to identify
Excellent for a mycologist and fungi enthusiast
Superb pictures for identifying mushrooms and fungi

Best For identifying Mushrooms: Teresa Marrone Field Guide

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Not everyone likes to purchase guide for their daily purpose, but the teresa marrone field guide would be an anomoly. This book is the perfect size to take in a backpack or hip pouch on a walk or hike through the woods. It’s got simple info to get you started with mushroom foraging in the beginning. It is burgundy to reddish-brown, with a dry, smooth surface. The color of the edges of the pages tell you if a particular mushroom is edible or a different category.

This book is easy to fit into a small bag and carry with you. These are moderately stout and typically wider at the base, which often is surrounded by whitish mycelium (threadlike fungal filaments) that may be visible in the growing substrate. Wine caps are available in grow-it-yourself kits, for outdoor gardens.

Why We Like This:

Good color pics etc,great reference, small, easy to carry with when out foraging
A must have for any beginner mushroom hunter
Lot of satisfied buyers

Best For large fanny pack: James Kavanagh Mushroom picture Guide

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Next on the list, we've got yet another guide that manages to win our hearts. It's the james kavanagh mushroom picture guide and it's widely considered as one of the best convenient guide you can buy. Whether you're on a nature hike or exploring in your neighborhood, you'll want to take along a copy of this indispensable guide. It has everything you need to identify mushrooms as edible or not. Each pocket-sized, folding guide highlights up to 150 species and most feature a map identifying prominent sanctuaries and outstanding natural attractions. It contains 77 lifelike illustrations of both edible and poisonous mushrooms and a general information and tip page. It even has a few poisonous mushrooms listed so you don't eat them.

These are water proof and pretty heavy duty so they won’t get beat up to easy. It takes up way too much room. It is good for putting in a backpack or large fanny pack.

Why We Like This:

Beautifully drawn illustrations that are accurate and helpful in identifying wildlife
Good addition to a bug out bag or just for camping
Great laminated trifold for beginners in mushroom foraging
Very nice, well made little guide to mushrooms

Best picture: Katie Letcher Lyle Mushroom picture Guide

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We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate guide. The katie letcher lyle mushroom picture guide is exactly that - it's a simple guide that hits all the right notes. Wherever foraging takes you, this is a handy [guide] to include in a daypack. It’s good if you’re wanting to make like, real food. It even has recipes for each plant. It comes with it in hand, so you will never take another hike without casting your eyes about with dinner in mind.

Why We Like This:

Lots of useful recipes and different types of edible plants
Pictures and recipes good for any occasion
Great pictures, easy to read, nice layout

Best For beginner: Alan E Bessette Mushroom picture Guide

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The alan e bessette mushroom picture guide should be able to handle its purpose and duties with ease. This guide to carolina mushrooms features stunning photographs and informative descriptions of hundreds of diverse mushroom species. It includes the color of the spore print. It is easy to access and digest. It's a great book to carry on the hike as a preliminary identification source.

This book is very detailed and has a lot of great information in general about mushrooms. It's useful to have different lists of mushroom names to use based on other characteristics, like a list of fall mushrooms, lawn mushrooms, wet weather mushrooms, etc. It's a pretty good guide with clear info and good pictures.

Why We Like This:

Fantastically well made and easy to follow
Detailed, well written and super helpful in identifying shrooms of all types
Great keys, beautiful pictures, fantastic descriptions and information
Thorough and well formatted, good photos

Best For The Pacific Northwest: Teresa Marrone Mushroom picture Guide

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The teresa marrone mushroom picture guide's material feels more premium than its price would suggest. It is used to refer to several closely related boletopsis species that are difficult to separate visually. It's organized by choice of edible vs toxic species, and cap and stem with gills/with spores, which is nice. It is compact at 4.25" across (closed) and 6" height. It has color-coded sections including one called TOP EDIBLES and a second called TOP TOXICS. It doesn't take a bunch of space or weigh a lot. It is perfect for in a pocket or bag to take along exploring. It is easy to look up information and good clear pictures. It is organized by choice of edible vs toxic species, and cap and stem with gills/with spores, which is nice.

Why We Like This:

Great size and sturdy for being in the field
Most impressive with tons of information and pictures in an easy-to-pack size
Lot of satisfied buyers

Best Field Book: Pelle Holmberg Mushroom picture Guide

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Not everyone likes to purchase guide for their daily usage, but the pelle holmberg mushroom picture guide would be an anomoly. This is truly an indispensable guide for safe mushrooming. It offers six rankings for edible mushrooms. The photos are top-notch as well, showing various ages of the same species. It is quick and easy to work with. The many colour photos and descriptions make it easier to identify mushrooms in the wild. It is full of detailed descriptions and tips on finding the mushrooms you want. The book is also a nice and compact size. It's just the right size to take hunting.

Why We Like This:

Compelling photos with plain language descriptions
Good photos and useful references for edible mushrooms
One of the new comers and featured product

Best coffee table Book: Eyssartier Mushroom picture Guide

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The eyssartier mushroom picture guide's superior materials makes sure that it ages well with use. This is a very informative book about mushrooms. It starts with all the basics about mushrooms, identifications, life cycle, habitats, spores, etc. It depicts numerous edible mushrooms with poisonous look-alikes, all nicely pointed out. It is used to include information on more fungi species. There is an introduction with great classification diagrams for stems and gills, and description of the 3 different types of reproduction.

This is a great guide to identify mushrooms in europe and north-america. There are also photographs which are stunning.

Why We Like This:

Heavy emphasis on north american and european mushrooms since there is a foraging angle
Lots of color photos on every page
Nice illustrations and quality paper stock
Holistic, detailed, good illustrations but heavy

Best For Montana Mushrooms: Cathy Cripps Mushroom picture Guide

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The cathy cripps mushroom picture guide's high-end materials makes sure that it ages well with use. It is a great guide for montana mushrooms. It is full of first hand knowledge of the intricate natural communities found throughout the Rocky Mountain area, and the fungi that intertwine and connect with all of life within those communities. It offers a map showing which state each mushroom is found. It will deepen your appreciation for those always dramatic, mushroom-filled landscapes, and it is lightweight enough to carry in your backpack.

This book is a very well rounded book for the whole ecology of the Rocky Mountains and the mushrooms that grow there so if your interests in mycology involve seeing the big picture of things, this book is for you. It is far from a mushroom cookbook or a mere focus on edible mushrooms, but a wonderful guide to how fungi play an important role in all of these marvelously described mountain communities. If you are looking for a beginning mushrooming book concerning what is edible or not, this is not the book for you.

Why We Like This:

Edible/not edible, delicious/not so much, will kill you dead/upset your stomach, etc
New and hot release