Mushrooms and Other Fungi of the Midcontinental United States

Mushrooms and Other Fungi of the Midcontinental United States
Author: Donald M. Huffman
Publisher: University of Iowa Press
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2008-04
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1587297256

This completely revised second edition provides all the information necessary to identify mushrooms in the field in the midcontinental region of Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Missouri, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin: the tallgrass prairies and the western parts of the eastern deciduous forests. The first edition has been improved in significant ways. The authors have updated scientific names, added photos where there were none and replaced poor photos with better ones, improved the keys, added some species and deleted others, added a section on truffles, and annotated the bibliography. There were originally 224 species; now there are 248. Some of the new photos—125 in all—serve as a second photo for a species, where it is helpful to show details that cannot be viewed in a single photo. The authors describe each species’ cap, gills, stalk, annulus, and season when it is most likely to be seen as well as such characteristics as edibility and toxicity. In their detailed and lively introduction they discuss the economic and environmental aspects of fungi, basic mushroom biology, nomenclature, edibility and toxicity, and habitats and time of fruiting. Most important are the keys, which lead the dedicated reader to the major groups of fungi included in this guide. The section on mushrooms includes keys to their genera in addition to the species within each family discussed, and each of the subsequent sections has a key to the genera and species except where so few species are discussed that a key is not necessary. The volume also includes a glossary and two bibliographies, one with general and one with technical references. Through their detailed technical descriptions and captivating color photos the authors convey their passionate fondness for these diverse and colorful organisms, whose mysterious appearances and disappearances have long made them objects of fascination.

Fruit Key and Twig Key to Trees and Shrubs

Fruit Key and Twig Key to Trees and Shrubs
Author: William Morehouse Harlow
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 132
Release: 1959-01-01
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780486205113

These handy, accurate, and easily used keys to fruit and twig identification are the only guides of their sort with photographs--over 350 of them, of nearly every twig and fruit described--making them especially valuable to the novice. The fruit key (dealing with both deciduous trees and evergreens) begins with a concise introduction, explaining simply and lucidly the process of seeding, and identifying the various organs involved: the cones and flowers, and their component parts and variations. Next the various types of fruits are described--drupe, berry, pome, legume, follicle, capsule, achene, samara, nut--and fruiting habits, followed by a synoptic summary of fruit types. The introduction to the twig key tells in plain language the process of growth and its relation to twig morphology through leaf scars, branch scars, buds, etc. For the benefit of the unwary, poison-ivy, poison-oak and poison-sumac are immediately and fully described. Identification in both books is easy. There is a pair of alternative descriptions of each aspect of the specimens. Your choice of the fitting one leads you automatically to the next proper pair. At the end of the chain is the name of your specimen and, as a double check, a photograph. More than 120 different fruits and 160 different twigs are distinguished. This exceptional work, widely used in university courses in botany, biology, forestry, etc., is a valuable tool and instructor to the naturalist, woodsman, or farmer, and to anyone who has wondered about the name of a leafless tree in winter or been intrigued by an interestingly shaped fruit or seed.

A Gardener's Handbook of Plant Names

A Gardener's Handbook of Plant Names
Author: A. W. Smith
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 450
Release: 2013-06-10
Genre: Gardening
ISBN: 0486320057

First compact dictionary to combine definitions of botanical names in general usage with information on their derivation and guides to pronunciation. A monumental index provides a cross-reference from some 1,800 common plant names to corresponding botanical ones. Combines thoroughness, botanical rigor, and interesting facts and lore — all leavened with touches of humor.

Seashore Life of Florida and the Caribbean

Seashore Life of Florida and the Caribbean
Author: Gilbert L. Voss
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2013-03-21
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0486166031

DIVClearly written identification guide illustrates and describes common marine invertebrates and plants from Bermuda and the Bahamas to the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico. /div

The Cactaceae

The Cactaceae
Author: Nathaniel L. Britton
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 760
Release: 1963-06-01
Genre: Gardening
ISBN: 9780486211923

Volume 2 of the exhaustive, definitive. Every cactus in the world. Full botanical descriptions. Thorough statement of nomenclature, habitat, detailed finding keys. The one book needed by every cactus enthusiast. Total in set: over 1,275 illustrations.