Mushrooms of the Southeastern United States Hardcover – Illustrated, May 14, 2007

A beautiful and useful addition to my myco-books collection. And it works well in conjunction with the Northeastern guide. My worry was that it was going to have a lot of overlapping species, and while it does repeat some very common things (one cannot help mentioning the chanterelles again and some of the very common Lactarius I'm pleased it appears some care was taken to cover some different Russula and photos of the species of Calostoma were included.No book can be a thorough treatment of a region, and so we are likely to run across things not featured in books -- for example I just ran across Russula earlei and like so many amateurs thought I had found a huge waxy cap. It's not included in this particular book but is described well (with a photo) in Roody's guide.My old Mycology professor said that Mushrooms are exceedingly cosmopolitan and so you can't really think of them regionally. They are also quite variable so it helps to get as many images as you can! This guide along with the Northeastern one are excellent sources for those photos.I live in Raleigh and am I going to find Rozites caperata? Yes I am. Is it in this new book? No. But it is in the NE guide. So if you're mid-Atlantic prepare to buy both books.I do have two MINOR complaints, the first is about some of the photos of the Chanterelles and a few of the other more vibrant color shots, they're a little too saturated. And while this shouldn't hurt anyone too much, the pictures of the Cinnabar Chanterelle and the common "golden" or "fox" Chanterelle are downright almost Rauschenberg-ian. The second complaint is that while the book is arranged something like Lincoff's old Audubon guide (still one of the best) no page numbers are provided with the photos, and while they are in alphabetical order according to genus, this doesn't help you finding the section on puffballs or polypores if that's the area you're in. Easy enough to flip through the descriptions and find the sections however, and I've put markers on mine.No one is taking this effort other than these folks - so if you care about mushrooming get a copy.

I bought this book to supplement my first U.S. southern mushroom book purchase  A Field Guide to Southern Mushrooms , which is a bit dated but still a good resource. At first I wasn't too pleased with  Mushrooms of the Southeastern United States  because it doesn't contain any taxonomic keys. As I continue to build my library and be astounded by mushroom diversity, I now realize that no taxonomic key will ever be complete for most mushroom families.Pros:1) Extensive species coverage and great color plates (although there are no page references with pics to species descriptions)2) Extremely thorough and technical species descriptions, with great discussion of other similar species within the comment section of each description3) Beautiful for the bookshelfCons:1) No taxonomic keys2) Not a toteable field guide, best for home use only

This book is difficult to use. ALL of the photos are clustered together in the front of the book under "Color Plates" with scientific names labeling each small(typically 2" X 3") photograph. There is no reference by the photo as to where (page number) in the book any particular mushroom can be found. So, you must go to the back of the book to the "Index to Scientific Names" and look up the particular fungus you are interested in, to find where the narrative is to be found. Interestingly, once there, in the text, they do tell you on which page the illustration is found. This, to me, is backwards ... first I look at the photos to identify what it is I am interesting in; AND THEN I want to go to where I can read about it. I acknowledge that this is not a field guide; but, still, I think being able to go from the photo to the description is much more valuable than vice versa.

Hard for beginners. You have to cross reference different parts of the book for each type of mushroom. Seems like they could tie a lot of that info together in one group with each mushroom.

Good book with many fine photos of SE mushrooms. As expected, lots of species omitted but some were in other guides that I wish had been included. Info on edibility not always up to date or accurate in that some said not to be edible actually are, such as peppery milk mushrooms I have been enjoying for years.

You need this book! The pictures are fantastic and it has great identification information. This is not a dichotomous key, so I use this as a cross-reference along with my Peterson's guide and another reference book. I like that this book is specific for the Southeast, it's the only one I've found. Also, it has recipes for edible shrooms. I've not tried any, but they look good.

I LOVE this book! I grow edible mushrooms and this book has taught me so much about mushrooms in my present location. It's detailed, has beautiful pictures of various types of mushrooms, and I've learned about mushrooms I never even knew existed! It's one I'll treasure for a long, long time! (Note that this book is not to teach you how to grow mushrooms, but a field guide of the types of mushrooms available in the Southeastern US)

Worth the expense. Such a gorgeous book, fairly thorough for the region. Pair it with the Audubon Society Field Guide to Mushrooms, and it's all you need for Southern shrooming! You won't be toting this one out into the woods, but it is wonderful for the coffee table or nightstand, and for frequent consultation.