cantharellus and other 'shrooms...

this past weekend i was visiting my folks while A was away across the country (enjoying the fall colours in Ontario). visiting with my mom, especially at this time of year, always gives me a chance to: a) raid her garden (pumpkins, squash, kale, tomatoes, etc); b) clean out more old boxes (ugh); c) visit the sheep and alpacas; and d) snoop through closets and shelves to see what treasures my mom has been holding on to that i can procure or borrow for myself. right now in fact, i'm wearing a cotton canvas tunic that my mom made in the 70s. i also found an old Cowichan-style cardigan that she knit for herself years ago, that i hope to get lots of use out of this winter. but getting back to today's topic...



as you've probably noticed, i'm a bit mushroom crazy this fall. which is saying a lot, i'm normally kind of muchroom obsessed - perhaps i'm just giving in to it completely now. and as my mother and i were talking about mushrooms, she brought out an old Danish identification book she had. awesome. i am in love with the drawings in this worn, orange book. it belongs in a set with other books that identify plants and animals, all with these amazing illustrations.



i wish they had more books like this available now. not just because they are so pretty to look at, but also because i think they actually make identification a lot easier than actual photographs. there is just something about them that is more clear, don't you think? there is often such variation in fungi, and in other plants, that i usually find one photo to be inadequate in helping determine a species. somehow the drawings work a lot better.



i am just borrowing the book while i scan many of the pages. this is only a small selection - i am hoping to scan most of the book to have on file to save, since i can't get a copy for myself. i hope you enjoy the pictures as much as i do - and if you have any sources for old nature identification books, please share! i'd love to see more of these.