The scientific study of fungi, Mycology, is an ever-evolving science and alas there is no one book that as all the species, that you might come across out foraging, listed. There is a simple reason for this, they haven’t been discovered, or named as yet and it is a slow and expensive process.

While I don’t sell books on this site, I am often asked for recommendations for books on fungi identification, so here are a few good ones.

I also recommend you buy your books on Australian fungi from Fungi Map.

The links on this page will take you to their book section

A field guide to Tasmanian fungi

Buy it here

This field guide has 650 superbly illustrated species with descriptions for each. It is Tasmanian-based but relevant for the whole of southern Australia, including the wetter regions of SA & WA.
It includes native species found in forests, bushland and grasslands, as well as introduced species in parks, gardens, roadsides and other disturbed places.
The guide is comprehensive in that it covers all groupings of fungi, not only mushrooms, but also boletes, polypores, leather fungi, cup and disc fungi, puffballs and all other artificial groups that constitute the macrofungi.
It is in A5 format enabling the guide to be carried into the field.

ISBN : 9780957852945 Publisher : Tasmanian Field Naturalists Publication date : October 2016

Wild Mushrooming: A Guide for Foragers

Buy it here.

Find, identify, collect and prepare 10 edible fungus species using a ‘slow mushrooming’ approach.

Fungi are diverse, delicious and sometimes deadly. With interest in foraging for wild food on the rise, learning to accurately identify fungi reduces both poisoning risk to humans and harm to the environment. This extensively illustrated guide takes a ‘slow mushrooming’ approach – providing the information to correctly identify a few edible species thoroughly, rather than many superficially.

Wild Mushrooming: A Guide for Foragers melds scientific and cultural knowledge with stunning photography to present a new way of looking at fungi. It models ‘ecological foraging’ – an approach based on care, conservation and a deep understanding of ecosystem dynamics.

Sections on where, when and how to find fungi guide the forager in the identification of 10 edible species. Diagnostic information on toxic fungi and lookalike species helps to differentiate the desirable from the deadly. Wild Mushrooming then takes us into the kitchen with cooking techniques and 29 recipes from a variety of cuisines that can be adapted for both foraged and cultivated fungi.

Developing the skills to find fungi requires slowness, not speed. This guide provides the necessary information for the safe collection of fungi, and is essential reading for fungus enthusiasts, ecologists, conservationists, medical professionals and anyone interested in the natural world.

Paperback | March 2021 |
ISBN: 9781486311736 | 320 pages | 245 x 170 mm
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Colour photographs, Illustrations

Fungi of the Bendigo Region

Buy it here.

Fungi of the Bendigo Region: A Guide to Identification is the second edition of this book written and published by Joy Clusker and Ray Wallace with beautiful photography by Joy. It is a field guide to the fungi of the Bendigo region with an emphasis on the dryer areas north of Bendigo, however many of the species are common and widespread across temperate Australia.

The first edition covered 284 species and a further ~200 yet to be identified. The second edition covers a further 65 species and several updated name changes. Printed locally, it is designed to fit in a backpack.