"Mushrooms are among the most intriguing and striking inhabitants of the natural world, as highly regarded for their distinctive flavors and uses in cooking and medicine as for their sometimes strange, often beautiful shapes and forms. Some are medicinal, others poisonous or even lethal. Some are downright bizarre, such as the vegetable caterpillar fungi, which grow right through the tissues of caterpillars and other insects to produce a mummy in the shape of their unlucky host." "Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms of the World is a well-rounded look at mushrooms, including their cultivation, ethnobotanical uses, and the fascinating roles they play in nature. The authors provide expert advice on how to identify and distinguish between edible and poisonous wild mushrooms and how to record important details, with suggestions for taking photographs and preparing spore prints. More than 250 photographs accompany the text."--Jacket.