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Preface
The word mushroom conjures up a great variety of responses in people’s minds. Some react with a combination of loathing and suspicion reserved for earthy creatures like snakes, worms, and slugs while others with hunter-gatherer instincts immediately think of something good to eat. For most people, the beauty of the colors and the amazing shapes of wild mushrooms appeal to their sense of curiosity and wonder. Both children and adults want to know why mushrooms are growing where they are, how they so mysteriously appear and then suddenly vanish, what role mushrooms play in the grand scheme of the natural world, and how we tell them apart. This book is designed to answer those questions and hundreds more by attempting to satisfy the curious, to inform the novice, and to give pleasure to the artist and nature lover.
The stars of these pages are mushrooms found growing wild in Colorado, southern Wyoming, northern New Mexico, and eastern Utah as well as adjacent areas in the nearby states of Montana and Idaho. Because state boundaries mean nothing to a mushroom, many of the mushrooms featured here occur throughout the Rocky Mountain region (or in some cases, all over the world if habitats are similar). For example, mushrooms found near Colorado’s tree line will be similar or identical with those found near Montana’s more northern but lower tree line. Grassland mushrooms are similar throughout the West, in most cases because habitats are comparable. Correspondingly, “city mushrooms” found among Denver’s cultivated gardens will be very similar to those in urban lawns and parks throughout the region.
The most complete collection of actively curated, scientific specimens of mushrooms in Colorado and the surrounding region is located at Denver Botanic Gardens’ Sam Mitchel Herbarium of Fungi. More than 1975 species in 440 genera make up the nearly 18,000 dried specimens of fungi presently kept and studied there. Almost all of the mushrooms pictured in this book are voucher specimens preserved at the herbarium and available for future study. However, the extensive collection at the Sam Mitchel Herbarium of Fungi does not contain even a fourth of all the kinds of mushrooms and other fungi that could be found in the region. As more mycologists (scientists who study fungi) collect mushrooms in the varied habitats, more and more species new to science will be discovered.
Throughout the colorful history of this region, amateur mushroom hunters have asked, “What kind of mushroom is that?” while living or recreating in the woods or mountains or strolling though parks, backyards, and barnyards. Answers to their questions have come from many different sources: older family members, fellow mushroom hunters, university professionals, mushroom clubs, staff at Denver Botanic Gardens, books, newspapers, and more recently on-line resources. Along the way, our knowledge of local mushrooms has grown, thanks to those determined amateurs who took note of intricate details, exclaimed over the colors and shapes, appreciated the variety, and then asked more questions.
I wrote this book for the amateur mushroom hunter in the Rocky Mountain region. Use it to guide your hunts, and keep asking the question: “What kind of mushroom is that?”
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