Toadstools, Mushrooms, Fungi Edible and Poisonous by Charles McIlvaine

Description

Toadstools, Mushrooms, Fungi, Edible and Poisonous is a book by Charles McIlvaine, first published in 1900. This classic American mushroom guide collects McIlvaine’s field experience and experiments into an expansive reference that surveys roughly one thousand North American fungi and offers practical advice on how to select, distinguish, and prepare edible species while avoiding poisonous ones. The work blends botanical descriptions with identification keys, detailed notes on edibility (often the result of the author’s own tests), and recipes — making it useful both as a field identification guide and a historical handbook for foragers and mycology enthusiasts. McIlvaine’s book had an outsized influence on early American mycophagy (the eating of mushrooms) and remains frequently cited in discussions of historic fungus literature and amateur foraging. Though modern mycology has advanced and some taxonomic names and safety recommendations have changed since McIlvaine’s time, his thorough species accounts, illustrations, and practical foraging advice make this a valuable historical resource for gardeners, naturalists, and anyone interested in edible mushrooms, poisonous fungi, or the history of field guides.