Wednesday 4 September 2013

Woodland Trust Fungi Identification Swatch Book



I was delighted to receive a fungi identification swatch book from the Woodland Trust, as a thank you for being a volunteer campaigner with them.

It includes beautifully clear photos of 28 fungi commonly found in and around UK woodlands. The back of each photo includes useful information on where and when to find the species. There are clear warnings on which species are poisonous, but not indications of which species are good to eat or when they should be harvested so it's not a foraging guide. If you're interested in foraging fungi in the UK, you can use this wild mushroom foraging guide.

The pages of the swatch are laminated to protect against the British climate and the whole thing is held together in such a way that you can fan the pages out and compare different species. It fits neatly into the pocket of a rucksack and is an ideal size for carrying around on all your autumnal walks in the UK woodlands.

The only thing missing is scratch and sniff, but given that the swatch includes the stinkhorn, which, even from a few metres away smells like an open sewer, that's probably a good thing.


The Fungi Identification Swatch Book is one in a series of four wildlife identification swatch books available from the Woodland Trust shop.

8 comments:

Bill said...

vacation
a New York cop
ID's the fungi

Titus said...

That's so cool. We have four fungi identification books, and yet still persist in finding things we can never identify!

RG said...

Do you think there is a smart-phone app that does something similar?

Pete Thompson said...

I've got one of those; they're great. I'm a Woodland Trust Super Campainger.

Crafty Green Poet said...

Bill - excellent 'ku, thanks!

Titus - oh i still struggle with some fungi!

Rabbits Vuy - almost certainly!

Pete - yeah they're excellent aren't they!

Naquillity said...

what a great little swatch to help identify mushrooms. i can imagine it to be handy when one is hiking. hope all is well. have a great day~

Little Miss Titch said...

nice gift,RG the Techy

Anonymous said...

That's a fantastic idea :) and practical - I've just started growing my own mushrooms for eating (in a box in the laundry room at the moment) - I would not be confidant picking wild mushrooms around here.