Dealing with Name Changes

One of the irritations for amateur (and professional if truth be told) mycologists is that the names are changing all the time. Why don’t they stay the same? There are a few reasons:

·        Older names have priority over newer names. Suppose a modern taxonomist determines that two different people have described and named the same mushroom, the oldest name has priority and the newer name is considered a synonym (the same mushroom but no longer the correct name).

·        The last (species) name is more of a unique identifier (how we typically use names), but the first (genus) name describes its relationship to other mushrooms. Since we are constantly finding new techniques to compare mushrooms, these relationships often change as a result.

·        For example, in the early days of mycology pretty much every mushroom that had a cup-like shape was placed in the genus Peziza. Later, when scientists started giving more emphasis to microscopic characters (a new technology at the time), it was realized that species with a cup-like shape differed microscopically. So Peziza was narrowed down to those that had microscopic characters similar to the original Type specimen and the others were moved into different genera.

·        It’s common now to sequence the specimen’s DNA to determine relationships, and the number one finding from DNA studies is that fungi are way more diverse that we thought! We are currently seeing a vast rearrangement of mushrooms into different genera based upon the similarity of their DNA sequences but this often doesn’t reflect the characters that we commonly use to group mushrooms based upon their appearance.

Where does that leave the amateur who just wants to identify their mushrooms? The older the field guide (see below) the more out-of-date the names will be but that doesn’t mean they aren’t useful anymore. We recommend a two-pronged approach:

·        If you find a likely match in your field guide, check the scientific name against a modern source – we recommend iNaturalist. If you type or paste the scientific name into the iNaturalist search field, it will usually come up with the most recent accepted name for that mushroom.

·        You can now look at the information for that species on iNaturalist and compare photos and details there, including the map showing distribution.

·        iNaturalist also has an AI that identify your photos. It’s not 100% accurate but it’s getting better – the biggest determinant of a successful ID is the quality of the photo. Use a photo that shows as many of the features you can of the mushroom - a photo from above looking down is often the least useful. A side view is best as you can usually see the cap, spore-bearing surface (e.g. does it have gills, pores or teeth?) and stem (don’t’ forget the base that’s often immersed in the soil) in one photo.

We hope that you will consider shopping local (or checking your local used bookstore). We bookmark our links through Indigo (Indigo - Chapters - Coles | Canada's Biggest Bookstore) as it’s a Canadian bookstore.

General Guides:

Mushrooms of the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada - Timothy J. Baroni. Recent publication (2017) with up to date names and great species coverage. Highly recommended!

Fungi of Temperate Europe - Thomas Laessoe & Jens Petersen. Expansive scope (described as a “lavish, two-volume set”) and recent (2019) but pricey. Overlap between European and Northeastern North American species usually adequate for genus if not species ID.

Mushrooms of Ontario and Eastern Canada - George Barron. Easy to use key, good for beginners. Two editions (1999 and 2016) but the old edition only available in the used market.

Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America - Roger Phillips. Good species coverage but a bit out of date (2010) on changes to some species names. Recommended by our society president for its realistic photographs!

The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms - Beloved by many members of the NS Mycological Society the original edition (1981) is out of print and can only be found in the used market. The Audubon Society published a new edition called Mushrooms of North America (2023) - see a review in the Spring 2023 edition of our newsletter - The Nova Sclerotium - on the Newsletter page .

Le Grand Livre des Champignon du Quebec et de l’est du Canada - Raymond McNeil. Relatively new (2019) and comprehensive coverage if you are comfortable reading French.

A Little Illustrated Book of Common Mushrooms of Newfoundland & Labrador - Andrus Voitk. This 2007 guide lists common fungi of our Atlantic Canada neighbour, but keep in mind that the area is boreal forest so it is missing species typically found in our Wabanaki/Acadian forest.

Specialized Guides:

Amanitas of North America - Britt Bunyard & Jay Justice. A good starting point for this diverse and important genus but despite being relatively new this 2020 treatment has already fallen behind the numerous taxonomic revisions that have taken place since publication. This no longer seems to be in press, so you would need to look for this book in the used market.

Boletes of Eastern North America, Second Edition - Alan Bessette, William C. Roody, Arleen Bessette. This updated 2024 edition of the 2017 guide adds new species and corrected names.

Ascomycete Fungi of North America - Michael Beug. This is a fairly recent (2014) comprehensive guide to the Ascomycota: cup fungi, earth tongues, morels and truffles.

Milk Mushrooms Of North America: A Field Identification Guide To The Genus Lactarius - Alan Bessette, David Harris, Arleen Bessette. This is getting quite dated (2009) but is a good starting point for this complex genus of mushrooms.

Tricholomas of North America: A Mushroom Field Guide - Alan E. Bessette. Also getting rather dated (2013) but a good introduction to this genus.

Waxcap Mushrooms Of Eastern North America - Alan Bessette,William C. Roody,Walter E. Sturgeon. This 2012 edition is a good introduction to this group.

Guides for Edible Mushrooms:

Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms of New England and Eastern Canada - Not terribly recent (2009) but specific to our area and updates to Latin names may be cross-checked in another guide if desired.

Edible East Coast Mushrooms: A Guide to Atlantic Canada's Common Edible Mushrooms - Jeffrey C. Domm, Ben Kendrick. A recent (2024) book with artist illustrations rather than photos.

Mushrooming without Fear: A Beginner’s Guide to Collecting Safe and Delicious Mushrooms - Alexander Schwab. The central premise of this 2007 book is that since the vast majority of poisonous mushrooms have gills on the underside, just eat the ones that don’t have gills (i.e. those that have tubes, spines or ridges).