Welcome to

the Interactive Guide to Mushrooms and other fungi

This project contains a selection of nearly 900 species of (lowland-)mushroom and other types of fungi from North-West and Central Europe. A few species are alpine (e.g. 848.jpg), or from Scandinavia (342.jpg). Beyond the common species often discussed in most mushroom guides I also elected to include some rare or seriously threatened species and fungi with a remarkable life style (218.jpg) or those on unusual substrates ( 798.jpg). You can also find a number of smaller fungi with fruit-bodies of less than 1 cm.

Each species is illustrated by one or more colour photographs and a short description. Because nowadays an increasing number of mushroom species are rare or seriously threatened, their status from the Red Data List (ed. 1) is given.

By means of hotlinks in the texts a glossary of terms, information on higher taxa and descriptions and illustrations of related species are instantly available. Each species card was provided with characters that can be seen by the naked eye or when using a magnifying class, also particulars of touch, taste or smell aid in quick identification. In addition information on occurrence and ecology helps to discern between species.
Another way of identifying mushrooms is offered by using the program IdentifyIt in which the user is able to select a combination of independent characters to recognize the mushroom to species or genus level.
An educative quiz was also included for the user to test and increase his knowledge on mushrooms in a playful fashion.
In the System Fungi-module the user is acquainted with the systematics of mushrooms and other fungi. In this module information can also be found concerning the complex ecological relationships between fungi and their environment. Many special mycological terms are explained in both the System Fungi and the Glossary.
The Higher Taxa-module deals with the biological classification of mushrooms. All taxa are briefly commented on and each genus description offers a hotlinked list of included species.

I sincerely hope every amateur mycologist and nature-lover using this website has been offered an easy access to the available information on the mushrooms and fungi discussed. For detailed information and scientific treatises on microscopic structures as well as more sophisticated identification keys I refer to the books and articles in mycological journals.

Gerrit Keizer


Warning:
The author and the publisher(s) of this project do not except liability for illnesses and fatal or non-fatal poisonings resulting from the gathering, eating or any other use of mushrooms, toadstools or other fungi discussed in this volume, nor for misappropriations based on the information contained herein.

© 2008 (text): ETI / G.J. Keizer
© 2008 (slides): G.J. Keizer (except 113 additional slides from the seven photographers thanked in the Contributors).

Original CD-ROM publication ISBN : 90-75000-53-7