Here the task is facilitated by grouping together look-alikes, and, crucially, describing the differences between them. Fortunately, there is an index to genera on the front boards and an abbreviated glossary at the back.

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He has previously been a senior scientific officer at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and associate professor at the University of Copenhagen. The books are divided into eighty “form groups,” each starting with an innovative comparison wheel with guiding photos, distinguishing characteristics and drawings of essential microscopic features. He taught mycology at Aarhus University for more than 20 years and is the author of The Kingdom of Fungi (Princeton). For temperate Europe we estimate that the total number of species is higher than 20,000 and the number of fruitbody-forming fungi is at least 6,000 - 9,000 (including about 2,000 species of lichens). But the greatest strength of Fungi of Temperate Europe lies in its illustrations, which, I repeat, are simply glorious.

The books are divided into eighty 'form groups', each starting with an innovative comparison wheel with guiding photos, distinguishing characteristics and drawings of essential microscopic features. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.

You get used to the faintly odd language, some of which is not in the glossary: for example, ‘meteoric’ (meaning, I think, appearing in sudden spasms at long intervals), ‘sordid’ (dirty-looking), ‘speciose’ (a genus with lots of species in it), ‘turgid’ (fresh and swollen with fluid). This is an international publication, so there are no English names; and only the latest up-to-the-minute scientific names, although in many cases the authors mention the previous, more familiar, name.