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Larger Fungi Of Borneo Author : David N. Pegler Classes : Plants Price : US$ 20.00 Availability : Pages : 95 Dimensions : 216. 155. 8 mm ISBN : 983-812-017-0 Code : 99006 |
The species of the fleshy fungi of Southeast Asia are possibly the most spectacular of any found throughout the world. At the same time, they remain amongst the poorest known. Some of the more familiar fungi are illustrated in this book yet anyone who looks for the mushrooms, toadstools, bracket fungi, puffballs, cup fungi and jelly fungi will inevitably discover species which are unknown to science.
Most of the soft-fleshy mushrooms are very short-lived, perhaps for only a few hours, and this only adds to the thrill of discovery. The species seen today may not have been seen for twenty years and may not he seen again for another twenty years. Not only are they short-lived but the apparent magical, overnight appearance of many species guarantees that your walk through the forest can never be repeated and yet tomorrow's discoveries could be even more exciting.
Fungi are familiar for their extraordinary appearances, for their colour and beauty, and for their edible, and indeed poisonous, qualities. More importantly, however, they are vital to life on this planet, providing both the means for the successful growth of plants and for the breakdown and decay of the dead, organic matter so enabling the recycling of essential elements. They are the managers of the forest. This book will allow you to discover a completely different Kingdom-The Fungi.
AUTHOR
Professor David N. Pegler BSc, MSc PhD, DSc, FLS, is Assistant Keeper and Head of Mycology at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, which he has served sine; his appointment in 1960.
His expertise ranges throughout the mushrooms and toadstools to the bracket fungi, especially relating to the tropical regions of the World, and has a special interest in the higher taxa classification of the Basidiomycota.
He has written over 230 publications. including 16 books, with major accounts on the agaric floras of East Africa, Sri Lanka and the Caribbean. He served as Chairman of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, Committee for Fungi, until 1997. He was elected a Centenary Fellow of the British Mycological Society in 1996, and a Member of the Norwegian Academy of Science & Letters in 1997.