Velvet Foot, Dead Man’s Fingers and Shaggy Mane. A Mushroom Atlas

As a mysterious life form alongside plants and animals, fungi have always inhabited the human imagination. Their diverse appearance is also reflected in a multitude of crude to melodious names given to them. It is the sheer inexhaustible and regionally diverse wealth of linguistic designations that inspired Germanist, mushroom expert and passionate mushroom collector Benjamin Haag to create his mushroom atlas: velvet foot, dead man’s fingers and shaggy mane are just a few of them. Tracing their common names, he shows that no two mushrooms are alike – and that almost every one has a breathtaking story to tell, in which nature and culture intertwine like mycelium. His portraits deal with Germany's extinct and reviving truffle culture, with the mushroom hunters who took their knowledge of gathering places on the war fronts to their graves, of melting coprinus mushrooms that can be processed into forgery-proof ink, the inscrutable wood wide web of mycorrhizal fungi that ensure the well-being of the forest – and the tasty ways of preparing edible mushrooms.

A practical guide, etymological reference work and natural history picture atlas – a mushroom-picking book that combines knowledge and myth.

“Mushroom hunting is a school for the senses and instincts. The forest calls out ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ to you. It fixes a thousand eyes on you, sending you markers, recommendations, instructions.’ – Hans Helmut Hillrichs