Although relatively little known, fungi provide the links between the terrestrial organisms and ecosystems that underpin our functioning planet.
The Allure of Fungi presents fungi through multiple perspectives – those of mycologists and ecologists, foragers and forayers, naturalists and farmers, aesthetes and artists, philosophers and Traditional Owners. It explores how a history of entrenched fears and misconceptions about fungi has led to their near absence in Australian ecological consciousness and biodiversity conservation.
Through a combination of text and visual essays, the author reflects on how aesthetic, sensate experience deepened by scientific knowledge offers the best chance for understanding fungi, the forest and human interactions with them.
By:
Alison Pouliot
Imprint: CSIRO Publishing
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions:
Height: 245mm,
Width: 170mm,
Spine: 16mm
Weight: 750g
ISBN: 9781486308576
ISBN 10: 1486308570
Pages: 280
Publication Date: 01 September 2018
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Acknowledgements Prologue Chapter 1 – An introduction to entangled worlds Beyond mushrooms to mycelium Thinking, un-thinking, re-thinking fungi Fungal places – from Down Under to the Swiss Alps Seeking fungi What’s inside? Photo essay - The mycelial matrix Chapter 2 – Meeting mushrooms First fungal acquaintances Describing the undefinable Biological umbrellas From goblets to lattice balls Lichenised life on the edge Extremist specialists What fungi do – alliance as norm Rethinking parasites Fungal rotters Photo essay - Endless forms most bizarre Chapter 3 – Life in the subterrain Different hemispheres, different fungi Undesirable dwellings – dirt, litter and dung In not on Litter and literacy Disco in a cow pat A cargo of the uncanny Displaced fungi Retreating underground Photo essay - Fungal grub and fungal havens Chapter 4 – A stubbly bun skirmish Mushrooming from shady obscurity From moushrimpes to mucerons Of toads and toadstools Articulating fungi Idiomatic mushrooms Ergonomic fungi A meander of mycelia Words to conserve Metaphorical mushrooms Re-chanting the fungal lexicon Photo essay - Biological umbrellas Chapter 5 – Wicked wild mushrooms – a morality tale Thievish and voracious beggars – origin myths Rotting and disgusting – unsettling traits Fairy cakes and trompettes de la mort The death cap arrives in Australia Sniffing out safety – toying with toxic mushrooms Indeterminate and morphologically bizarre Trouble from elsewhere – conservation and invaders Photo essay - Recycling worlds Chapter 6 – Organising fungi The last of the natural historians The desire to divide Bounded and boundless – individuality and plurality Why names matter Naming and claiming – scientific and vernacular names Tallying fungi What makes a mushroom? Photo essay - Undersides Chapter 7 – Knowing fungi otherwise A farmer’s way of knowing Aboriginal knowing Feeling like a mushroom – sensory knowing Fine-tuning to fungi Fungal olfaction – reigniting smell Getting back in touch Slow motion mushrooms Photo essay - Collecting Chapter 8 – Foraging and foraying Train-stopping mushrooms Fungologists seeking funguses – foraying for fungi Strange and new-fangled meates – foraging for fungi On morel grounds High altitude hunting Wild desires and treacherous gratifications Rethinking fungal expertise Photo essay - Lichenised lives Chapter 9 – A call for fungal wisdom Fungi in a changing world A fiscal fungal fantasy Lists and the list-less Reassessing biodiversity Looking with the heart – from managing to caring Re-enchanting the fungal imagination Endnotes Bibliography Index
Alison Pouliot is a natural historian who is passionate about fungi. She moves between northern and southern hemispheres to have two autumns each year, guaranteeing a double dose of fungi. Her extraordinary photographs reflect her research on the ecology and conservation of fungi. In this book she documents a forgotten corner of the natural world that is both beguiling and fundamental to life.
Reviews for The Allure of Fungi
""Photo essays comprising stunning macrophotography of fungi appear between substantive chapters. Pouliot’s use of a very shallow depth of field in most of the photographs evokes a sense of mystery, appropriate for a kingdom that remains poorly known to science, especially in Australia... The skilful use of stories and images does not merely embellish or enliven the text, but evokes a deeper, emotional understanding, making it a book both engrossing and motivating."" -- Andrea Gaynor * Australian Book Review, October 2018 *
