CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FUNGAL KIND (PB)

Drawing on decades of experience of research in woods and fields, Richard Fortey starts with the perfect 'fungus day' - eating ceps in Piedmont. He introduces brown rotters and the white, earthstars and death caps; fungal annuals and perennials, dung lovers and parasites, even fungi that move through the trees like mycelial monkeys. On the way, he attempts to answer the questions: what are fungi? Why did their means of reproduction escape discovery for so long? And what role do they play in the development of life?