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Mushrooms Mushrooms for the collector is a potentially dangerous hobby.  However for those who just try to identify mushrooms, mushrooms have a powerful advantage over other plants.  Mushrooms especially those that occur on trees can be all year including the winter.  Identifying mushrooms is one way to lift the winter blues.  A fair warning: some mushrooms are rather difficult to identify, many require a microscope and some mushroom identification can defy even experts.  Good luck. Mushrooms of Ontario and Eastern Canada GB If you read English this is the must have.  Gorgeous book filled with photographs of mushrooms.   Le grand livre des champignons du Québec et de l'est du Canada Pub (English translation) Pub (French) GB If you can read French this is the book to get.  It has the most species covered and is more local than the above book. A Field Guide to Mushrooms GB Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms of Canada GB Older and out of print but has a good key. Mushrooms Demystified GB Combines a field guide with an easily digestible natural history of mushroom.  Not sure the scope of the book, may be all the US and Canada. The Boletes of North America The Boleti of Northeastern North America Illustrated Guide to Common Slimemolds North American Boletes GB A guide to sponge mushrooms. The Boleti of Northeastern North America GB The Boletes of North America GB The Boletes of Michigan Scan Myxomycetes: A Handbook of Slimemolds GB Am Slimemolds of the world, natural history, keys to orders, selected species covered. Illustrated Guide to Common Slimemolds GB How to Know the Non-Gilled Fleshy Fungi Field Guide to North American Truffles GB Ontario has very few truffle species. Amanitas of North America Amanitas are poisonous. The North America Species of Pholiota GB How to Know the Non-Gilled Fleshy Fungi GB Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World GB Psilocybin is a psychoactive ingredient in many mushroom species.   Fungi of Elgin Country Fungi of Elgin County William G. Stewart, E. Stewart, I Carmichael 1999 softcover 21 p. (species list) Mushrooms of the Great Lakes Region GB Mushrooms of the Boreal Forest GB Mushrooms of Northeastern North America GB How to Identify Mushrooms to Genus Series GB MushroomExpert.com Keys to North American mushrooms and plenty of other information. George Barron's Website on Fungi is done by the author of Mushrooms of Ontario and Eastern Canada and contains many pictures and much information that is not in his field guides. American Mushrooms This website (done by the coauthor of Mushrooms of Northeastern North America) includes interesting mushroom trivia such as the coolest mushrooms, tiniest and smelliest.   Fungi - The Fifth Kingdom Has many products available of interest.  It has a field guide that is both in book form and CD-ROM.  Many of the products are keys to specific groups of fungi. Mycological Society of Toronto North American Mycological Association Lichens Lichens are usually overlooked.  Yet they are diverse in appearance and look awesome under a hand lens.  If you want to really know your lichens you can do chemistry tests. Lichens of Southern Ontario Lichens of the North Woods Pub GB The must have book.  A beginner's guide.  It divides the lichens first by habitat (ground, rocks, and trees) and then by type (crustose, foliose, and fruiticose).   Lichens of North America GB A reference book, heavy but quite beautiful.  Covers far more local species than Lichens of the North Woods, and is handy in making sense of Lichens of the Ottawa Region.  This book has useful common names which can be transferred to the more scientific books below. Lichens of the Ottawa Region >> Many more species covered, especially the crustose which require a microscope.  The book is basically a key with a few black and white illustrations to help.  For those who really want to know their lichens.   The Lichens of Southern Ontario >> Probably similar in format to Lichens of the Ottawa Region.  Together these two books should cover most of Ontario's crustose lichens. How to Know the Lichens GB An older book with an illustrated key.  Covers macrolichens only.  All these books combined should cover all the macrolichens in Ontario although not necessarily all the microlichens (crustose).  Together these three technical books should cover most of Ontario's lichens. The Macrolichens of New England Am Michigan Lichens GB Lichens above Treeline: A Hiker's Guide to Alpine Zone Lichens of the Northeastern United States Am Identifying North American Lichens: A Guide to The Literature  For those most serious about lichens. Identifying Mixed Hardwood Forest Lichens is an Ontario reference guide to common lichens Lichens Home Page Photographic guide to lichens of North America Annotated List of Lichens of the Macoun Club's nature study area   Bacteria A Field Guide to Bacteria GB The only book that will help you identify major groups of bacteria in the field without a microscope. Guide to Microlife GB A field guide to bacteria seen under a microscope. How to Know the Protozoa GB A specific type of bateria is the protozoa. Books to learn more about bacteria in general include A Field Guide to Germs, Human Wildlife: The Life That Lives on Us and Thieves, Deceivers, and Killers. Using a Microscope: A Guide for Naturalists Microbiology: A Photographic Atlas for the Laboratory GB A microbiology textbook and altas that has gotten lots of good reviews on Amazon. Exploring with the Microscope GB Everything you need to know about microscopes. Using the Microscope: A Guide for Naturalists GB Tree Diseases of Ontario Forest Area Disturbed by Tree Disease  Has a PDF "Tree Diseases of Ontario"