Plant Cuttings

Mushroom day: A story of 24 hours and 24 fungal lives, Alison Pouliot, illustrated by Stuart Patience, 2025. The University of Chicago Press.

Mushroom day by Alison Pouliot [which book is here appraised] is charming, and a delight to read.

Overview

Mushroom day is a comparatively short book – 162 pages of main text, divided up amongst 24 chapters (each of which is a mini-essay) about a named fungal species. Each entry averages 6 pages (which includes a full-page illustration), but varies from 7 pages for Arctic orangebush lichen, and penicillium, to 5.33 pages for lawyer’s wig. Each essay is a well-written, well-observed celebration of a particular fungus: Mushroom day is full of lovely writing by a true fungiphile. Subjects covered – or, at least, touched-upon – in the individual essays include: folklore; mythology; conservation; biology; nutritional strategies of fungi; ecology; the minutiae of blue-cheese manufacture(!); and climate change. Additionally, there are approx. 8 pages of Preface, 4 of Epilogue, Further Reading, and an Index.

Stylish writing

Throughout the text of Mushroom day there’s an abundance of alliteration – such as “Beneath the soil its mycelium has a surreptitious strategy for stealing a little extra nutrition—it strangles wriggling nematodes” (p. 73) – authored by this Antipodean academic*. Indeed, so numerous were they that I was disappointed to find a page without any(!) In addition to such word-play, the text is also full of fine fungal phrasing, e.g., “Imagine a miniature frozen waterfall or clusters of spindly stalactites, and you’re getting close to an impression of this unusual fungus” (p. 37) (which is Pouliot’s imaginative – but accurate! [see the illustration on page 38] – description of the form of hou tou gu mushroom), and “It’s swift death for the nematode and fast food for the fungus [Ed. – with a good dose of alliteration as well…]” (p. 74).

Having regard to her insights into the world of fungi, and the way she writes about them, Pouliot is a wordsmith par excellence. She also has a knack of getting over scientific concepts in more-user-friendly language, e.g. “Fungi and animals are different life forms that essentially do the same thing. They’re just designed differently, a little like iPhones and Androids” (pp. xi/xii) [Ed. – although I’m not entirely sure what to make of this statement, “It photosynthesizes, converting sunlight into sugar” (p. 85), which rather seems to over-simplify the process…]. Her musings on matters mycological – and easy writing style – rival those of those other noted fungal commentators Nick Money and David Moore. And that’s very fine company for such an enthusiastic friend of fungi to be amongst.

Plus, Pouliot’s text is accompanied by well-observed, and beautifully-executed pen-and-ink illustrations from gifted artist Stuart Patience, which suitably adorn the pages of the book.

24 hours of fungi?

In Flower day by Sandra Knapp, a companion title to Mushroom day in the publisher’s Earth Day series, the convenient ‘conceit’ of the floral clock was used as a way of aligning flowering plants with hours of the day. In the absence of an equivalent horologium fungae, Pouliot has adopted an eminently practical approach, “The timing of our mushroom meetings in this book is as much about the daily routines of the fungus foragers, both creature and human, as it is about the fungi themselves” (xvii). A great example of this is, “A baker starts the day early, kneading dough and baking bread before the sun rises” (p. 31), which is the – entirely legitimate – justification for writing about ergot in the 4 am essay. [Ed. – in case you’re wondering why, that’s because this fungus is infamously associated with infection of cereals, which has led to many outbreaks of ergotism amongst people who consumed ergot-contaminated bread].

Author’s aspiration for the book

“At the end of the day, we’ll have glimpsed the diversity of the kingdom Fungi, discovered some of its members’ quirks and traits, and realized that we can’t exist without them. I hope this global foray piques your interest in the mycological miracles that surround us all day, every day” (p. xviii). This reviewer’s interest was suitably piqued.

My expectations for a populist book about fungi

Are that it mentions lichens, and mycorrhiza, and, these days – since it’s a term widely used in the media whenever fungi and forests are mentioned – also includes something about the wood-wide web (Claire Marshall). In keeping with the number of lichenised fungi compared to the entirety of the fungal kingdom, there is a single entry devoted to lichens, the Arctic orangebush lichen. And mycorrhizal fungi get a decent ‘shout-out’. However, there was no mention of the wood-wide web. Still, two out of three ain’t bad – and we must acknowledge that it’s up to the author to decide what is actually included in their book [Ed. – plus, with current misgivings about the degree to which this concept is over-hyped in the media (e.g., Justine Karst et al., 2023; Melanie Jones et al.), its omission from Mushroom day may be a wise one…].

A bit more detail about the book

The Preface provides some useful – and important – scene-setting, basic fungal biology. And, although many technical terms are used here, seemingly all are explained or defined on first mention – thereby obviating need for any glossary in the book [Ed. – although elsewhere in the book ‘hymenium’ (p. 67) is apparently not defined…].

Further Reading

After a listing of 9 books (5 of which were published since 2019), we have details of sources for the Preface and the 24 essays. However, stated sources for each fungal entry are fairly minimal (although almost all of them are scientific articles). At most there are 4 sources for an essay (e.g., the midnight disco [Ed. – yes, this really is the common name of a fungus!]); but only 1 each for honey fungus, and anemone stinkhorn. Usually there are 2 or 3 sources per fungus. In terms of ‘up-to-dateness’, 19 sources were published since 2019. But, there’s no indication in-text where cited sources relate, readers will have to try and work that out for themselves.

It seems highly unlikely that the few sources stated are sufficient to substantiate statements made in the book. For instance, although many facts are provided in the Preface, the trio of sources stated for this section relate only to the statements about ‘fungal vision’**, which is a relatively small part of the Preface’s text. So, pretty much all of what’s stated in the Preface is unsourced. And that’s a great pity. Whilst it doesn’t necessarily detract from the writing in this book, it does somewhat undermine any aspirations that the book may have to be a serious, scholarly, evidence-based science communication account about fungi.

The Index is approx. 13, two-columned pages, from ‘abruptly-bulbous agaricus’ to ‘yellow cup fungus’ (page details are provided here by fungal common name; scientific names are listed, but the reader is referred to the common name for page details). Representative other index entries – and which give a flavour of what the book covers, from a fungal perspective – are: Austro-Hungarian Empire (which had rules for fungus consumption and commerce…); Buddhism (in connection with fungal bioluminescence, and not the story you might have expected regarding the Buddha dying from having eaten a mushroom gift [e.g., here, Mrinalini, here, Binh Anson, and here]); cooperation, interkingdom (for which the Arctic orangebush lichen is an ambassador…); dung-loving fungi (fungi ‘living their best life’…); endangered fungi (a reminder that hardly any of the estimated 5 million fungal species have been assessed in this way…); foraging (lots about the joys – and dangers – thereof); global warming. See climate change; Hebeloma. See poison pies [Ed. – told you…]; invertebrates (in places these are termed ‘spineless creatures’ by Pouliot; it took me a while to work out what she meant by that phrase(!)); Japan (which produces the largest quantity of hou tou gu (and a reminder that Pouliot tries to use local common names of fungi, where they exist)); keratin (the horn stalkball is a specialist in digesting this animal protein); little brown mushrooms (LBMs) (LBMs are the fungal equivalent of the ornithologists’ LBJs (little brown jobs), and the angiospermologist’s DYCs (damn yellow composites)); mythology (mythical mycological musings and associations are scattered throughout the book, amongst the scientifically-based ones); nematophagous fungi (gotta love a – honorary – ‘plant’ that gets its own back on animals…); oysters (fungi) (“that not only trap nematodes but also give them a nasty dose of toxin just to be sure they don’t escape before they’re devoured” (p. 74)); poisonous fungi (a reminder that some fungi produce some pretty impressive compounds that harm other lifeforms, e.g., bolesatine, a protein that inhibits protein synthesis…); reproduction (after all, there would be no mushroom day without this important fungal activity…); summer season (not all fungi produce mushrooms in the autumn…); termites (a place of honour in the book for chi-ngulu-ngulu, the termite mushroom and its intimate association with those social insects); umbrella-shaped mushrooms (although this is probably the best known mushroom form, it’s not the only one – as Pouliot reminds us with several examples in the book); vegetable caterpillar (cue an introduction to entomopathogenic fungi…); witches (“The French and the German trade fairies for witches” (p. 46) – you’ll have to read the book to find out more!); and Xylaria (probably the exception – that therefore proves the rule? – of a scientific name not being page-indexed here).

Mushroom day boasts a fantastic feast of fascinating fungal facts (subject to confirmation from sources – some of which may be amongst those cited in the book…). And there was plenty here that was new to me, for example: The existence of the old-fashioned term Discomycetes (which is today seen in the name of the midnight disco fungus showcased in the book); the bioluminescent ghost fungus (the nature of which is luciferin-based – as for fireflies); that 80 different species of fungi can bioluminesce; the use of glowing honey fungus wood on helmets and rifles in WWI; the great age of some fairy-ring-making fungi [more than 2000 years old (p. 48)]; that “in Switzerland, foragers have enjoyed the certainty of mushroom identification with the expert help of Pilzkontrolleure, or “mushroom inspectors”” (p. 55); “Russula crassotunicata, which reputedly smells like coconuts” (p. 101); “The basketball-sized giant puffball (Calvatia gigantea), for example, produces a whopping seven trillion spores, hundreds of times more than your average mushroom” (p. 105) (seven trillion?! That number cries out for justification – the single source stated for this entry – Maria Letizia Gargano et al., 2020. Is Battarrea phalloides really an endangered species? Plant Biosystems – An International Journal Dealing with All Aspects of Plant Biology 155(4): 759–762; https://doi.org/10.1080/11263504.2020.1779847 – doesn’t look it deals with that fact); and the number of fungal species that can be devoured by the American red squirrel (p. 130). Apart from the satisfaction of knowing more interesting facts about fungi, there is much in Mushroom day to enliven the work of anybody who writes or talks about fungi.

In the Epilogue Pouliot confesses that “It was difficult to select just twenty-four fungi for us to meet on our mushroom day. With fungi occupying such a diverse kingdom of life, there’s a very large group of candidates to choose from. Next time we might need an entire mushroom year!” (p. 159). This reviewer for one is looking forward to that!

Summary

All I intend to do here is repeat what I’ve already said, Mushroom day by Alison Pouliot is charming, and a delight to read. Do try and get hold of a copy.

* Dr Pouliot is a Friend of the Centre for Environmental History at the Australian National University.

** Related to the notion of ‘fungal vision’ – which topic is dealt with at some length in the book’s Preface – Pouliot draws a parallel with the botanist’s concept of plant blindness (Sarah B Jose et al., 2019; Karen Mockler; Christine Ro) when she echoes the views of many mycologists who “lament the lack of public interest in fungi”. Pouliot calls this mycological malaise ‘fungal forgetfulness’. Which term is rather telling because it hints at humanity having had a much better appreciation of fungi in days long gone. In today’s times we have largely lost touch with fungi; they’ve been ‘forgotten’. Pouliot’s aspiration for Mushroom day is “I hope this global foray piques your interest in the mycological miracles that surround us all day, every day” (p. xviii). In that way we may yet recall and regain what we had previously lost. But, and rather bizarrely, I could only find mention of that on p. xvii of the pdf version of the book that I had to assist my appraisal; that text doesn’t appear to be present in the hard copy of the book – it’s certainly not on its page xvii.

REFERENCES

Sarah B Jose et al., 2019. Overcoming plant blindness in science, education, and society. Plants, People, Planet 1: 169–172; https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.51

Justine Karst et al., 2023. Positive citation bias and overinterpreted results lead to misinformation on common mycorrhizal networks in forests. Nat Ecol Evol 7: 501–511; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-01986-1