The Whole Fungus
Perhaps by posing a few questions I can give you some idea of what you may expect to find as you browse through the twenty-seven chapters in the two volumes of The Whole Fungus.
- Do you know what anamorphs, teleomorphs and holomorphs are? These terms are central to the theme of the books, and are defined in Chapter 3.
- Do you know how long the phenomenon of pleomorphism has exercised the minds of mycologists; and how ancient it is? These questions are answered in Chapters 2 and 26, respectively.
- Do you know how to differentiate scolecospores and helicospores from other Saccardoan spore types? You'll find what we hope are unequivocal delineations in Chapter 5.
- Do you know that one method of conidium development can be transmuted into another and that the same fungus can use two techniques concurrently? These important "aberrations" are discussed in Chapters 6 and 7, respectively.
- Do you know how present-day distributions of fungi can be interpreted in terms of plate tectonics ("continental drift")? This is attempted in Chapter 8.
- Do you know how classifications of ascomycetous anamorphs and teleomorphs affect one another? Chapters 9 - 12, 15 and 17 address this question.
- Do you know that the basic Ascomycotan dichotomy between unitunicates and bitunicates can be challenged? Chapter 13 shows where.
- Do you know that certain physiological factors stimulate sporulation in some fungi, but suppress it in others? Chapter 16 presents incontrovertible evidence.
- Do you know that the "aquatic" (or, preferably, "amphibious") Hyphomycetes include some of the best examples of convergent evolution in the whole of the fungi? The evidence is in Chapter 18.
- Do you know that Agarics (and many other Basidiomycetes) also possess anamorphs? Chapters 19, 20 and 21 are concerned with these unjustifiably neglected life-forms.
- Do you know that some "yeasts" are entirely mycelial? Chapter 22 should convince you.
- Do you know that a kind of doliporel septum is found among the Zygomycetes? Chapter 23 discusses this phenomenon.
- Do you know why we should stop calling the "pseudo-taxa" of conidial fungi, 'form species' and 'form genera' ? Chapters 26 and 27 will tell you.
Has that string of questions whetted your appetite? I hope so.
"Every serious student of mycology...ought to obtain these
fascinating, inexpensive volumes. Buy it, get your library to buy it,
get your students to buy it, and put aside a week or so to sit down
and read it cover to cover. Kananaskis II was a milestone."
- Mycologia