Funga Obscura by Alison Pouliot (Hardcover)

"Enablers of life, creators of soil, food for many, and hunters of some-fungi are as stunning as they are diverse. Through the eyes of celebrated photographer and ecologist Alison Pouliot, we see the beauty of fungal landscapes. Like the camera obscura, her Funga Obscura captures brief mycological moments and unforgettable fungi scenes. The word funga refers to the fungi of a region, and this book of photography spans hemispheres-from a parade of violet webcap, spotted in an understory of a Pacific Northwest forest; to beautifully blue pixie parasols in Australia; to a showstopping whitelaced shank in Switzerland. We see that fungi live almost everywhere. We notice them on our lawns and in forests and woodlands, but fungi grow from the ocean depths to deserts to alpine peaks. Yet this book goes deeper-like a web of mycelium-to investigate how fungi shape landscapes and interact with other organisms, including humans. The scenes here challenge our ideas about what fungi are, what they do, and why they matter. Woven with these images is a journey into the fungal kingdom, starting long ago in evolutionary time, when fungi emerged from the ocean onto land. We traverse time and space, crossing continents and ecosystems, to witness fungi at work. A visual celebration of remarkable lives, Pouliot's book captures their essence within their habitats. In her photographs, you might recognize a few fungal friends, but many will be new acquaintances. Sometimes, they make their presence immediately known; at other times, they just provide clues-and future forest trails to follow"-- Provided by publisher.