Coming January 2027.
Pre-order a signed copy.
Preorder a signed copy. Ships January 2027.
Custom inscription from the author is available.
$10 for domestic shipping, sales tax, and packaging.
Paperback, 336 pages
Enter a fungal wonderland to reconnect with nature.
Welcome to the Mycoverse of Los Angeles! In this wondrous guide to common local mushrooms, Aaron Tupac opens Angelenos' eyes to the mycelial ties that bind us all together. From the San Gabriel Mountains, across the sprawling metropolis, and clear out to the coast, Southern California is teeming with fungal life, whose underground networks support an array of ecosystems. Organized by habitat, and featuring full color photos to aid in identification, this guide will help you spot and marvel at mushrooms burgeoning throughout the cityscapes, sand dunes, oak forests, and deserts that surround us. These fungal friends have lessons to teach us, too: through loving observations and stories, Tupac shares our latest understanding of mushrooms' radical reciprocity, vibrant gender fluidity, and the incredible imaginative possibilities that fungi bring into our lives.
Publisher Heyday Books
"Meeting the Mushrooms of Los Angeles encompasses both the philosophy of fungi and mushroom identification in Southern California. The book is filled with beautiful color photos, fun figures, and great examples of mushroom morphology that assist with identification. Featuring deep dives into the ecological roles of fungi, the varied habitats they occur in, along with how to approach stewardship and conservation mindfully. It is well organized, scientifically accurate, and entertaining to read - this book is a must have for anyone interested in the mushrooms of SoCal.”
– Dr. Gordon Walker @FascinatedByFungi, author of "Passport to Kingdom Fungi"
Enter a fungal wonderland to reconnect with nature.
Welcome to the Mycoverse of Los Angeles! In this wondrous guide to common local mushrooms, Aaron Tupac opens Angelenos' eyes to the mycelial ties that bind us all together. From the San Gabriel Mountains, across the sprawling metropolis, and clear out to the coast, Southern California is teeming with fungal life, whose underground networks support an array of ecosystems. Organized by habitat, and featuring full color photos to aid in identification, this guide will help you spot and marvel at mushrooms burgeoning throughout the cityscapes, sand dunes, oak forests, and deserts that surround us.
Inspired by the classic field guides the author grew up with, this is a field guide with a difference. It asks not "What is that mushroom?", but "Who is that mushroom?" It shows its readers how to identify mushrooms and lichens, but also how to identify with them.
These fungal neighbors have lessons to teach us, too: through loving observations and stories, Tupac shares our latest understanding of mushrooms' radical reciprocity, vibrant gender fluidity, and the incredible imaginative possibilities that fungi bring into our lives.
