Data Collection
How were my mushrooms selected?
The work for this project, and this paper, started by selecting eight mushrooms to center my argument around: chanterelle (Cantherelus cibarus), morel (Morchella esculenta), chicken of the woods (Laetiporus sulphureus), death cap (Amanita phalloides), fly agaric (Amanita muscaria), king bolete (Boletus edulis), fairy ring (Marasmius oreades), and turkey tail (Trametes versicolor). My main goal was finding mushrooms of interest that can be found in the Northeast. I then took into consideration which mushrooms are popular to forage or avoid within the area. Therefore, any forager or casual observer stands the chance of finding these fungi in their local ecosystem (if they know where to look!). I also researched which mushrooms are popular within the cultural zeitgeist of the U.S. All eight specimens are well known enough to acquire common names that are in current use. I can say “morel” and a reader would know exactly what I am talking about without needing a scientific name for clarification. These fungi are also all uniquely colored, shaped, and exhibit a variety of edibility, providing a diversity of descriptions to explore within this research. Furthermore, I selected these eight fungi because they are mushrooms that I am passionate about.
How were my source materials collected?
My book selections are split into three parts: field guides and popular science/non fiction, and children’s literature.
Field guides were selected on a regional basis. I live, study, and collect fungi in the Northeastern region of the US. This project is based on what can be found from the top tip of Maine, all the way down to New Jersey. Therefore, nearly all of my field guides focus on this specific area. I consulted a variety of mycological societies for the best guides to use. This included groups such as: Boston Mycological Society, Pioneer Valley Mycological Society (Plus their library guide!), Mycoguide, and the North American Mycological Association. Links are included for users to find further resources on fungi.
Popular science books are based on popularity and the variety of mushrooms mentioned. I first checked out what books mycological/ nature societies recommended for reading outside of field guides. This included sites such as: The Cornell Small Farms Program (Cornell does a lot of mycological research), Mycoweb (archive of book reviews), and other mycology groups. After this, I looked at the r/mycology Reddit page to see what regular people recommended to others for reading. In the special case of Dr. Fun Guy’s Passport to the Mushroom Kingdom, I found this book through iNaturalist. Finally, I looked through what books could be found within the Minuteman Library System and local bookstores.
For children’s literature, I referenced the sites mentioned above, but mainly focused on what was available through the Minuteman Library System. I will go into further detail why within my limitations section.
Limitations
I did run into a few issues while pulling all of my data together. Within children’s literature, as some were more image based rather than text. While some of the recommended children’s books were incredibly interesting and full of information, they did not specifically name the mushrooms used in this project. I sought out books that specifically named mushrooms to make sure that all information was accurate.
Some books did not mention Death Caps or Fly Agaric mushrooms. Fairy Rings were either mentioned as the specific mushroom (Marasmius oreades) or referenced the shape of the mushroom formation, which required close attention in pulling passages. Chicken of the Woods and King Boletes were often referenced by other names, like Sulphur Shelf or Porcini. I had to pay strict attention to Morels, since many kinds fall under the mushroom’s umbrella, and held the chance to refer to a Gray or Black Morel instead of a yellow. Similar inconsistencies happened with collecting Chanterelle data.
Books Used in Project:
Field Guides
Baroni, Timothy J. Mushrooms of the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada. Portland, Oregon, Timber Press, 2017.
Barron, George L. Mushrooms of Northeast North America : Midwest to New England. Edmonton, Lone Pine Pub, 1999.
Lincoff, Gary. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms. Knopf, 1981.
McKnight, Karl B. Peterson Field Guide to Mushrooms of North America. Second edition, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021. Peterson Field Guides.
Mcknight, Kent H, and Vera B Mcknight. A Field Guide to Mushrooms, North America. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1987.
Miller, Orson K, and Hope Miller. North American Mushrooms : A Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi. Falcon Guide, 2006.
Phillips, Roger. Mushrooms & Other Fungi of North America. Firefly Books, 2005.
Telander, Todd. Mushrooms. Rowman & Littlefield, 2023.
Popular Science/ Non-Fiction
Marley, Greg. Chanterelle Dreams, Amanita Nightmares: The Love, Lore, and Mystique of Mushrooms. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2010.
McCoy, Peter. Radical Mycology: A Treatise on Seeing & Working with Fungi. Chthaeus Press, 2016.
Millman, Lawrence. Fungipedia: A Brief Compendium of Mushroom Lore. Princeton University Press, 2019.
Money, Nicholas P. Mushrooms: A Natural and Cultural History. Reaktion Books, Limited, 2017.
Walker, Gordon. Dr. Fun Guy’s Passport to Kingdom Fungi: A Scientist’s Guide to the Wild and Wonderful World of Mushrooms, Molds, and More. Ten Speed Press, 2025.
Children’s Literature:
Arnold, Katya, and Sam Swope. Katya’s Book of Mushrooms. Macmillan, 1997.
Bonkoski, Ariel. Mushrooms & Fungi for Kids. Adventure Publications, 2025.
Geert-Jan Roebers. Mushrooms and Company. Greystone Books Ltd, 2025.
Scott, Katie, and Ester Gaya. Fungarium. London, Big Picture Press, 2020.
Book Titles Within Spreadsheet
For ease of creating data, all of the books used in this project are given a unique ID to link them to a specific passage. Below is a guide for knowing which passage you’re looking at within the spreadsheet.
CDAM- Chanterelle Dreams, Amanita Nightmares
MNC- Mushrooms : A Natural & Cultural History
DF- Dr. Fungi’s Passport to the Mushroom Kingdom
RM- Radical Mycology
MFK- Mushrooms & Fungi for Kids: An Introduction To Mycology
FP- Fungipedia
FG- Fungarium
MC- Mushrooms & Company
KB- Katya’s Books of Mushrooms
AB- The Audubon Society field guide to North American Mushrooms
BF- North American Mushrooms: A Field Guide To Edible And Inedible Fungi
FM- Mushrooms (Falcon Field Guide Series)
MUSEC- Mushrooms of the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada
MNNA -Mushrooms of Northeast North America
MONA- Mushrooms & Other Fungi of North America
PF- Peterson Field Guide To Mushrooms Of North America, First Edition
PS -Peterson Field Guide To Mushrooms Of North America, Second Edition
How were my passages selected?
For the most part, any passage that references a mushroom was selected for this project. From the smallest, “Some people use this fancy mushroom [turkey tails] as jewelry,” to a passage that is paragraph long. On some occasions, a passage is left out for redundancy, like if a book references chanterelles as the same shade of yellow on separate pages. Similarly, if a passage is not specifically focused on a mushroom but more of the genus or family at large, this was also not used for data collection. Passages from children’s literature are often one or two sentences long, where something from non-fiction might span 6 sentences. Within longer passages, some are broken into separate sentences due to topic changes within the section. I wanted to have as many unique passages from a book as possible. However, the long passages from Fungepedia are never broken into smaller pieces, as this is more of an encyclopedia entry with a distinct topic at hand. Similarly, all field guides are kept fully intact, as all passages are mainly composed of fragments.
How were these passages categorized?
This project uses three different types of books to pull passages. Below, I’ve described each type for users to understand the difference. With the exception of children’s literature, the other categories technically fall under the large umbrella of “non-fiction”. I then performed thematic coding to form a list of categories to organize my passages. All of these categories highlight the wide variety of ways that we know, see, and interact with mushrooms within these books. Some examples of this include: the often mentioned history of Roman Emperor Claudius and the death cap, which fell into “deadly poison” and “historical”; while mentions of how to cook a mushroom formed “culinary”. Ranging from art to folklore, to medicinal and historical, I’ve tried to be precise in defining a specific topic. Included below is a list and explanation for each thematic category used in this project so far. These categories still feel partially insufficient to the scope of this project, and I want to get even finer detailed categories for this project over the next few months. Some of these categories are quite large, like “Identification” and “Growing Space”; I hope to perform an even closer analysis on these to tease out the variety of descriptions of color or relationships between mushrooms and nature.
Categories:
Book Types
Field Guide: Book that focuses on scientific evidence and observation. Generally gives the reader information such as taxonomy, physical description, habitat, and other basic facts. Written in a straightforward manner.The use of this book is to help readers identify mushrooms.
Pop Science: Book that includes aspects of scientific and cultural relevance of mushrooms. The structure includes similarities to field guides or encyclopedias but also extends into personal experience. Will include scientific information, but the structure of the book relies on situating the mushroom in everyday life. Written in an inviting form, almost like storytelling. Use of this book is to get users interested in mushrooms without alienating newcomers.
Children’s Literature: Book written mainly for kids, and the parents that are reading them aloud. Includes basic information about mushroom identification, like colors, shape, and fun facts. Science is explained in enough detail for a child between 5-10 to understand. Includes personal anecdotes. Generally avoids too much information on toxic mushrooms. Written to introduce children into topics of the natural world.
Mushroom Categories
Art: Passages that reference various forms of media in relation to mushrooms. This category is not limited to the fine arts, such as painting or photography, but also video games, music, greetings cards, advertisements and film. Anything that mentions an image of a mushroom for entertainment purposes.
Animals: Passages that mention animals in relation to mushrooms. This includes the mention of animals consuming, hunting, or culturally connected to any of the fungi in this project.
Culinary: Passages that focus on the act of preparing and eating any of the mushrooms in this project. This includes passages focused on meal ideas, recipes, preparation tips, and various ingredients that complement fungi.
Identification: Passages that describe physical attributes used to identify a mushroom in the wild. Passages can be extremely detailed, including the height, spore print, stalks, and gills. Or can be incredibly generalized, based on colors or old sayings.
Historical: Passages that reference a mushroom in the context of an event or past use. Generally focused on references prior to the 1990s, leaning more towards Ancient Rome to the early 20th century to be specific.
Look alikes: Passages that focus on mushrooms and their look alikes, both toxic and safe. Some passages focus on similar looking mushrooms from the same genus, ones that you can eat. Others focus on potentially deadly mistakes made from confusing two mushrooms.
Cultural: Passages centered on the space that mushrooms occupy in the zeitgeist. This focuses on how people see the mushroom in the context of their space, like a statewide mushroom festival or a holiday icon– a specific use outside of culinary arts. Religion is also included in this section, as it focuses on specific practices that one religion or people may use a mushroom for.
Folklore: Passages focused on the mythos surrounding a mushroom. This category tends to lean towards Europe & Russia as the main folklore providers, ranging from stories about fairies to witchcraft.
Minor Poison: Passages that focus on lesser instances of poisoning that come with eating a mushroom. This includes food poisoning/GI issues, external chemicals, incorrect preparation, and other issues that come from consuming a mushroom. Basically, the mushroom won’t kill you, but you will regret eating it.
Deadly Poison: Passages that focus on mushrooms with deadly potential. Mentions of toxic chemical structure, how the poison works on the human body, and a variety of deaths caused by mushroom consumption over time.
Hallucinatory: Passages centered on mushroom induced hallucinations and its other side effects. Mushrooms mentioned in this category do not fall under the umbrella of general use for psychedelics. The category focuses more on experiments, religious practices, and historical uses.
Literature: Passages that focus on references made to literary allusions to mushrooms in books, this also includes authors. Books do not need to be fiction, as scientific and other genres will be applied here. This category also includes poetry, newspaper articles, and jokes! (And who doesn’t love a good joke?)
Economic Value: Passages that recognize a mushroom as monetary value. These paragraphs or sentences mention mushrooms in the context of money, capitalism, economics, costs, labor, and trade. Naming: Passages that focus on how a mushroom is named, or what we lovingly call it. While this category may include how specific taxonomic names came to be, this is mainly structured around the cultural names given to a mushroom. From North America to Europe, Africa to Asia, names given by specific countries are covered here.
Growing Space: Passages centered on the relationship between mushrooms and their environment. This category contains the specific trees that mushrooms enjoy, as well as the land surrounding them. No human interaction is found here. Medicinal: Passages that focus on the use of mushrooms as a medical device. Includes eastern & western practices, as well as other non-traditional ways of using mushrooms to heal/aid in medical situations.
Foraging: Passages that recognize the physical interaction between humans and mushrooms. Not to be confused with labor, but seeking out mushrooms as a hobby. It is the act of looking for a mushroom in the woods and bringing it home. Often writing with a loving, caring emotion towards the fungi.
Tools Used for this Project
Voyant
I chose Voyant for its user-friendliness and easy access for any age user, as accessibility is the utmost importance to this project. I wanted a tool that would be able to perform basic analysis of my spreadsheet of data. I found the distinctive word section in the summary to be incredibly helpful for forming the base of this project.
Using this tool, I was able to see the unique words and phrases that stood out from passages focused on specific categories and mushrooms. For example, I could pull out the specific terms, like words relating to shape and “gill” form, and colors, a variety of yellows and oranges, used to describe a chanterelle for easier comparison between books. I could see all of the culinary words related to morels and chicken of the woods. It was easier to see all of the folklore names attached to fairy rings and fly agarics. These results allowed me to prepare an argument for marking the inconsistencies in writing between genres.
Eventually, I will visualize a few other aspects of Voyant, but some of this data will be used for writing my thesis. All of the data gained from using Voyant can be found on my Github. I want users to be able to play around with the tool on their own.
Cytoscape
The network for this project is formed through Cytoscape. This tool was chosen for its use in forming easy to interact with visualizations of my data.. After a few weeks of trial and error, I realized that the best use of this tool would come from post-Voyant analysis. Using the most unique distinct words from each category, I created a visualization of the data and a way to see any potential connections between categories.
This network allowed me to see patterns within my data that seemed invisible while reading each of these texts. Through Cytoscape, I could see how certain mushrooms grouped together due to the unique words that describe them. This result helped me decide which mushrooms to pair together within categories to further examine within this paper. While certain mushrooms were expected to group together,like the fly agaric and death cap, I found that “opposite” mushrooms had more in common than I previously thought. A major example is the fly agaric and the chanterelle, who both have a heavy focus on their physical appearance. Similarly, the high use of cultural words found in fairy rings and turkey tails made them an ideal pair for writing about cultural significance.
Users will be able to scroll through the Cytoscape visualization via my Github page. Right now, it is slightly difficult to navigate. I am working on trying to create a more friendly way to insert the network onto my page.
Github
This data is held on a Github repository. I want users to be able to see how I organized all of my passages, in hopes that others might make a similar project for mushrooms in their area or ones that are important to them. I also want this work to be easily accessible to potential future collaborators. The project itself is hosted on Github pages, where users will be able to access the visualization and analysis of these mushrooms.