Bruce Ing, Biodiversity in the North West: The Puffballs, Earthballs and Other Gasteroid Fungi of Cheshire, Lancashire, Cumbria and the Isle of Man

The historical counties of Cheshire, Lancashire, Westmorland and Cumberland have a rich diversity of geology, landscape, vegetation and wildlife. This is an account of a popular group of fungi, the puffballs, earthballs, earthstars, bird’s-nest fungi and stinkhorns, which are easily spotted, fairly easy to identify and, in many cases, long lasting in the fruiting stage.  Several are important mycorrhizal partners of trees and are especially popular with young people who like to puff them!

After a short introduction to the biology of the fungi, the physical and biological environment of the North West and the Isle of Man is described. The main part of the book is a detailed catalogue of all the species recorded in the region, with information about their ecology, distribution and abundance. The records date back to the nineteenth century but are concentrated in the last sixty years.

The author taught at Chester College, now the University of Chester from 1971 to 2013 and is Visiting Professor of Environmental Biology and Emeritus Professor of Applied Science at the University. He has studied mildews for more than fifty years and has published numerous papers on the group. He lived in Mold for nearly forty years but is now retired to the north-west Highlands of Scotland, where he continues to research the local fungi.

Ordering information
Bruce Ing, Biodiversity in the North West: The Puffballs, Earthballs and Other Gasteroid Fungi of Cheshire, Lancashire, Cumbria and the Isle of Man, 2024, ISBN 978-1-910481-23-3, £10.99.

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See Bruce Ing's range of mycology titles published by the University of Chester Press.

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