Shroomer Publications?
Mar 28th, 2013 by adharris
This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the newly acquired Santo Domingo collection.
What to do if you are looking for the “ultimate guide for safe mushroom picking”? Frank and Cheeri Rinaldo have got you covered with Safe-pik, a flip book of handy mushroom identification cards. Measuring only about 2 1/2 by 4 inches it could easily fit in your pocket and deals mainly with Psilocybins, the type of mushrooms that contain a naturally occuring psychedelic compound. There is a helpful disclaimer that children should not take mushrooms, one should never trespass, and that mushrooms should be used for the purpose they were intended… mind expansion.
Identification of mushrooms is hardly a new concept as seen by the German publication Naturgeschichte des Pflanzenreiches in Bildern by Dr. Gotthilf Heinrich von Schubert.
Schubert was a 19th-century German physician, naturalist, and professor in Munich. Naturgeschichte des Pflanzenreiches in Bildern is the botanical part of a textbook set, Lehrbuch der Naturgeschichte, that includes additonal plates. The beautiful hand-colored lithographic plates help to identify and educate the reader to also expand their mind… though perhaps the intent was not in quite the same way as the Rinaldos.
Mushrooms may have an even greater role according to mycologist Paul Stamets who states that they play a vital role in the survival of both earth and the human race. Stamets has published many books including Mycelium running : how mushrooms can help save the world which can be found here at Harvard. Stamets briefly explains the connection between mushrooms and survival in an amazing video excerpt featuring time-lapse footage of mushrooms from the documentary Fantastic Fungi: The Forbidden Fruit.
To see more botananical items from the Julio Mario Santo Domingo Collection check out the Botany Libraries.
Naturgeschichte des Pflanzenreiches in Bildern : nach der Anordung des allgemein bekannten und beliebten Lehrbuchs der Naturgeschichte / von G.H. v. Schubert ; bearbeitet von Chr. F. Hochstetter. Esslingen a. N. : J.F. Schreiber, [1865]. Bot Ill Sch8n 1865.
Safe-pik mushroom identification cards / [Frank & Cheeri Rinaldo ; photographs by John Allen]. [Seattle?] : Shroomer Publications, c1979. QK604.2.H34 S127 1979x.
Thanks to Alison Harris, Santo Domingo Project Manager, Gretchen Wade, and Judith Warnement of the Botany Libraries for contributing this post.