Includes bibliographical references (p. 307-324)

Pt. I: The mycelial mind. Mycelium as nature's Internet ; The mushroom life cycle ; Mushrooms in their natural habitats ; The medicinal mushroom forest -- Pt. II: Mycorestoration. Mycofiltration ; Mycoforestry ; Mycoremediation ; Mycopesticides -- Pt. III: Growing mycelia and mushrooms. Inoculation methods : spores, spawn, and stem butts ; Cultivating mushrooms on straw and leached cow manure ; Cultivating mushrooms on logs and stumps ; Gardening with gourmet and medicinal mushrooms ; Magnificent mushrooms : the cast of species ; Nutritional properties of mushrooms

Growing more mushrooms may be the best thing we can do to save the environment, and mushroom expert Paul Stamets explains how in this groundbreaking manual. The science goes like this: fine filaments of cells called mycelium, the fruit of which are mushrooms, already cover large areas of land around the world. As the mycelium grows, it breaks down plant and animal debris, recycling carbon, nitrogen, and other elements in the creation of rich new soil. What Stamets shows is that the enzymes and acids that mycelium produces to decompose this debris are superb at breaking apart hydrocarbons--the base of many pollutants. Stamets discusses the various branches of this exciting new technology, including mycorestoration (biotransforming stripped land), mycofiltration (creating habitat buffers), myco-remediation (healing chemically harmed environments), and mycoforestry (creating truly sustainable forests).--From publisher description