Biodiversity in the North West: Puffballs, Earthballs and Other Gasteroid Fungi of Cheshire, Lancashire, Cumbria and the Isle of Man. 2024. 15 col. illus. 55 p. gr8vo. Paper bd.

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.