Author Peter I. Thompson Features Ascomycetes in His New Book

Ascomycetes in Colour by Peter I. Thompson illustrates with colour photographs 700 species from the ascomycota. This book provides the field mycologist with a reference guide for locating and identifying a wide range of ascomycetes, which grow in many different habitats.

Ascomycetes in Colour illustrates and describes fungi that are mainly cups, discs and spheres which grow on, or just beneath the surface of their host. The ascomycetes' shapes, sizes, colours and textures vary greatly and together they represent an intricate and beautiful part of the fungus kingdom. Thompson visited different types of terrain to search for these fungi. He selected the types of public access land where trees, herbaceous plants, ferns, rushes and grasses grow naturally, with minimal assistance from people. He went to woods, marshes, banks of rivers, streams, lakes and ponds, coastal sand dunes, quarries and grasslands. Thompson collected samples of the ascomycetes found and then proceeded to identify them from their microscopic characteristics.

This volume reveals the colourful ascomycetes Thompson had discovered. These fungi grow on a wide range of substrates. All of the species have been found and photographed in mainland Britain. The author is publishing this book to provide the reader with an up to date and more comprehensive book with colour illustrations than any other currently available.

This book will be featured on the May 1, 2014 issue of the Library Journal. For more information on this book, interested parties may log on to http://www.XlibrisPublishing.com.

About the Author
Peter Thompson has been searching for and photographing fungi for twelve years. Initially living in Hampshire and foraying with the Hampshire Fungus Recording Group, he learnt the basics necessary for finding and identifying some of the larger fungi whilst using his photographic skills, learnt some years previously, to capture them on film. Following a move to the West Midlands, Peter started exploring new territory. In 2007, he purchased a camera lens capable of magnifying up to five times life size and started to seek out the tiny microfungi from the ascomycota. Identifying these fungi proved to be a major challenge with the available literature, so some samples were posted to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew for identification. After a couple of years, Peter began to wonder if it would be possible to create an illustrated book to assist with identification of fungi from the ascomycota. About a year later, he decided that it was possible, and with numbers of photographed and identified species steadily growing, he set a target of 700 species by October 2012. The target was achieved and Ascomycetes in Colour was created.

Ascomycetes in Colour * by Peter I. Thompson
Found and Photographed in Mainland Britain
Picture Book; $68.78; 408 pages; 978-1-4797-4755-9
Picture Book Hardcover; $100.78; 408 pages; 978-1-4797-4756-6

Members of the media who wish to review this book may request a complimentary paperback copy by contacting the publisher at +800-056-3182. To purchase copies of the book for resale, please fax Xlibris at 44-203-006-8880 or call +800-056-3182.