About Field Mycology

Field Mycology is a quarterly publication produced by the British Mycological Society.

In the twenty years that our journal  has been produced, the editors have always striven to follow some basic guidelines which we set up right at the beginning of our first issue:

• to present articles that we would want to read ourselves
• to provide identification keys wherever possible
• to present photographs of less well-known or rarely illustrated species
• to maintain a high standard of photographic illustration

• to cover a wide range of fungal topics appealing to both the beginner and the more advanced
reader
• to prepare special themed issues.

Navigating our way through the years while trying to maintain these aspirations hasn't always been easy but we believe that we have succeeded in producing one of the best and most informative mycological journals on the market. We are fortunate to have on board some of the most widely respected mycologists who generously give of their time to help edit and refine each issue, as well as providing content. It is particularly pleasing that we have been able to include articles from a wide range of authors and countries in addition to Britain, including such fascinating topics as the collection and use of Cordyceps in Tibet, the fungi of Cyprus, waxcaps in New Zealand, Morels in North America, the genus Amanita in Europe
and many others.

We are very aware that many of the journal's readers are just starting out on their studies of fungi and we make great efforts to include articles of particular interest to the beginner including, among others, articles on microscopical and preparation techniques, how to dry fungi for preservation, fungal dictionaries in French, German and Italian and preserving spore prints. Another major part of Field Mycology is keeping our readers abreast of the current literature by providing comprehensive book reviews of the latest field guides and more technical reference works.

We have been especially pleased to be able to present more comprehensive treatments of particular families or genera, often with keys to species. Previous treatments have included the British boletes, the genus Scleroderma, keys to Hypoxylon, Psathyrella species, keys to British Leccinum species, the genus Chlorophyllum, British Clavaria species and many more. Another area of great interest is that of fungi found in particular habitats, and we have covered such diverse topics of fungi in the extreme north of Scotland, fungi of Alder carr and fungi of dead beechwood. This is something we will be producing more of in future issues, since habitat-based articles are of great interest to anyone trying to study the ecology of a particular site and where more focussed recording can be particularly useful.

The future presents many challenges, not least keeping up with the often great changes in the taxonomy of fungi following the explosion of interest and studies in their DNA. Field Mycology will continue to provide the latest viewpoints and advances in this most fascinating of sciences and we look forward to the next ten years with as much enthusiasm and excitement as the previous ten.

SUBSCRIBING TO THE JOURNAL

BMS Members

Digital copies of Field Mycology published from February 2022 are free to BMS Members, and available on the BMS website.  Members can now subscribe to print copies at a lower cost than in previous years: £12 (including postage) for an annual subscrption of four issues.

Non-members

Subscription to either digital or print copies for non-members is £55 per annum, including postage.  Note that it would be more cost effective to become a member of the BMS (£38 per annum, including access to digital copies, plus £12 for print copies).

Individual articles are available on request at £35 per article.  

Details of all BMS journal subscriptions can be found here.

Please contact admin@britmycolsoc.info to arrange a non-member subscription.