Stephenson Co-Edits New Book on Wild Mushrooms

Steve Stephenson, affiliate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, is the coeditor of a book titled Wild Mushrooms and Health: Diversity, Phytochemistry, Medical Benefits, and Cultivation, recently published by CRC Press.

Wild mushrooms have been used for medicinal purposes by humans for thousands of years and still represent an important component of traditional medicine in many societies, especially in Asia. Certain species of mushrooms have been considered useful in the treatment of conditions such as obesity, cardiovascular health, cholesterol balance and diabetes.

This book represents a comprehensive review of all aspects of medicinal mushrooms, including their diversity, distribution, ecology, cultivation, descriptions of specific species, potential for the discovery of new drugs and the folklore associated with these fungi. Stephenson has collected mushrooms in several parts of Asia, including India, Thailand, Vietnam and China.

Stephenson, who retired from teaching in January 2023, has published a number of other books on mushrooms, including the field guide Mushrooms of the Southeast (Timber Press, 2018), written in collaboration with Todd Elliott, a fellow mycologist. This book has already gone through five printings, and the area covered includes the state of Arkansas. He is best known for his publications on a group of fungus-like organisms known as mycomycetes. 

This story also appeared in the University of Arkansas News publication.