Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian

A thrilling book about the abounding queerness of the natural world that challenges our expectations of what is normal, beautiful, and possible. Growing up, Patricia Kaishian felt most at home in the swamps and culverts near her house in the Hudson Valley. A child who frequently felt out of place, too much of one thing or not enough of another, she found acceptance in these settings, among other amphibious beings. In snakes, snails, and, above all, fungi, she saw her own developing identities as a queer, neurodivergent person reflected back at her--and in them, too, she found a personal path to a life of science. In Forest Euphoria, Kaishian shows us this making of a scientist and introduces readers to the queerness, literal and otherwise, of all the life around us. Fungi, we learn, commonly have more than two biological sexes--and some as many as twenty-three thousand. Some intersex slugs mutually fire calcium carbonate "love darts" at each other during courtship. Glass eels are sexually undetermined until their last year of life, which stumped scientists once dubbed "the eel question." Nature, Kaishian shows us, is filled with the unusual, the overlooked, and the marginalized--and they have lessons for us all. Wide-ranging, richly observant, and full of surprise, Forest Euphoria will open your eyes and change how you look at the world around you.

Venture into the woods alongside a pioneering female mycologist. This one-of-a-kind, keepsake volume celebrates the timeless fascination of fungi. Very little is known about M. F. Lewis—not even her first name. Mysterious, prolific, and deeply enamored with the world of mushrooms, she left us a treasure trove of mycological illustrations. For over forty years, from 1860 to 1902, Lewis rambled across England and Wales, recording an astonishing biodiversity of fungi. Her delicately drawn, boldly colored images evoke the strange and powerful beauty of this kingdom. This handsome volume collects hundreds of Lewis's watercolors, contextualized by a foreword from mycologist Dr. Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian. It's a must-have for today's mushroom lovers who are curious about the history of mycology and for any admirer of vintage botanical illustration who wants to discover something different. FASCINATING FUNGI: Mushrooms are having a real moment, but they've always captured our imaginations, even in Victorian times. Lewis's gorgeous artwork offers the modern mushroom fan a new way to appreciate their favorite kingdom. VINTAGE AESTHETIC: This lovely clothbound volume evokes the magic of uncovering a treasure in a jumbled vintage bookstore. FEMINIST HISTORY: While little is known of the elusive M. F. Lewis, we can celebrate the legacy that she and other female naturalists of the 19th century left for women in science and art today. ARTFUL SCIENCE: Lewis's illustrated field notes showcase the intersection of art and science at its best. Perfect for: Mushroom hunters, eaters, and admirers Fans of cottagecore and goblincore aesthetics Collectors of vintage books and vintage botanical illustration Collectors of Victorian ephemera Readers of feminist history Environmentalists, scientists, and artists