The Rainbow Beneath My Feet

This year we're learning about mushrooms – in the garden, great outdoors, kitchen, and dye pot. This time our book is The Rainbow Beneath My Feet: A Mushroom Dyer's Field Guide, by Arleen Rainis Bessette and Alan E. Bessette, both mycologists and authors. The book was published by Syracuse University Press (2001), and is dedicated to Miriam C. Rice for her pioneering work using mushrooms for dyes, and to Susan Hopkins for her expertise in mycology and fabric dyeing. The stated objective of the book is to provide a comprehensive reference and field guide to some of the more common and best color-producing dye mushrooms of North America.

The first part of the book provides an introduction to the whole subject of dyeing with mushrooms. The parts of a mushroom are described and accompanied with a clear and comprehensive illustration by Sam Norris (shown below). It includes more details than previous drawings that I've seen, while remaining at the summary level. Information is provided for collecting and preserving mushrooms (dehydration is best), and creating a spore print. A summary of dyeing with mushrooms includes information about equipment, preparing fabric for dyeing, preparing the dye bath, and dyeing wool (silk is mentioned, but only in passing).

The bulk of the book describes how to identify mushrooms, using identification keys and an excellent color key to the major groups of dye mushrooms. The book focuses on the more common and best color-producing dye mushrooms of North America. Detailed descriptions and colored photos are provided for these mushrooms, as well as detailed mordant and dye notes. I was pleased to see the three mushrooms that I'm dyeing with this year described—Boletes edulis (King Bolete), Omphalotus olivascens (Western Jack O Lantern), and Phaeolus schweinitzii (Dyer's Polypore).

The back matter provides notes about color, a mushroom species dye color list, and a list of dye duds. A list of illustrations and and an index, as well as cross referencing between the mushroom descriptions and photos, makes it easy to navigate around the guide and find the information you want.

Parts of the Mushroom (illustration by Sam Norris, page 6)

This is another wonderful reference book for mushroom dyers. I appreciate that the book describes the best dye mushrooms found in the United States, including the West, Pacific Northwest, and Northern California, and even lists many that produce no dye color. The mushroom descriptions, color photos, and dye notes are so useful. I highly recommend this book as a resource for anyone wanting to learn more about dyeing with mushrooms.