Since the authors' first systematic collection of poroid fungi in the 1970s in various parts of Africa, it became apparent that each subsequent collection foray yielded more undescribed species. This book has been produced as an additional updated and practical tool to examine the vast under-explored poroid fungi of the continent.
Poroid Fungi of Africa is a manual with keys and descriptions of 490 poroid fungi in 88 genera known from Africa, out of which 139 are illustrated with colour pictures and black and white drawings. Macro and microscopical characters are described and illustrated and decay and pathological significance are discussed. The taxonomic concepts are conservative and pragmatic as the book is primarily a tool for species identification and not a phylogenetic study of African poroid fungi. The species descriptions are set up in a standardised manner. In many cases, the host species are omitted since they are invariably angiosperms. The genera and species descriptions are broadly stated except for countries where specimens have been specifically examined. There are keys to families and genera and species. References and an index of Latin names are included.