Robin Dean Sooner or later most beginners, having become interested in mushrooms and toadstools to the extent that they feel they are able reliably to recognize several of the commoner species in the field and are proudly managing to cope with some of the basic terminology without too much trouble, make the above statement. Several questions now arise. Yes, you do need one if you are to make progress because in no time at all you will find that you are making mistakes in identification because photographs, however good, are not enough. There are things to be looked at which don't show up in the pictures. Here you may hit on some problems we're going to try to help you with.
Spores come in different shapes and sizes and their surface and internal features vary.
The different parts of fungi e.g. basidia, cystidia, asci, and the pattern of the hyphae inside the gills of some fungi may all vary too according to the group or species the individual fungus belongs to. These things are described in all but the simplest literature. They are the clues to accurate identification and they cannot be seen without the aid of a microscope. The brochures are bewildering. A lot of things need to be taken into account here, not least cost.