Ethnomycology is part of a broader discipline, ethnobiology, which is dedicated to the study of the dynamic relationships among people, biota and environments. Yet the distinctive local knowledge systems, practices and uses of the fungi kingdom by human populations to date make up a tiny portion of the total subject matter of ethnobiological research performed worldwide. Fungi are fascinating bioforms that provoke diverse, and sometimes starkly opposed, reactions among different peoples. Viewpoints oscillate between use and avoidance, food and poison, mundane and ritual, divine and demonic, beautiful and hideous creatures. Considering the extreme variation in the types of material and in the symbolic interactions between human cultural groups and fungal taxa, it would seem that this subject offers a potentially rich and largely untapped opportunity for future scientific investigation. Furthermore, the proliferation of well designed, in-depth studies of human%u2013fungi relationships could make a substantial contribution, at both empirical and theoretical levels, to the continuing development of ethnobiology as a whole. It is suggested here that many field methods currently used in ethnobiology are relevant for ethnomycological research and the realization of this potential application could have an invigorating effect on the development of the subfield.