Beep Boop

You just randomly deleting people's blogs for no reason and no warning?

This is a bad sign growing indoors, there is almost certainly water damage and/or rotting wood in your walls.

Unfortunately due to the very specific requirements needed to identify macrofungi, I cannot identify most of these. Unless an extremely well known and very physically distinct mushroom, such as those Amanita muscaria in the center or the Cantherellus species next to them, and what is possibly Collybia nuda in those large groups of upside down purple ones, most of these are going to be fairly difficult to identify with any accuracy.

An international group of qualified mushroom identifiers who do worldwide identification in emergency cases have identified the Shroomers App as a potentially very dangerous system that could kill you if you try to use it to identify edible mushrooms. They use AI to generate almost all of their content, including their identification profiles on their app as well as their books and other materials. Not only is this unethical from a content creation standpoint, it is also extremely dangerous.

DO NOT USE APPS FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES BEYOND SIMPLE CURIOSITY. A MISTAKE WHEN IDENTIFYING AN EDIBLE COULD COST YOU YOUR LIFE. DO NOT EAT ANY FORAGED MUSHROOM YOU CANNOT IDENTIFY YOURSELF BY SIGHT OR HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED IN PERSON BY SOMEONE WHO CAN.

ONLY BUY BOOKS FROM REPUTABLE SOURCES AND AT THIS POINT THAT MEANS ASKING EXPERIENCED PEOPLE WHAT BOOKS THEY USE.

do not EVER eat foraged plants or ESPECIALLY fungi unless you are completely sure. read ecology books, botany books, and mycology books. learn lookalikes.

even if you Do think you know what a mushroom is, do clarifying experiments- look at bruising, the patterns under the cap, literally anything identifying. do the same with plants- how are the leaves arranged, what do the edges look like, where is it growing, etc?

Seek is less serious and really an App more designed for hobbyists and casual observers. I would also like to correct you on one thing as someone who has used both apps extensively. The Seek app absolutely didn't tell you something was EDIBLE. It may have misidentified your mushroom as something you knew to be edible, but iNat and Seek don't venture into edibility talk (because as we've seen with other apps, hence my whole post, irresponsible). They do however sometimes link to other sites or resources where edibility may be a detail discussed along with other pertinent information, but they themselves don't have edibility information, and I think that's an extremely important distinction here.

It can be easy to screw up majorly referencing even the best quality guidebook if you just glance at it, or have some fundamental misunderstanding, or hit the 1 major error in an otherwise good source and don’t reference anything else, much diminishing your chance of catching an error or misleading but technically correct stumbling block.

Therefore I say for something new, 3 or more different quality sources (well-referenced guidebooks or sites) that aren’t just copying each other if you want to ID for non-ingestion (eg like for dyes), at least 5 if you are a beginner and want to ID to ingest. And even then of course we all cringe and say go to a club! Ask an experienced friend! But there’s always someone starting out without those things, so in their absence, at least close reference of ~5+ quality sources.

And for iNat engaging with it fully makes it count as one quality source . Fully to me is:

Check what the computer ID says, note everything listed not just the top one

Post your observation with a genus from one of those IDs or a higher taxa (ex: Russulaceae), see what people say,

in the meantime look through a number of potentials

Refer to the maps of observations,

And the “similar species” tab (available on desktop version of the site),

Check out that taxonomy tab and click through to explore your best guess(es)’s near relatives

Just taking a glance at the computer ID or the first suggestion by someone else just working off a picture? No. That’s something but not book or 1:1 expert counsel equivalent.

But!! If you put a lot into it iNat can for sure be a book equivalent to me. Or at least a strong support (though you do have to go elsewhere for keys and descriptions — unless you count how iNat users post their own keys in journals/guides on the site sometimes)

An international group of qualified mushroom identifiers who do worldwide identification in emergency cases have identified the Shroomers App as a potentially very dangerous system that could kill you if you try to use it to identify edible mushrooms. They use AI to generate almost all of their content, including their identification profiles on their app as well as their books and other materials. Not only is this unethical from a content creation standpoint, it is also extremely dangerous.

DO NOT USE APPS FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES BEYOND SIMPLE CURIOSITY. A MISTAKE WHEN IDENTIFYING AN EDIBLE COULD COST YOU YOUR LIFE. DO NOT EAT ANY FORAGED MUSHROOM YOU CANNOT IDENTIFY YOURSELF BY SIGHT OR HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED IN PERSON BY SOMEONE WHO CAN.

ONLY BUY BOOKS FROM REPUTABLE SOURCES AND AT THIS POINT THAT MEANS ASKING EXPERIENCED PEOPLE WHAT BOOKS THEY USE.

No mistake, especially one spurred on by apps promising impossible things to people that don't know any better, is deserving of death.

An international group of qualified mushroom identifiers who do worldwide identification in emergency cases have identified the Shroomers App as a potentially very dangerous system that could kill you if you try to use it to identify edible mushrooms. They use AI to generate almost all of their content, including their identification profiles on their app as well as their books and other materials. Not only is this unethical from a content creation standpoint, it is also extremely dangerous.

DO NOT USE APPS FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES BEYOND SIMPLE CURIOSITY. A MISTAKE WHEN IDENTIFYING AN EDIBLE COULD COST YOU YOUR LIFE. DO NOT EAT ANY FORAGED MUSHROOM YOU CANNOT IDENTIFY YOURSELF BY SIGHT OR HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED IN PERSON BY SOMEONE WHO CAN.

ONLY BUY BOOKS FROM REPUTABLE SOURCES AND AT THIS POINT THAT MEANS ASKING EXPERIENCED PEOPLE WHAT BOOKS THEY USE.

do not EVER eat foraged plants or ESPECIALLY fungi unless you are completely sure. read ecology books, botany books, and mycology books. learn lookalikes.

even if you Do think you know what a mushroom is, do clarifying experiments- look at bruising, the patterns under the cap, literally anything identifying. do the same with plants- how are the leaves arranged, what do the edges look like, where is it growing, etc?

Seek is less serious and really an App more designed for hobbyists and casual observers. I would also like to correct you on one thing as someone who has used both apps extensively. The Seek app absolutely didn't tell you something was EDIBLE. It may have misidentified your mushroom as something you knew to be edible, but iNat and Seek don't venture into edibility talk (because as we've seen with other apps, hence my whole post, irresponsible). They do however sometimes link to other sites or resources where edibility may be a detail discussed along with other pertinent information, but they themselves don't have edibility information, and I think that's an extremely important distinction here.

Also, you should never assume the members of the iNat community who propose identifications for your observation are doing it to advise you on the edibility of your specimens! I personally would be horrified if someone thought my ID was a thumbs-up for eating something. I don't identify observations when there's any indication the person might try to eat the mushroom because I'm just not experienced enough to be comfortable with that, even though I try to only add IDs where I've done research. If you're going to use iNat, or any other online crowdsourced resource, you need to do your own research and understand that you are responsible for making the decision about whether to eat something.

An international group of qualified mushroom identifiers who do worldwide identification in emergency cases have identified the Shroomers App as a potentially very dangerous system that could kill you if you try to use it to identify edible mushrooms. They use AI to generate almost all of their content, including their identification profiles on their app as well as their books and other materials. Not only is this unethical from a content creation standpoint, it is also extremely dangerous.

DO NOT USE APPS FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES BEYOND SIMPLE CURIOSITY. A MISTAKE WHEN IDENTIFYING AN EDIBLE COULD COST YOU YOUR LIFE. DO NOT EAT ANY FORAGED MUSHROOM YOU CANNOT IDENTIFY YOURSELF BY SIGHT OR HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED IN PERSON BY SOMEONE WHO CAN.

ONLY BUY BOOKS FROM REPUTABLE SOURCES AND AT THIS POINT THAT MEANS ASKING EXPERIENCED PEOPLE WHAT BOOKS THEY USE.

do not EVER eat foraged plants or ESPECIALLY fungi unless you are completely sure. read ecology books, botany books, and mycology books. learn lookalikes.

even if you Do think you know what a mushroom is, do clarifying experiments- look at bruising, the patterns under the cap, literally anything identifying. do the same with plants- how are the leaves arranged, what do the edges look like, where is it growing, etc?

Seek is less serious and really an App more designed for hobbyists and casual observers. I would also like to correct you on one thing as someone who has used both apps extensively. The Seek app absolutely didn't tell you something was EDIBLE. It may have misidentified your mushroom as something you knew to be edible, but iNat and Seek don't venture into edibility talk (because as we've seen with other apps, hence my whole post, irresponsible). They do however sometimes link to other sites or resources where edibility may be a detail discussed along with other pertinent information, but they themselves don't have edibility information, and I think that's an extremely important distinction here.

An international group of qualified mushroom identifiers who do worldwide identification in emergency cases have identified the Shroomers App as a potentially very dangerous system that could kill you if you try to use it to identify edible mushrooms. They use AI to generate almost all of their content, including their identification profiles on their app as well as their books and other materials. Not only is this unethical from a content creation standpoint, it is also extremely dangerous.

DO NOT USE APPS FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES BEYOND SIMPLE CURIOSITY. A MISTAKE WHEN IDENTIFYING AN EDIBLE COULD COST YOU YOUR LIFE. DO NOT EAT ANY FORAGED MUSHROOM YOU CANNOT IDENTIFY YOURSELF BY SIGHT OR HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED IN PERSON BY SOMEONE WHO CAN.

ONLY BUY BOOKS FROM REPUTABLE SOURCES AND AT THIS POINT THAT MEANS ASKING EXPERIENCED PEOPLE WHAT BOOKS THEY USE.

- Have someone knowledgeable with you to check the specimens you're unsure about!

An international group of qualified mushroom identifiers who do worldwide identification in emergency cases have identified the Shroomers App as a potentially very dangerous system that could kill you if you try to use it to identify edible mushrooms. They use AI to generate almost all of their content, including their identification profiles on their app as well as their books and other materials. Not only is this unethical from a content creation standpoint, it is also extremely dangerous.

DO NOT USE APPS FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES BEYOND SIMPLE CURIOSITY. A MISTAKE WHEN IDENTIFYING AN EDIBLE COULD COST YOU YOUR LIFE. DO NOT EAT ANY FORAGED MUSHROOM YOU CANNOT IDENTIFY YOURSELF BY SIGHT OR HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED IN PERSON BY SOMEONE WHO CAN.

ONLY BUY BOOKS FROM REPUTABLE SOURCES AND AT THIS POINT THAT MEANS ASKING EXPERIENCED PEOPLE WHAT BOOKS THEY USE.

This blog is a great read though. Mr Mushroom Eating Genius credits yoga, visualisation, and Jesus for his survival, while being worked on by umpteen doctors in the ICU of a major Western hospital.

Do you have to be careful? Yes.

Should you utilize experts and learn as much as you can before doing so? Yes.

Is there inherent risk involved? Of course, that's the nature of any hobby.

Join a local mushroom club. Take courses. Learn as much as you can from reputable sources.

Mushrooms are a much maligned organism that's worthy of our time, adoration, and attention. Spreading mycophobia and fear mongering over them won't help anyone.

An international group of qualified mushroom identifiers who do worldwide identification in emergency cases have identified the Shroomers App as a potentially very dangerous system that could kill you if you try to use it to identify edible mushrooms. They use AI to generate almost all of their content, including their identification profiles on their app as well as their books and other materials. Not only is this unethical from a content creation standpoint, it is also extremely dangerous.

DO NOT USE APPS FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES BEYOND SIMPLE CURIOSITY. A MISTAKE WHEN IDENTIFYING AN EDIBLE COULD COST YOU YOUR LIFE. DO NOT EAT ANY FORAGED MUSHROOM YOU CANNOT IDENTIFY YOURSELF BY SIGHT OR HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED IN PERSON BY SOMEONE WHO CAN.

ONLY BUY BOOKS FROM REPUTABLE SOURCES AND AT THIS POINT THAT MEANS ASKING EXPERIENCED PEOPLE WHAT BOOKS THEY USE.

The following product(s) has the potential to kill you.

Do not, under any circumstances, use the "Shroomers" app, FB, Discord, AI-generated "books" for sale or any other application. The haphazardly compiled data from various online sources does not constitute useful information. This mindless project can and will, if used uncritically, cause poisonings.

And we really have far too much to do here, as it is."