a selection of these apps, some of which work quite well, especially if your level of ignorance of a topic is high. Disclosing my biases and prejudices


will assist in better appreciating this evaluation. I prefer free apps. I might buy one if there is a one-time charge. I will never buy anything that requires a monthly or yearly subscription. Been there, done that. Te hours and clicks required to cancel are not worth it. My children may still be responsible for paying long after my demise. I am very wary of any app that offers a basic free version and then immediately suggests an upgrade to the pro-level. Such come- ons are disingenuous; many inserting annoying ads or other links after every click. Beware. One mistake, one careless click, and your phone might be fatally infected . As of November 2021, Google Play


lists 43 mushroom identification apps of which about a quarter require payment. Te rest claim to be free, some allowing a few identifications each day and then demanding a subscription, or urging you to try again the next day. Te ones selected for evaluation all had 4 star- reviews or more. Such evaluations are nonsense, since the ratings are done by people even less knowledgeable than I, if that’s possible. It is the classic blind leading the blind, or the ignorant leading the stupid. I can’t imagine how bad the lower rated ones are. Tis evaluation was based on downloading six of the most highly “rated” mushroom identification apps to an Android phone and testing each against photographs of 20 mushrooms — some iconic, others more problematic. Tere are two major flavors. Te first,


and the one that most newbies gravitate to, is the simple photo app. Take a photo, or load one from your gallery, and it will tell you what it is. Maybe. Some are slightly more sophisticated, first requesting that you select a category such as mushrooms with gills or pores, followed by your photograph. Te second major group is a simple synoptic key, in which you enter a variety of features, such as color, stipe, cap, etc. Tis provokes a selection of photographs of possible matches from which you are invited to choose. While some have a few warnings or


disclaimers, others constantly repeat the importance of positive identification


6 FUNGI Volume 15:1 Winter 2022


before eating said mushroom, believing they can abrogate liability while you hover over the ceramic bowl. A family poisoning in Oregon a few years ago was ascribed to an incorrect identification on a phone app. But this is no different from reading a paper-based mushroom guide. One product even required that you sign a waiver that you had read all the warnings and would behave appropriately. Many also allow you to post to the “community” from which you may get affirmation of your identification, or not. Te first product tested had an


advertisement between each click, which, if clicked by mistake, would have added another unwanted app to the phone. It managed to correctly identify three of 20 mushrooms. For the rest it gave a selection of photographs from which to choose, including disparate genera and even different families. Selecting a picture led, via another advertisement, to Wikipedia and a comment that “there is no additional information about this insect.” I uninstalled the app. Te next was worse, allowing only


four attempts before demanding an upgrade to the subscription version. It failed to identify all four mushrooms, coming close with “chanterelle” for a Yellow Foot, then showing five out-of- focus pictures of various chanterelles, except for Craterellus tubaeformis. A video game appeared in the midst of an identification, so I quickly uninstalled the app before moving to the next. Tis was a very simple picture-


matching app. First you selected the broad group: gills, pores, teeth, etc., then size and color, and up came a small selection of photos from which to choose. Sort of a very simplified synoptic key to the most common fungi. It referred one to MushroomExpert and Wikipedia for more information. Edibility and toxicity comments were all over the map; one suggesting that Angel Wings (Pleurocybella porrigens) was deadly, conveniently avoiding the fact that no case of poisoning has been reported outside of Japan, or in people not in kidney failure. Another had a photograph of Amanita bisporigera that was bright blue, although the description said it was white. Another claimed that Amanita pantherina poisoning was rare, although it is


one of the most common causes of serious poisoning of children in the Pacific Northwest. Yet another claimed that both Tricholoma terreum and T. equestre were toxic without any further qualification. One recommended eating raw Matsutake. Most of the apps were able to


identify common mushrooms such as chanterelles, morels, and Boletus edulis. All were successful with Amanita muscaria, similar to most four-year-old children. A few managed mushrooms such as Volvariella bombycina. But beyond that it became a picture-matching exercise. Some had wonderful graphics, while others were more pedestrian. iNaturalist has a notoriously poor


reputation for fungal identification. I recently uploaded a few photographs of unidentified mushrooms, receiving the unhelpful comment of “Agaricales.” I also uncovered a dozen sightings of Amanita phalloides in Texas, few of which were convincing or definitively identified. Tis creates a conundrum for those of us dealing with calls about possible poisonings. Tere are so many problems with all


these apps, it’s difficult to know where to begin. All largely ignore two of the most critical aspects of identification — location and habitat. Some mention the time a species usually appears without specifying the location, which in a zone as large as North America is marginally helpful. And another had “heat maps” of the USA as to where a species was most likely to be found. If you want to use the app in the field you will need a fast Internet connection or the mushroom with deliquesce while you wait for the spinning circle to stop and proclaim a possible match. Most of the libraries of photographs in each app are extremely limited, and will often be shown regardless of the specimen you are trying to identify. In addition to these limitations,


why are these photo-matching apps so poor? Consider that the Chinese government can identify your face from a billion other people while you are walking down the street a hundred yards from the camera. It will know who you are, where you work and live, and might even guess what you are thinking. Every face is unique and has many dozens of features that can be


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