ALoafOfBread@lemmy.ml 3 months ago
Mushroom ID requires a lot more than just immediately available visuals. You’ve gotta see what the cap looks like, the stem, how the stem connects to the cap, the specific characteristics of the gills, the substrate it’s growing in, and the spore print (i.e. leave it on a piece of white paper, covered, for a number of hours undisturbed so it drops its spores). And even then it can be tough if the mushroom is abnormal or is decaying at all.
With enough info, I’m sure you could train an ML model to ID mushrooms. But you’d need to give it a lot of info to make a successful ID.
chumbalumber@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 months ago
Depends on the mushroom; certain mushrooms (e.g. beefsteak polypore) are incredibly distinctive, while others require microscopy to tell apart.
One thing you didn’t mention that I think is a major drawback with id apps is smell. If you’re looking at agaricus for edibility, yellow stainers are distinguished by smell if it’s cold and the staining is less obvious.
Other things they can’t use for id are texture (slimy cap Vs waxy etc.), staining (so you know what to look for – boletes it’s necessary to check for blue staining), brittle gills/stem (does it snap?)… All sorts!