Our Expert Team
Every profile on KnowTheSpore is written and reviewed by mycologists, experienced foragers, and food scientists.
Why expert review is not optional here
Most food writing can be wrong at the edges without hurting anyone. Mushroom identification has no such margin. The gap between a choice edible and a deadly Amanita can be a single feature at the base of the stem.
So the writer never signs off on their own safety claims. A reviewing mycologist checks the work independently, and only then does a page go live.
What a review actually checks
A review is a checklist, not a glance. The reviewer confirms the accepted name and family, then works through the field marks, the edibility call, and every dangerous lookalike.
- Identity fixed against MycoBank and Index Fungorum
- Cap, gills or pores, stem, spore print, habitat, and odour cross-checked
- Each toxic lookalike documented before an edibility rating stands
- The review dated and the reviewer named on the page
The standard we hold reviewers to
A reviewer needs formal training in mycology or a long, documented record of field identification. We match reviewers to what they know best, whether that is toxic Amanita species or cultivated gourmet mushrooms.
Review is ongoing, not a one-time badge. When taxonomy changes or a better source appears, the affected pages go back through review.
Writers and reviewing mycologists
Every page names the writer and, on safety pages, the reviewer who signed it off.