Who makes FungRadar
The site is run by one person, and he has a name. Here is who he is, what he does with his own hands and what he answers for.
Massimo Alef
field mycologist, author and editor of FungRadar
Field mycologist. He has picked wild mushrooms all his life and lives in Turin, at the foot of the Alps, where the season runs from the first spring morels in the valleys to the last porcini under the beeches in November.
FungRadar grew out of the question every forager asks before a weekend: is it worth going yet? Here the answer is computed from weather, soil and forest rather than from other people's photos, and explaining what stands behind the number is his job too.
What he does with his own hands
He maintains the species guide: descriptions, where and when a species grows, how it differs from its look-alikes, what to do with it and what not to. He answers for the texts on edibility and the safety rules, the ones that stand above any forecast on this site.
Where look-alike features have not yet been checked against printed field guides, the card says so in plain words. That is not a disclaimer for good measure; it is the list of work in progress.
What he does not answer for
The mushroom in your basket. A description on a website does not replace identification in hand: if in doubt, leave it. The forecast says whether a trip is worth it, not what you will find.