spring
Morel
The first sign the ground has woken. Honeycombed and hollow.
Mar–May
Field guide · live season
what'sgrowing?
A field guide that maps what's fruiting near you — when, where, and whether it's safe — so you can forage with your eyes open.
● fruiting now · chanterelle
01
How it works
Three steps from the trailhead to the pan.
/ 01
Find the flush
Spore maps show what's fruiting near you right now, from community records of species, date, and region.
/ 02
Print the ID
Take a spore print, check the cap and gills, and confirm the species against the field guide.
/ 03
Forage with eyes open
Cut, don't pull. Take a third, leave the rest. Eat only what you can name with certainty.
02
Everything but the guesswork
A field guide that walks with you.
Live fruiting maps
Community records turned into hot zones, so you walk to a likely spot.
Spore print ID
Step-by-step identification, from cap to print to a name you can trust.
Edibility ladder
A four-rung scale that tells you how certain you need to be before it's food.
The season, mapped
What fruits when, in your region — from spring morels to winter oysters.
Lookalike warnings
The dangerous twins, flagged right next to every good mushroom.
Foraging community
Forays, records, and foragers who keep the whole guide honest.
03
The flush, up close
Shot where they actually fruit.
04
The spore print gallery
Every species signs its name in spores.
oyster
spore print · white–lilac
chanterelle
spore print · pale cream
morel
spore print · cream
porcini
spore print · olive-brown
lion's mane
spore print · white
05
The slow bloom
A mushroom, one hour at a time.
time lapse · shot in the woods
06
Four seasons, four finds
The woods change the menu.
summer
Chanterelle
Golden trumpets under oak, smelling faintly of apricot.
Jun–Aug
autumn
Porcini
The king, thick-stemmed and rich, after the first cool nights.
Sep–Nov
winter
Oyster
The cold-weather gift, shelving out of dead hardwood.
Dec–Feb
From the desk of Wren Calloway
Most guides tell you what a mushroom is called. We wanted to tell you where to find it.
My first chanterelle was a year in the making. I read every guide, memorised the gills, and walked the same ridge a dozen times before I found one — golden, half-hidden in leaf litter, exactly where a friend said they'd be.
The guides were never the missing piece. The friend was. Foraging is passed down, not looked up — and most of us don't have a friend who knows the woods.
So that's what spore is: the friend. The one who tells you it's been raining for three days, the chanterelles are up, and here's how to be sure. The rest you do with your own eyes.
Wren CallowayFounder, SPORE
07
By the numbers
Live, from our backend.
1.4k
species catalogued
312k
foragers
86k
fruiting records
4.2k
forays led
08
From the field
Foragers who stopped guessing.
★★★★★
"I'd been walking past chanterelles for two summers. One foray and I filled a basket the next week."
Dana R.New forager
★★★★★
"The lookalike warnings are the whole reason I'm still here. It's the only guide that treats 'not sure' as the right answer."
Marcus T.Careful forager
★★★★★
"My kids learned to take spore prints before they learned to use a fork. It's the family thing now."
Sofia A.Weekend forager
09
The roadmap
Where the trail goes.
Q3 2026
Field guide + spore print ID, live in beta.
Q4 2026
Community fruiting maps and foray sign-ups.
Q1 2027
Photo ID — point your camera, get a shortlist to confirm.
Q2 2027
Offline field guide for the deep woods, no signal needed.
10
Questions, answered.
How does spore know what's fruiting near me?+
Community records — species, date, and region — are clustered into hot zones. It's people who walk the woods, not an algorithm, telling you what's up.
Can I learn to identify mushrooms safely from an app?+
An app is a shortlist, never a verdict. We teach the checks — spore print, cap, gills, stem — and flag lookalikes, because 'not sure' is always the safe answer.
Does it work offline?+
The core guide works offline. Live fruiting maps need a connection, and we're building a fully offline field guide for the deep woods.
Is it free?+
Yes — the field guide, spore print ID, and edibility ladder are free during beta and stay free after launch.
Do you tell people where my exact spots are?+
Never. Exact spots stay private to you. Maps only show rough regions, so a good patch stays yours.
What if I'm not sure a mushroom is safe?+
Don't eat it. Log it, ask the community, and when in doubt, walk away. There is always another mushroom, and always another season.
The woods are already fruiting.
what's growing?