Plant Identifier
Angeles Bartholomew
Google Lens helps you identify things with your camera. It uses reverse image search AI to tell you about the things or objects in your photo. You can use Google Lens as a plant identifier for free. This means you can quickly and easily learn more about plant life in your backyard without a dedicated plant identifier app!
Install Google Photos or the Google app (both free) and use the Google Lens feature to identify plants, including flowers, trees, and weeds, on your iPhone. With Google Lens, you have a plant identifier app free of charge, eliminating the need for dedicated applications.
The Institute for Systematic Botany of the Cell Biology, Microbiology, and Molecular Biology Department at the University of South Florida was established in 1990 to promote basic research in plant systematics and to coordinate research, educational and service programs in plant systematics.
Florida has over 4,700 species of native or naturalized plants in Florida, including over 4,300 species of vascular plants and over 400 species of bryophytes (plants known only from cultivation are not included). The Atlas of Florida Plants is a joint effort by the Institute for Systematic Botany, the University of South Florida, and the USF Water Institute to provide a comprehensive searchable database of plants in the state of Florida. This website also provides access to the USF Herbarium, which houses more than 300,000 specimens from around the world (about 2/3 of these are databased and available online).
The Plant Atlas has been designed to allow external websites to dynamically link to individual species and issue URL-based searches. This method allows you to link to the Atlas without knowing individual unique species identifiers.
A similar example in a Common Name search is Virginia snakeroot. Searching using "snake root" will yield no results due to the extra space, but searching "snake" will generate a short list of plants with the word "snake" in the common name. Furthermore, a search of "Virginia snake" or even "nia snak" yields one result: Virginia snakeroot.
A voucher specimen is a pressed and thoroughly dried plant sample deposited in a herbarium, and is intended to be a permanent record supporting research purposes. A voucher may be a record of a plant's occurrence in a particular area, or a specific example of a plant used in a scientific investigation.
These images of the plants on the Pitzer College campus were taken and annotated by retired Arboretum Manager Joe Clements who changed the look of the campus during his years at Pitzer College (2001-July, 2015). The common names (if any) are included in the captions.
We are driven to identify plants for many reasons; sometimes it is a curiosity about the world around us, other times it is out of the desire or need to manage areas like gardens, agricultural fields, restored habitats, and/or natural preserves. Plants are the foundation of food webs and they are tied to our understanding of how ecosystems function. Plant identification has been and continues to be a matter of familiarity, knowledge passed down through mentorship by family or friends, or perhaps something learned in school. One can also seek expert advice. Plant identification is one of the many services offered at Michigan State University (MSU) Plant & Pest Diagnostics and the MSU Herbarium, and help is available through the Michigan State University Extension Lawn and Garden Hotline (1-888-678-3464) and Ask Extension through eXtension.
Since 2018, the students and I have evaluated a total of 14 apps thus far (see complete list at the bottom of the article). In 2021, all the apps tested used photo recognition software to identify plants, but some tested in the past required more descriptive input from the user, similar to traditional plant keys. Most are free or have a free version. It is important to read all terms prior to downloading or purchasing apps. This assessment is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names does not imply endorsement by MSU Extension or bias against those not mentioned.
PictureThis has been the reigning champion of this test for four years in a row. In 2021, it successfully identified the plants 67% of the 130 plants photographed at Beal Botanical Garden. Vegetative grass (or grass-like) weeds were the most challenging for this app to identify, with 43% accuracy. While PictureThis was less accurate at identifying grass-like weeds compared to other categories of plants, it should be noted that six of the other seven apps evaluated showed about 10% or less accuracy for this category. Grasses are difficult to identify using whole plant images, as close inspection of fine structures such as ligules or florets is often required for grass identification.
When using apps or internet searches to identify plants, it is always advised to check the identification with a reputable source, such as government or university-affiliated sites. Searching by the scientific name (i.e., Latin genus and species, such as Amaranthus retroflexus) will yield the most accurate results as common names can differ by region, environment, etc. (e.g., redroot pigweed versus rough amaranth).
Plant identification can be incredibly challenging for beginning botanists or even experienced plant people. There are tons of terms to learn and understand just to start identifying plants by leaves and other plant parts. Throw in a leafless winter, and it makes for a difficult skill to develop with confidence.
In recent years, photo-based smart phone applications (apps) have been developed to aid with plant identification in the field. These apps boast their accuracy and many claim to provide identification for a wide array of species simply based on an image of the foliage. Do these apps work? And, if so, how accurate can they be?
At least 4 images of both bark and leaves for each tree species were submitted to each app and researchers observed and recorded the results. The apps use photo recognition software programmed to identify leaves and bark based on the common characteristics of these plant parts.
To me, it is extraordinary that these apps are even able to process visual data and generate near accurate results. As a trained botanist, I know that 2 leaves for the same tree can often vary widely. While there is typically a recognizable pattern and some distinctive characteristics common across all leaves on the same plant, certain species (typically within the same genus) can have very similar leaf characteristics, making it possible for a single plant to have individual leaves in its canopy which are distinctive of its true species and other leaves that would lead you to believe its another, similar-looking species.
A good example of confusing similarity would be white oak (Quercus alba), bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) and swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor), whose leaves can have a very similar or very different pattern of lobes based on where you look in the canopy of an individual plant. Shade leaves, or leaves on the interior of the canopy, are often larger with more distinct lobes than leaves in full sun.
Knowledgeable botanists are aware of these nuances and take care to assess several leaves at differing locations within the canopy. However, beginners often make the common mistake of looking at one low-hanging leaf, which may or may not be the best example to observe. Due to instances like this, I have always discounted the use of plant identification apps and have not recommended them to beginners. However, some promising results were uncovered by Rutgers.
Each phone app makes suggestions, often several, for species-level identification of the plant picture in question. The Rutgers study found that while species-level identification by leaf pictures was not always the most accurate (83.9% to 40.9% accurate), across all the apps observed, genus-level identification by leaves was pretty good, reporting accuracies from 97.3% to 71.8%. Across all apps and all species, identification by bark pictures alone was not nearly as accurate as identification by leaves.
While the Rutgers study presents some fascinating data, this research did not assess the community aspect that some of these apps provide. Several of the apps in this study also offer an option where users can ask the community of other app users to identify their plant photo. I have found that community responses on these apps are typically highly accurate to species-level and often come from experts. So, when beginners can combine phone apps with other tools, such as community responses and the use of guidebooks or other reference materials, these applications have promising potential.
Knowing the names of the common native plants you see on your walks, bike rides, or volunteer days can deepen your connection with the natural world. In this class, you will learn what to look for when identifying a plant, and then spend time walking the grounds of The Morton Arboretum with an expert, learning the names and identifying characteristics of common native plants of northern Illinois.
Plant.id is another one of the online tools that every plant lover needs. This website helps you identify various plants and flowers without hassle. To identify plants on Plant.id, follow these steps:
In order to effectively perform lake sampling using the Lake Vegetative Index (LVI), it is imperative to know the aquatic plants that are likely to be encountered. This page is intended to be a repository for helpful information to use in the identification of commonly encountered aquatic plants. It is NOT intended to replace the need for more formal field and classroom training.
The app functions as an Interactive Key. First, find a plant you would like to identify, then open the app and select from characters listed. Once presented with a narrowed list of possible species, you can view color photographs and browse natural history information for each of their potential matches. These options can help you quickly find a species match (Figure 2). Descriptions and examples defining botanical terms are provided. Swipe right to see the list of species matching your selected characters, or swipe left to select more characters to narrow down the list.
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