Plant ID Apps

1200x630waedit

 

Plant ID Apps

Have you ever been on a trail and wondered what a certain plant was? Do you have a favorite plant you want to learn more about? Do you just want to learn more about various plants that you encounter day to day? Learning how to identify plants has long been a difficult and tedious process, comparing sample pictures or even simple text based descriptions to real life examples that could be in a different state in real life can be near impossible.  Modern technology can now help bridge the gap to help with this problem.  There are numerous apps that can be used to identify plants instantly with just a phone and internet connection, PHG went ahead and tested 5 free options to show which work the best in the Patapsco.

 

 

Plant ID apps:

 

Google Lens:

Google Lens is an app that can be used to identify just about anything real time, although here we are only testing it’s ability to identify plants and trees.

Google Play

Guide to using Google Lens in IOS

 

Seek, by INaturalist:

INaturalist has a strong presence in the sphere of technology and ecology and has released an app focused on identifying plants and crowd-sourcing their locations.

Google Play

Itunes App Store

 

PlantSnap:

PlantSnap is an instant identification app developed by Earth.com.

Google Play

Itunes App Store

 

PlantNet:

PlantNet (Pl@ntNet) is provided by Plantnet-Project.org and has been available for over 5 years with a constantly growing database of plant species.

Google Play

Itunes App Store

 

PlantFinder:

PlantFinder is a newer plant ID app that claims to recognize 90% of plant species internationally.

Google Play

Itunes App Store[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Results:

To compare these various plant ID apps we used them to scan a set of 3 pictures of known plants and 2 pictures of known trees.  Here is a chart of how each app responded to each selected plant photo:Google Lens provided the correct identification for each picture, although it was the fourth recomendation for tree #1 and the second for tree #2.

Seek was correct with 4/5 pictures although it only provided the genus of the plant, not the specific species.  It also failed to identify plant #2 at all.

PlantSnap scored 3/5 but recomended the correct ID second for plant #3 and fourth for Tree #2.  This app also has ads which limit its usability.

PlantNet scored a perfect 5/5 even without using it’s feature to upload multiple pictures for a single identification.

PlantFinder identified 4/5 pictures although it failed to produce an ID for plant #3. This app also has ads which limit its usability.

 

Considering all this, we recommend using PlantNet for all of your plant identification needs in the Patapsco Valley!

Social Distanced Hiking

In accordance with Covid-19 precautions, we are not going to highlight a specific trail with this blog.  We hope you can explore less crowded trails, particularly ones close to home, and learn about plants along the way!  We strongly recommend avoiding popular trails such as cascade falls, or the grist mill trail, which makes it a great opportunity to check out some new, less crowded trails.

Give the app a try with the plant pictures used in this blog!