ID apps

Treeaddict

Treeaddict

Participating member
Location
Bel Air
What apps do you like for tree/plant ID?

Plantin advertises that can ID a tree from 10’ of trunk which I find hard to believe but it may be true.
 
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Seek - by inaturalist is the one I have used. Friend who teaches some courses at a local university recommended it.

I don't have an iphone, but one of my helpers does and their preinstalled app seems pretty good.
 
I’ve used “Picture This” for plant/tree ID app. It’s not always accurate, although it claims to be 98% accurate. I’ve taken multiple photos of a tree before when it’s provided a funky result and received multiple different answers when repeating the process.. I don’t pay for the subscription, hit cancel in top right corner of app when opening it and use the service for free (it may allow you a handful of photo ID’s per day before it wants you to pay).
Nice thing about it I will say-it provides other field photos of the plant/tree for you to reference your ID in question with. Can help process of elimination sometimes. I always take the results with a grain of salt, sometimes I’ll test it on species I know 100% to see how the app does.
 
Thanks for the responses. No one said you couldn’t have more than 1 app, right? Maybe I’ll play with the ones you listed, over the next few days.

Did the $50 lifetime for Plantin last night. It got 2 out of 3 but it was done by outdoor lighting and had limited subjects bright enough to test on. We’ll see how it does.
 
False Hemlock said:
...I always take the results with a grain of salt, sometimes I’ll test it on species I know 100% to see how the app does.
Click to expand...
Absolutely. I use them to confirm something I suspect. Or.if I have no idea I'll look up what it says on other sites and examine the plant to see if it matches the suggestion. When it doesn't those other sites usually have "looks like" that gets me there.

I do have a subscription to Woody Plants in North America https://he.kendallhunt.com/product/woody-plants-north-america

This isn't a take pics ID app, but it is a digital version of an old school ID book. It has very good "looks like" comparison pics of bark, fruit, flowers, etc...
 
I tried Plantin today in the light. It got about 7 correct and none wrong. However, it offered 2 choices for my Japanese maple. It gave Norway as a possibility.

A purple magnolia was given 3 options, one being purple magnolia.

About 60% of the plants identified had “toxic to animals” and “toxic to humans” warnings. I was surprised. Even pin oak flashed this warning.
 
False Hemlock said:
I always take the results with a grain of salt, sometimes I’ll test it on species I know 100% to see how the app does.
Click to expand...
This reminds me of the old Russian proverb- ‘trust, but verify’ (for some reason I thought that was a Reagan quote)

I like Picture This. It’s definitely helped me ID a lot of trees, shrubs, wildflowers, spring ephemerals etc and has made me seem a lot smarter than I am.
 
Treeaddict said:
I tried Plantin today in the light. It got about 7 correct and none wrong. However, it offered 2 choices for my Japanese maple. It gave Norway as a possibility.

A purple magnolia was given 3 options, one being purple magnolia.

About 60% of the plants identified had “toxic to animals” and “toxic to humans” warnings. I was surprised. Even pin oak flashed this warning.
Click to expand...
Those pins get stuck in your throat.
 
I like iNaturalist best. Works for bugs, weeds, birds, reptiles, you name it. Though I have been experiencing upload issues with it...
 
I use Seek by iNaturalist but mostly as a heuristic for narrowing possible plant identities, I always double check the names it gives me, sometimes they're just in the ballpark. I like setting it to scientific nomenclature because it will guess a family and a genus before a final id.
Went with it because it's what the guy from Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't recommends
 
bobs yeruncle said:
I use Seek by iNaturalist but mostly as a heuristic for narrowing possible plant identities, I always double check the names it gives me, sometimes they're just in the ballpark. I like setting it to scientific nomenclature because it will guess a family and a genus before a final id.
Went with it because it's what the guy from Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't recommends
Click to expand...
Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't is sooooo good!
 
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