Name That Plant
September 27th, 2016
One of the hardest questions I get is, “What is this plant?”
Is this a variegated dogwood, a variegated elderberry, or a viburnum with a virus? The correct answer is, B, variegated elderberry.
People will bring me a dried-up blossom, email me a blurred leaf photo, or show me a tiny photo on a smart phone, hoping I’ll be able to tell them what they have or what they saw.
Sometimes I can tell, mainly when it’s something common or distinctive. But most of the time, I take the “no-clue” route or guess, “Variegated dogwood? How about a variegated elderberry? Would you believe a viburnum with a virus?”
That’s why I was keen to try a new smart-phone app called Leafsnap that came out a few years ago from a team comprising folks from Columbia University, the University of Maryland and the Smithsonian Institution.
I downloaded the app, snapped a few pictures of trees in a state park, and waited for the software to tell me beech or birch?
Ha! The performance was so dismal that after a few more days and tries, I scrapped the app altogether.
Half the time, Leafsnap rejected photos outright, telling me they weren’t good enough or couldn’t be read.
When the app examined a photo and actually gave me feedback, the list was so long and varied (two dozen possibilities in one case) that a second-grader’s leaf-collection homework project would’ve been more useful.
Maybe Leafsnap has improved since my trial. Or maybe you’ve had a better experience. But to me, it was another case where injecting technology into gardening came up short – similar to my experience with the Flower Power Plant Sensor (a gizmo designed to wirelessly feed info on soil moisture and fertilizer needs) or that digital sprinkler timer that did everything except change its own batteries – and work without leaking.
The world of app developers isn’t giving up on the idea of digital plant-identifying. In fact, several new ones have come along – admittedly, none of which I’ve been eager to try.
Maybe some of you gardener/tekkies have found a good one or are willing to experiment with a few that are showing up.
The Flower Power Plant Sensor attempts to bring high-tech to the dirt.
Here are some I’ve heard about:
Garden Answers. Sounds similar to Leafsnap in that you upload photos and supposedly get back instant ID from a database that numbers 20,000 plants.
Like That Garden. This comes from a family of apps that lets you snap pictures of objects such as fashion, pets, décor, and in this case, plants. Then the database attempts to match up and ID what you send.
Plant-O-Matic. From the Botanical Information and Ecology Network comes this app that uses GPS to create a species list of plants in its database near your location. You filter it down and match up.
Plantsnap. Similar to a British app called Plantsnapp, this U.S. version is still under development but supposedly will feature plant-hunting games and user interactions in addition to identifying uploaded plant pictures.
NatureGate. This isn’t technically an app but software that you download that walks you through identifying clues to zero in on possibilities. There’s also an option for identifying birds, butterflies and fish.
Flower Checker and Plantifier. Rather than let computers do the lifting, these two apps let you upload photos of mystery plants. Then biologists, horticulturists and other gardening users take a crack at IDing.
I’m sure there are others. Be aware that some services charge for identification even if the app itself is free.
If you have any experience with these plant-ID technologies, I’m sure readers would appreciate any feedback you’re willing to post in the comment box below.
Or if you have plant-ID suggestions other than relying on rapidly-aging, memory-fading garden writers, please add that, too.
One that Cumberland County gardener Rosemary Blazsuk has used and told me about is Dave’s Garden website at this address: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/plantid/all.