I love identifying wild flowers/plants, birds, trees, etc. I came across a plant identifier app that I am loving! It’s called Picture This. I take a picture with my phone, and within 3 seconds, it identifies the plant and gives all sorts of information about it. I was using a different one that worked the same way, but it would give numerous possibilities, and I would have to try to sort out which one I was looking at. It’s $40/year. I have a 7-day free trial now. I’ll probably end up subscribing. But then I think, I’ll probably have identified all the plants that I was curious about in the 7 free days! But I’m having a blast with it, as I walk the dogs in the woods, I’m identifying plants left and right!
It’s a great app that I had for a while, but then I realized I was no longer using it and I was wasting my money.
I’ve had this one for a number of years and use it all the time! Bonus, if the plant you take a pic of “looks sick” they’ll give you pointers. You can even get a personal email with info. Love it.
Google lens does a pretty good job of identifying plants.
I have been using iNaturalist for identifying plants, animals, and fungi in my area. While free, it does not give instant results, but rather relies on someone in the community helping to identify things, which can take a few days for a response. If you have expertise in some area of nature, it could be interesting to participate as well.
Right. It is terrible with rocks and minerals, but not bad with plants. You might get several options but often one of them is right when examined.
I love this app! I used it to train myself on how to identify poison ivy, and still use it if I have any doubt. That’s worth the $40 right there for me.
It also identifies invasive plants in my yard (which borders a wooded area), which helps if I trying to decide to remove something or not.
Or if I see a plant I like and want to put in my yard. Or a plant I’m wondering about on a hike.
I use it quite frequently.
Me as well. It’s the most accurate app that I have found. For me, it does give “instant results”, as it has a database of plants and animals that others have identified nearby. It does have the ability to give a confirmation when someone else looks at YOUR particular photo and confirms it… but before that, it does give you a very accurate identification.
Because of the community involvement, the database is continually getting more accurate.
Same here. The only plants I find it doesn’t work well on are the typical highly modified garden plants (lettuces, cabbages, etc.). Other than that I find it does a great job.
iNaturalist works on more than just plants - my wife uses it to identify all sorts of critters, too. Funny thing, though: she loaded a picture of me onto iNaturalist, and the result was “Human (19% certainty)”.
PictureThis is totally free. They try to fool you into thinking you only have a 7-day trial and need to pay $40 to use it but that’s not true. Just click “cancel” on that pop-up that tries to get you to sign up. I’ve been using it since April and actually just used it a whole lot yesterday at a local arboretum.
Well, that’s good to know!
Thanks