Improve Your Plant ID Skills
As photo-recognition technology improves, a lot of us are depending on apps or smartphone tools to identify unfamiliar plants. The technology is useful, but it has its limits. It can only recognize what patterns of pixels resemble each other. Your human eyes need to have the final say.
Here are some traits to look for aside from the shape of the flower:
- Is the leaf’s edge toothed, smooth, wavy, or deeply lobed?
- Looking at its stems, do they emerge in pairs on opposite
sides of the stalk, or do they alternate?
- Do its leaves branch off a central stalk, or do they all
rise up from the base?
- Is the plant your app is suggesting right for your location and
time of year?
Before you trust an app's suggestion, take a good look and make sure its key features match the plant you're looking at.
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