Can you recommend a plant identification app? (Apple)
Answer
I posed this question to my "brain trust" of super knowledgeable plant librarians from across the country and here are recommendations I received:
I really love the app PictureThis. You do have to pay for it (roughly $6/month or $30 for the year).
I like iNaturalist and have a subscription to PictureThis. All will do some misidenification. Apple also will try to ID the plant based on your photo. (Kristen Mastel, Head Librarian & Curator, Andersen Horticultural Library, Chaska, MN)
I use PictureThis It is rarely wrong.
I use Seek by iNaturalist.
I use Seek – but sometimes it only gets the family. Also Plant snap
I don’t think any of the plant ID apps are perfect (there’s just no substitute for a gold old fashioned key) but I hear good things about PictureThis. (Kristine Paulus, Collection Development Librarian, LuEsther T. Mertz Library, New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY)
We typically recommend iNaturalist for higher level users and Seek by iNaturalist for those who have a bit more struggle with tech. They tend towards a bit higher accuracy on the ID and iNaturalist is used by our research staff already, so it feeds back into the work of the organization. When I personally rec Seek, I generally try to demonstrate it and explain the types of characteristics that the app looks for and how they can also be used the old-fashioned way to confirm an ID. For example, Seek tells you this is a certain plant. Now look at the plant in front of you and look at the wikipedia entry or field guide and try to confirm things like leaf shape/positioning/margins, presence/lack of hairs on the stems and leaves, etc. Sort of helps them to think more critically about the characteristics that the plant is exhibiting, but scaffolded within the app itself so that it's less overwhelming than a dichotomous key can be to a beginner. (Marisha Sullivan, Librarian, Holden Forests & Gardens, Kirkland, OH)