Category: Wildlife Recording

Comparing Plant ID Apps for Beginner Botanists

With so many plant apps out there to choose from, just where do you turn when trying to identify a troublesome plant?

Update: since the time of writing this, I have published a second, more comprehensive review available here.

Many botanists turn their noses up at the idea of using a plant app. Indeed, this approach requires minimal skill, no field guide and really, not a single jot of traditional botanical knowledge. It is in essence, as I have heard some put it, cheating. If indeed it is possible to cheat while doing something as harmless as naming a plant…

In our age of wildlife decline and increasing disconnection with the natural world, any engagement with wildlife should be nurtured and encouraged. Especially when, as is the case here, such engagement can help generate all-important wildlife records that help further our knowledge of wildlife. As times change, a fleet of new mobile apps are now giving anyone, not just tried and tested naturalists, the ability to accurately identify wildlife.

Of these new apps, a comparatively large number focus on plants. I suspect because plants are stationary, less likely to run away and thus, easier to photograph. With so many apps out there to choose from, however, just where do you turn when trying to identify a troublesome plant? And more importantly, will your chosen app give you an accurate result or point you in the wrong direction entirely?

To answer the questions above, I thought I’d conduct a little experiment by testing some of the most popular apps for myself.

First, some ground rules

  • One image only – some apps allow for multiple images but we wouldn’t want to give an unfair advantage now, would we.
  • Foliage only – the vast majority of the plants we see each day are not in flower. Let’s put these apps to the test…
  • UK natives, with one exception – I wanted to test this on plants likely to be encountered by British botanists. Odd things do escape, however, so we’ll include one bonus!

Meet the subjects

  • Ivy-leaved Toadflax (Cymbalaria muralis)
  • Water Avens (Geum rivale)
  • Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna)
  • Hoary Mullein (Verbascum pulverulentum)
  • White Horehound (Marrubium vulgare)
  • Majorca Nettle (Urtica bianorii)
I just so happened to have some suitable test subjects growing in the yard…

Comparing Plant Apps

Apps that identify the plant as their first choice will receive 1 point. If the correct plant is identified but shown as an outlying choice, we’ll deduct points for each subsequent tier. For example, White Horehound coming in 4th would early 0.6 points. I may give extra points in some places if the apps manage to impress me…

Ivy-leaved ToadflaxWater AvensDeadly NightshadeHoary MulleinWhite HorehoundBonus
Majorca Nettle		Score
(0-6)
PlantNet✔ 1✔ 0.7✔ 0.9✔ 0.7✔ 1✖
4.3/6
PlantSnap✖✖✖✖✔0.7✖
(Broke the app!)		0.7/6
Picture This✔ 1✔ 1✔ 1✔ 0.9✔ 1✖4.9/6
LeafSnap✔ 1✔ 0.7✔ 0.9✔ 0.9✔ 1✔ 0.5 (Similar species)5/6
Seek✔ 1✖✖✖✖ 0.1 (Family level)✖1.1/6

LeafSnap (5/6)

One of the best plant apps out there…

Truthfully, I hadn’t heard of LeafSnap until researching for this fun Friday exercise. That said, it fared well across the board proving accurate on some of the more distinctive plants and narrowing down the more difficult Hoary Mullein and Water Avens based on foliage alone. It didn’t identify these straight away, but both could be found lower down beneath its number one picks of Scarlet Avens (Geum coccineum) and Great Mullein (Verbascum thapsus).

LeafSnap would have come second had it not been for its valiant attempt at identifying Majorca Nettle which, despite not being 100% right, at least brought me to the similar Urtica atrovirens. I suspect it would fair well against those pesky garden escapes so many of us encounter on a daily basis…

On a more practical note, LeafSnap is easy to use and provides some handy information that some users might find interesting. Top marks!

Picture This (4.9/6)

The best at British plant species...

Picture This would have won hands down if I had not included the dodgy nettle. This ended up being ‘accurately’ identified as Ming aralia (Polyscias fruticosa) which it certainly isn’t.

This nifty little app did, however, identify four out of the five native species accurately and for the pesky mullein, was only one species out leaving scope for the user to compare photos and draw the right conclusion.

For those interested in the background information, Picture This gives a wealth of it covering everything from characteristics and symbolism to pests, diseases and garden use. Altogether, it is rather comprehensive!

PlantNet (4.7/6)

I do like this one...

I’ll hold my hands up now and say that I have used PlantNet plenty of times before, both to identify plants purchased for the garden and out in the wilds. It usually holds up fairly well and was only pipped to the post this time owing to a small struggle with the Water Avens and Hoary Mullein. It also didn’t guess the nettle, but perhaps I’m being mean?

One thing I really like about PlantNet is its ability to search based on regional flora. For example, someone holidaying in Spain might select ‘Flora of the Western Mediterranean’ to help them narrow their search. It is also one of the best for comparing multiple botanical characteristics and is usually accurate when flowers, foliage and habit are included.

PlantNet is by far the most scientific of the apps featured in this list and features no end of comparison photos, facts and useful information. In reality, it is more of a digital field guide than some of the others on this list.

Seek (1.1/6)

Really should do better...

Oh iNaturalist, what went wrong? While Seek managed okay with the Ivy-leaved Toadflax it did less well elsewhere, managing to assign White Horehound to the correct family but failing completely with the other species. Okay, so it did flag that the subjects were dicots but I think most of us knew that already?

While I would never personally use Seek, one positive I would mention is its use in positive engagement. Like iNaturalist who developed it, it makes wildlife recording fun giving badges and keeping count of how many species you have encountered. I imagine it would be great to use with children or as part of Bioblitz-type events.

PlantSnap (0.7/6)

Avoid, unless perhaps you’re visiting a garden centre...

I’m not in the habitat of being catty when it comes to things like this but my word, I’m not sure which plants PlantSnap was developed to identify but it certainly wasn’t any you can expect to encounter here. It was wrong on almost every account besides White Horehound which it identified first as a duo of mint species before drawing the right conclusion.

I would also add that the app crashed three times while using it, took a long time to process anything and eventually gave up completely while trying (very hard, I’m sure) to name the nettle. I certainly won’t be recommending it but alas, it might work better on flowers!

Where To Send Your Wildlife Records?

As I mentioned previously, biological recording is a bit of a minefield and there are plenty of organisations, groups, societies and schemes out there vying for your valuable wildlife records.

Generally, biological recording is an interconnected affair and records submitted through a chosen platform usually (but not always) find their way to where they’re needed. Still, trying to unravel the spider’s web that is environmental data-sharing in the UK is rather complex and I will not try to explain it here. I doubt that I could!

Where you send your records is ultimately down to you but some things you may wish to consider are:

  • Where will my records have the greatest impact?
  • Will they be added to national and local datasets?
  • Do they go where I want them to?
  • How easy/time efficient is it to send in sightings?
  • Will I get feedback on my records?

iRecord

iRecord is a fantastic platform for sharing records of species you have already identified. Recorders can add sightings of taxa quickly and easily, set up ‘Activities’ associated with particular species groups or places and readily explore what other naturalists have been spotting in their local area.

The single best thing about iRecord (in my humble opinion) is its interconnectedness. Sightings added to iRecord are shared with recording schemes, county recorders and expert verifiers, enabling sightings to be ‘confirmed’ before finding their way into wider datasets. The platform is also firmly linked with the NBN Atlas, enabling records to be shared wider with anyone who needs them and downloaded by Local Environmental Record Centres. Feedback on iRecord is not always instantaneous, but the wait is worthwhile knowing your sightings are going to the right place.

Truthfully, iRecord takes a little time to get your head around but is well worth it.

Opinion: iRecord is the platform to use if you seek comfort in the knowledge that someone, somewhere will use your wildlife records for something positive.

iNaturalist

A global wildlife recording platform, iNaturalist is incredibly easy to use. Whether you choose to use the website or app, you need only upload an image and hit send. Somewhat different to iRecord, recorders don’t even need to know what they’ve spotted and unidentified records are quickly confirmed by other users.

The community feel of iNaturalist is a great bonus of the platform and the very reason it is often used for bioblitzes such as the City Nature Challenge. You’ll need multiple confirmations from other users for your wildlife records to be marked as ‘Research Grade’ before they can be picked up by recording schemes – something which is likely to remove the majority of errors. A potential drawback here is that while there are many knowledgeable people using iNaturalist, anyone can ‘verify’ a record. You do not receive the same access to experts as provided by iRecord.

Recently, records from iNaturalist began to be automatically imported into iRecord, meaning they can be verified just like any other; though some schemes opt to ignore these and issues such as the use of nicknames and incorrect location names can throw a spanner in the works.

iNaturalist has, however, come a long way in a relatively short space of time!

Opinion: use iNaturalist if you’re seeking help with identification, are just starting out in biological recording or enjoy a more interactive experience.

Additional options for your wildlife records

Local Environmental Records Centres (LERCs)

Local Environmental Records Centres are not-for-profit organisations that collect, collate and distribute environmental data for a set geographic area. A good example is my local Environmental Records Information Centre here in the North East.

As well as collating data from various groups, clubs and schemes, LERCs often have their own portals to allow record sharing by local naturalists, often using the same software as iRecord. Sightings shared with LERCs will eventually make their way down the same channels as those shared to iRecord and may also be shared with NBN if centre staff and volunteers can spare the time.

It is worth mentioning that LERCs also have the ability to collect records shared to iRecord and iNaturalist. This may take a little time and ultimately, depends on the resources of the centre in question.

Opinion: submitting to your local LERC is a good way to ensure your records are used where they’re needed locally. However, under ideal circumstances, active LERCs should receive records shared with other platforms anyway.

Targeted Recording Apps

If you are only interested in recording a select few species groups, you might consider some of the targeted surveys out there. Two good examples that spring to mind are iRecord Butterflies and iRecord Ladybirds, both of which do a great job capturing important data on these groups through a series of handy apps. There are others out there too!

Vice-County Recorders (VCRs)

Vice-County Recorders are local naturalists appointed to gather, verify and curate wildlife sightings, and coordinate surveys. From plants to moths and mammals, for most of the well-studied species groups, the chances are there is a vice-county recorder in your area. Most welcome sightings via email, and others may request records to be collated in spreadsheets.

Many VCRs are plugged into some of the same platforms mentioned previously and actively verify and collect records from iRecord, in particular. That said, there remain some out there who are ‘selective’ about the platforms they choose to support, both reasonably and unreasonably in some cases. If you plan on doing serious recording locally, it is probably best to check the preference of your VCR to avoid your sightings floating about in permanent limbo.

Opinion: sending sightings direct to a VCR is a viable alternative for anyone wishing to avoid online recording portals but please do check their preference before filling their inbox.

Recording Schemes

From shieldbugs and snails to bees, beetles and fungi, thanks to a long history of wildlife recording in the UK, there are recording schemes out there for just about everything. NBN have a great search function to help you find the scheme that’s right for you.

Like the aforementioned VCRs, many of these schemes are wired into iRecord and even iNaturalist, while others choose to run their own recording portals or capture data in other ways. The UK Hoverfly Scheme‘s Facebook group is a good example of this.

For the purposes of this blog, I’m also lumping bird clubs and natural history societies that collect records in this category too. Many of these may share your sightings more widely but it helps to be cautious here as some may not distribute them any further than their own archive.

And there we have it! Ultimately, where you send your wildlife records boils down to what you hope to achieve. If you’re keen to support conservation, research and the production of resources, choose a route that leads to NBN. Here, your data can be downloaded and accessed at will by those who need it. More specifically, if you want expert feedback, opt for iRecord, or if you prefer the social site of wildlife recording, consider iNaturalist. The list goes on…

While the entire process of wildlife recording can be confusing, the most important thing is that you’re making the effort to document your finds in the first place. You can tackle the rest later.

Creating a Wildlife Record

Wildlife recording is quickly becoming a main passion of mine. The process of searching out interesting species, making notes, creating records and contributing in some small way to our understanding of nature proving to be a fulfilling way of making use of time outside.

Before digging into the subject in a little more detail on this blog, I wanted to cover the basics first and take a closer look and just what makes up a wildlife record…

The importance of wildlife recording

The importance of wildlife recording, or biological recording, to use the proper lingo, cannot be understated. Citizen science and the records generated by naturalists across the UK help inform conservation action by monitoring the abundance and distribution of wildlife, revealing expansions and of course, bringing to light declines too. They help paint a picture of how wildlife is faring on a national level but, closer to home, highlight local trends too, helping conservationists, organisations and researchers to target effort where it is needed most.

What is a wildlife record?

Whether we’re talking plants, insects, birds or a different group entirely, all wildlife records have a few main components:

What

The name of the plant or animal you’ve spotted and identified. If you’re unsure what you’ve seen, an identification to family level may suffice – the great thing these days is that there are plenty of people out there ready to help identify your finds.

Photograph

A picture speaks a thousand words and photographs help verifiers and county recorders confirm the species you’ve seen. Images are not always needed but for tricky species, they’re a big help.

Where

The place at which you spotted your plant or animal. An accurate grid reference is the most important factor here and generally, it is best to be as specific as possible. For many species, a six-figure grid reference is a good starting point.

Grid Reference Finder is an excellent tool to help with this.

When

The date on which you made your wildlife observation.

Who

Your name, in full. Or least written in a way that you would like to be displayed when your record is used elsewhere. Usernames and nicknames can sometimes be an issue for those looking to use your records so it is best to stick to writing your name in full.

What else could you record?

Depending on how thorough you wish to be, there are many other things you could note when creating your wildlife record. Additional informal is a great way to maximise the value of your sighting. Some things you might wish to include are:

How many

How many of your plant or animal did you see? Was it a single individual, or twenty? Information such as this is very important when it comes to assessing local and national populations.

Stage

Only applicable with some taxa but useful to note. If you spotted an insect, was it an adult or was it in its larval stage? If a plant, was it flowering, in seed or vegetative?

Habitat

Knowing more about the site at which you spotted your plant or animal is really useful. You may which to stay broad, for example by stating ‘woodland’ or may specify further, coniferous or wet woodland for example.

Additional observations

Anything else you observed while recording your plant or animal. If, for example, you’re recording a pollinator, what kind of plant was it feeding on? If a fungus, was it growing on a particular kind of tree?

What to do with your wildlife records?

Knowing what to do with your wildlife records is a different kettle of fish entirely. Biological recording in general is a bit of a minefield and plenty of websites, apps and organisations welcome the submission of your valuable records. Generally, there are a handful of really good options for wildlife recorders in the UK, but we’ll cover those further in another blog…