Species Collection

 

Hey Everyone!

This time I want to focus on cataloguing some species within the yard to get a comprehensive list going so that when the yard is plotted, we can allocate species to each location.

In order to determine which application to use for identification, I have three control species, those being 2 native and 1 non-native. Those species being Firebush (Hamelia patens), Sunshine Mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa), and Confederate Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides). 

Plant ID

54.9% identified for Sunshine Mimosa

2nd highest was Mimosa pudica at 26.5%

81.2% identified for Firebush

2nd highest was Celosia argentea var. plumosa at 10.1%

21.9% identified for Confederate Jasmine

2nd highest was Trachelospermum Asiaticum, another species of Asiatic Jasmine

Honestly quite pleased with how that turned out, more accurate than I was expecting considering my questionable camera quality for the Confederate Jasmine. For a good app alternative I've decided to give Seek a try as it is associated with INaturalist.

Seek

Misidentified Sunshine Mimosa, perhaps the camera needed to be much closer.

100% identified Firebush, though it is unclear as to what percentage their identification algorithm decided to apply to the picture.

Misidentified Asiastic Jasmine instead of Confederate Jasmine.

Little disappointed compared to the quality with PlantID.

I will use Plant ID as a primary identifier and Seek as a secondary to confirm and use its repository to find out if it is a local species or an invasive.

Eupatorium capillifolium Native

Sunshine Mimosa

Confederate Jasmine

Firebush

DogFennel Native 2/2

Eastern Gamagrass Native 1/2

Largeleaf Pennywort Native 2/2

Bermuda Grass Invasive 1.5/3
Maybe Common Crabgrass Invasive

Saw Palmetto Native 1/2

Interestingly, Plant ID misidentified a Saw Palmetto for a Mexican Fan Palm but Seek got it! Just in time for my monthly identification uses to be used up. So I am changing the primary app to https://identify.plantnet.org/ which also has a web use. We will conduct the test first to verify its abilities.

Plantnet

Firebush 85%

Sunshine Mimosa 3%, not as good with this one.

Confederate Jasmine <1%, not the best with this one either.

Eastern Gamagrass 68%

Bermuda Grass

9% or 5% for Common Crabgrass

On their webpage they do specifically state that they can identify the native species within the range. Granted I am not totally satisfied with those results as a primary reference. I will instead try out Picture This, a very popular plant identification app. While not exactly free, as they have a usage limit, I did some test identifications and it nailed all of them! This app is leaps and bounds above the others in terms of UI and functionality.

Picture This

Firebush 100%

Sunshine Mimosa 100%

Eastern Gamagrass 100%

Bermuda Grass 100%

Turkey Tangle Native 2/2

Bahia Grass Native 1/2

Hyssop-leaf Sandmat Native 1/2

Beggarticks Native 2/2

That is what I have for now, but I will add more later!