With the help of the application known as Pl@ntNet, you may determine the species of a plant just by taking a picture of it with your smartphone. When you don't have a botanist on hand, this will come in very handy! Pl@ntNet is also an excellent citizen science project: all of the plants that you picture are collected and analyzed by scientists from across the world in an effort to gain a better understanding of the evolution of plant biodiversity and to better preserve it.
Pl@ntNet gives you the ability to recognize and get a deeper comprehension of all types of plants that are found growing in their natural environments, including flowering plants, trees, grasses, conifers, ferns, vines, wild salads, and cactus. Pl@ntNet is capable of identifying a significant number of cultivated plants, such as those seen in parks and gardens; however, this is not the program's primary function. We are especially in need of users of Pl@ntNet to inventory the wild plants, which include not only those plants that are found in nature but also those that are found growing on the sidewalks of our cities or in the center of your vegetable garden!
If you offer Pl@ntNet additional visual information about the plant you are watching, it will be able to identify it with a higher degree of precision. There are quite a few plants that, when viewed from a distance, appear to be the same, and it is often the case that only minute differences can differentiate two species that belong to the same genus. The most recognizable parts of a species are its flowers, fruits, and leaves; therefore, it is imperative that these aspects be captured in photographs first. However, any other information, such as the presence of thorns, buds, or hair on the stem, can be valuable. Even though an image of the entire plant (or tree, if it is one!) is highly helpful information, it is frequently insufficient to enable an accurate identification.
About 20,000 different species can be identified with the use of Pl@ntNet at the moment. Pl@ntNet is getting richer every day thanks to the contributions of the users who have the most experience thanks to the fact that we are still a long way from the 360,000 species that are now existing on the world. Do not be scared to offer your own contributions! Your observation will be discussed by the community, and there is a chance that it will be added to the photo gallery that illustrates the species in the application at some point.
Key Features:
The new version of Pl@ntNet, which was published in January 2019, has a wide variety of enhancements and brand new capabilities, including the following:
- The capability to narrow down recognized species based on their family or genus.
- the differentiated data revision that provides more weight to users who have exhibited the most abilities (in particular the number of species observed, which has been validated by the community).
- The process of re-identifying observations that have been shared, whether they are yours or those of other people who are using the application.
- The multi-flora identification feature enables you to look for the plant that was shot in any of the application's flora, not only the one that you have picked. Extremely helpful in situations in which you are unsure about the types of plants to search for.
- The selection of your preferred plants in order to provide you with faster access to those plants.
- Within image galleries, the navigation at various taxonomic levels.
- The diagrammatic representation of your observations
Conclusion
Whether you consider yourself a plant fanatic or not, you have to acknowledge that the PlantNet App, which is available for free download on Android, is a major step forward in the industry. This app helps you learn about plants while you're outside, whether you're going on a hike or working in your garden.
The next time you are out and about and the sight of a wild plant captures your attention, you now know what steps to take. Get your phone out, take a picture, and look at it. Best of luck in your plant hunt!
