You don’t need to lug around a big botany textbook or dense field guides for instant flower identification. Instead, you can start growing your flower identification skills with nothing more than your phone.

DOWNLOAD PLANTSNAP

After you’ve downloaded PlantSnap, you can start instant flower identification right away. PlantSnap works as a point-and-shoot instant plant identifier. You’ll be able to identify your neighbor’s prettiest plants, the best-smelling flowers in your city, and edible plants along your hike.

Once you’ve mastered instant flower identification, you can even learn more about tree identification and ethnobotany.

How does PlantSnap work?

PlantSnap uses an algorithm to analyze your photo of the plant. Frame the flower well, ensuring that you are photographing just one flower without any deformities. The app then uses its powerful, proprietary artificial intelligence to identify the flower instantly. The app also tells you its percentage certainty that it has correctly identified the flower.

If you already have a photo of a flower saved on your phone, you can also instantly identify it by uploading the photo to PlantSnap.

Once you’ve instantly identified a flower, PlantSnap stores it in your library. You can easily go back to see how many flowers you’ve identified.

Can I use instant flower identification to learn more about flowers?

Yes! Once you’ve identified a flower using PlantSnap, you can scroll down to read more about the flower. All plants on the app have information regarding their taxonomy, where they grow, and other ecological information.

If you want to get better at instant flower identification without an app, you can use PlantSnap like a private botany class. If you pay attention to field markings on the flowers, you’ll soon be able to match the flowers that you see with past plants that you’ve identified.

What sort of flowers can I identify using PlantSnap?

PlantSnap currently identifies 90% of all known species of plants known to man, which covers the vast majority of plants that you’re likely to find. You can also identify mushrooms, trees, and cacti using PlantSnap.

PlantSnap gives information on where a plant grows naturally, but will also instantly identify flowers in gardens that are not native to your area.

Isn’t using a field guide a better way to learn instant flower identification?

It really takes an expert eye to master instant flower identification. Many amateur botanists will enjoy using artificial intelligence to help them with instant flower identification instead.

Field guides take a bit of knowledge to use. Many plants have close cousins, and you will need to be able to identify leave patterns, growing conditions, and bark type to properly identify most plants using a field guide.

Field guides also are generally limited to a geographic area, meaning it’s difficult to use a field guide for instant flower identification in cities or gardens. Many of the prettiest flowers that you see around town are unlikely to show up in your local field guide. PlantSnap can identify plants from around the world.

If you’re interested in learning more about identifying plants, PlantSnap is a great way to get started! You can use PlantSnap to double-check your guesses or use its instant flower identification capabilities to learn more about flowers while you’re looking at them.

The plant I’m looking at isn’t blooming. Can I still use instant flower identification?

Technically, it isn’t instant flower identification if you aren’t looking at a flower. But don’t worry! You can still use PlantSnap to identify plants that aren’t blooming. Instead of photographing a single flower, you will need to photograph multiple leaves in a frame.

The artificial intelligence will still be able to instantly identify a plant, even if it’s not flowering. You just need to take a clear, well-framed, and well-lit photo of multiple leaves.

Currently, PlantSnap cannot identify damaged or immature plants.

How do I get started with instant flower identification?

Now that you know how to use PlantSnap for instant flower identification, it’s time to get outside. All you have to do is go to the app store and download PlantSnap, but you might want to start with a garden since those flowers are generally large, colorful, and distinct.

You might even want to practice instant flower identification using flowers that you’re already familiar with, such as daffodils or dandelions. This gives you a chance to get better at photographing plants. The artificial intelligence doesn’t need practice with instant flower identification, but this will help you trust its knowledge.

There are thousands of species of plants near you, even if you live in the concrete jungle. Using instant flower identification will help you notice the natural beauty around you. As you read about plants that you’ve identified, you might even find sacred plants or arsenic-removing moss right in your neighborhood!

Do you have any more questions about instant flower identification? Let us know and we’ll be sure to get back to you with an answer. Check our FAQ for more general questions about PlantSnap.