Every spring, the tree line along the woods bordering my yard burst with these small purple flowers. A quick photo and a few seconds with myiPhone, and I now know that those blooms are wild geraniums. Plant identificationappscan not only fulfill natural curiosity but ask essential questions like,is that poison ivy?
You probably don’t even have to download a new app to do it and many plant identification apps are free.
Using reverse image search, plant identification apps can deliver gobs of data for something that you didn’t even know the name for. Best of all, you probably don’t even have to download a new app to do it and many plant identification apps are free. The Google app is a great tool for identifying plants, while iPhone users only need the Photos app that comes preinstalled on their device. If you want to save and share your observations, downloading a dedicated app like iNaturalist may be worth waiting a few minutes for a download.
Here are three of the best plant identification apps and how to use them to relieve that itch of natural curiosity.
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Several apps can identify plants for free
The Google app or Apple Photos apps will ID plants
The ability to identify a plant isn’t limited to a single app. There are several that will do the job. In fact, that capability may already exist on your phone. TheGoogle apphas that capability, as doesApple’s Photos app. If you have a burning question and lack the patience for an app download, these tools will likely do the job.
If you want to do more than just a cursory search, a dedicated app offers more tools and the ability to save and organize the different plants that you’ve identified.iNaturalistis an app that helps you identify plants as well as animals and share them with other curious novice naturalists. A friend who works as a high school science teacher once suggested the app, and I’ve been using it ever since to fulfill my outdoor curiosities.
Another option is to use a browser-based tool that works in any web browser, rather than downloading an app. The Arbor Day Foundation, for example, has atree field guideyou can use to identify trees with a simple series of questions.
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How to identify plants with iNaturalist
This free plant identification app tracks what you find
iNaturalist is a dedicated app for identifying and logging the plants and animals that you see. Along with aiding in identification, you can share what you saw and where, allowing other curious naturalists to see where that plant or animal has also been spotted. If you want to photograph plants in your own backyard, you can still use iNaturalist with location services disabled. You won’t get recommendations on other nearby observations or groups, but you can still identify plants and animals without sending out the coordinates of your backyard. Here is how.
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How to identify plants with the Google app
Google Lens is actually great at identifying different plants for free
Google Lensuses reverse image search to find data about what is in a photo, which can be a great tool for identifying a plant. Where iNaturalist told me that the wildflowers in my side yard are part of the genus geranium, Google told me the blooms were wild geraniums and then listed a slew of search results from whether or not it is an invasive species to different uses for wild geranium. While you could take a photo and upload it into Google Search, the fastest option is to use Lens inside the Google App, which is available on iPhone as well as Android devices. Here is how.
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Your iPhone’s built-in camera can help identify plants for free
The iPhone’s native Photos appcan also conduct an image-based search. The Photos app delivered the same wild geranium ID that Google concluded, and I didn’t need to download anything. Identifying plants with an iPhone is a quick and simple process that just requires a photo and a few taps. Here is how.
Q: Can I use my phone to identify plants?
Using reverse image search, your smartphone can identify a wide range of things, including plants. If you already have the Google app or Apple’s Photos app, you won’t need to download anything to identify that plant either.
Q: Is there a completely free app to identify plants?
Google, Apple Photos, and iNaturalist are all completely free apps that can be used to identify plants. Google is the go-to free plant-identifying app for Android users, while iPhone users simply need the pre-installed Photos app. If you want to save and share your observations, dedicated apps like iNaturalist are also free tools for identifying plants.
