PlantNet is a nifty little app that works like Shazam for the plant world. All you have to do is enter your location, and then point your smartphone camera at the plant in question and snap a picture. The app attempts to use image recognition to to then match the photo with its archive of plants, and give you possible results
Pl@ntNet since may 2017 covers the flora of North America, the tropical Andes and the eastern Mediterranean, in addition to Western Europe and North Africa. The plant recognition app also works for French Guiana and various tropical islands in the Pacific (Hawaii), the Caribbean (Guadeloupe) and the Indian Ocean (Réunion, Mauritius). Users in those regions can now recognize several thousand wild plant species, while supplementing the system with their own photos.
More than 13 000 wild plant species can now be recognized on smartphones using the Pl@ntNet app. Users, who agree to be geolocated, automatically access the set of species for their geographical area.
Moreoverit is also possible to recognize more than 2500 cultivated and ornamental plant species, such as orchids, ficus, roses, yuccas, etc.
The Pl@ntNet app is available free of charge on the AppStore and Google Play: A web version is also available.
Between 30 000 and 50 000 use the app daily. In all, 1.3 million images have been recorded, including 600 000 reference images.
‘Pl@ntNet is an image sharing and retrieval application for the identification of plants.
It is developed by scientists from four French research organizations (Cirad, INRA, Inria and IRD), and the Tela Botanica network, with the financial support of Agropolis Foundation.‘
The app has been developed as a way to involve the general public in the project and spread awareness and a scientific bent when it comes to plant life.
See how the app works:
If you want to try it out, PlantNet is absolutely free, and available on both Android and iOS.
