Have you ever wondered off to the sidewalk or in a jungle or on a camping trip and come across an interesting plant or tree? There are more than 360K species of plants out there and it isn’t easy to remember even a few hundreds of them. There are many best plant identification apps that offer a lot of information about a plant including a genus, family, etc.
Here, let us discuss some of the best plant identifier apps we came across.
PlantNet Plant Identification
The app mentions that it is still a long way from 360,000 species on Earth, its database is still wealthy. It is easy to use, you need to grab a photo of the leaves, flowers, fruits, or bark (as mentioned). The app will run the input through its database to find a match.
All the photos and contributions are studied by scientists around the world. This enables them to better understand the change in biodiversity and the evolution of any species.
It has a multi-flora identification feature that matches the snapped photo to all flora to find a match. You can navigate through different taxonomic levels in its image galleries. It has many factsheets to fill you in with any information if required.
- Identifies tons of plants
- Free to use
- Can identify ornamental plants
- Lacks most Asian plants database
Key Features: Database of 20,000+ Species | Multi-Flora Recognition | Factsheets | Easy to use | Community input & contribution | Multi-Language Support
Download: iOS | Android (Free)
PlantSnap
As with any other best plant identification app, PlantSnap takes a snap of what plant or tree you want to identify. It puts the snap-in system and matches its database to find a match. There you have it, a complete list of matched flowers, plants, fruits, trees and whatever you wish.
In fact, PlantSnap can recognize more than 600,000 species of succulents, cacti, mushrooms, trees, and others. The app has over 200 million nature lovers spanning over 200 countries with beautiful photos of plants and more on a click.
It has a track record of identifying 90% of all plant species across the globe. The app gives you a detailed description of the species of plants and how to take care of it. You can check out its Explore function to feel what other plants have identified now.
The collection of plants gives you a list of all the plants and trees you have searched for altogether. Once you identify plants, you can buy them via an HTA certified nursery.
- Identifies mushrooms and cacti, etc.
- Complete taxonomy for plant lovers
- Buying options
- Accuracy is not assured
Key Features: Identify 600K species of plants, mushrooms, trees, cacti | Photo Gallery | Get info on complete taxonomy of plants | Search plants by name
Download: iOS | Android (Free, In-App Purchases)
PictureThis
PictureThis is an excellent plant identifier app that puts your snaps through its huge database of 10,000+ species to find a match. It works by letting users put a snap of any plant, tree, flower, or whatever.
Once the photo uploads, PictureThis uses its advanced artificial intelligence app to recognize it. The app has a 98% accuracy rate which is mind-boggling. It brings all the information you need about the scanned species that you can refer to.
The plant identifier app is very easy to use. There’s a section where you can see a track of all plants and flowers, trees, and more that you searched. It has a guide to perfect a shot before posting it.
- Advanced intelligent identification.
- Plant lover community
- Can get suggestions for plant treatment
- Need to pay for more than one identification per day
Key Features: Advanced Artificial Intelligence | Recognizes 10,000+ species | Suggestions & Advice | Easy to use | Powered by Community of plant lovers
Download: iOS | Android (Free, In-App Purchases)
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iNaturalist
One of the popular plant and tree identification app is iNaturalist. Developed by the University of California at Berkeley, the app can recognize species of plants with accuracy. It can also identify insects, birds, and animals all-in-one app.
iNaturalist has a community of more than 400,000 scientists with whom users can interact asking queries and questions. The app can identify species of plants and trees both near and far.
It uses geolocation to tie the results specific to any location. The community forum lets you share stuff on plans and get recommendations and suggestions as you need.
To recognize any plant, you can simply point your camera towards it and wait until it reduces the input and pushes relevant results.
- Identifies trees, plants, animals, insects, etc.
- Scientists’ community for support
- Location tagging for results
- Limited features for students and researchers
Key Features: Identifies plants, trees, insects, birds, and animals | Community of over 400K scientists | Tags results to the location | Multi-language support |
Download: iOS | Android (Free, In-App Purchases)
LeafSnap
LeafSnap plant and leaf identification app is a quick way to discover new species of trees, leaves, bark, shrub, and others. LeafSnap can identify thousands of species of trees, fruits, and others using advanced artificial intelligence.
How this app works is when you snap a photo of any leaves, plants, fruits, and otherwise, it will identify all the relevant species. The information includes the name of the genus, family, common name, Latin name, and others.
This app can identify a huge number of plants and leaves, especially from the Canadian and North American regions.
- Quick tree identification
- Identifies by fruit, leaf, flower, and bark
- Powerful learning tool
- Always need to place leaves and fruits on white paper
Key Features: Advanced Artificial Intelligence | Huge Plant Database | Recognizes species by their fruits, flower, bark, and leaves | Easy to Use
Download: iOS | Android (Free, In-App Purchases)
Garden Answers Plant Identifier
Another popular plant, tree, and flower identification app you must try are the Garden Answers Plant Identifier. Just like any other apps listed here, this one lets you snap a photo of any plant and run it through its database to find a match.
The app can identify over 20,000 plants so that you don’t have to search through Google to find a match. It also has 200,000 commonly asked plant questions that can get read to know more.
All the information is curated by garden experts and horticulturists. The app takes a few seconds to identify any plant and show results. You can go through its database to find any information you need.
- Experts and horticulturists for help
- Searchable database
- Need to log in always
Key Features: Ask Experts & horticulturists | Recognizes 20,000 plants | Keyword searchable database | Photo Gallery | 200K FAQs | Premium at $3.99
Download: iOS | Android (Free, In-App Purchases)
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Seek by iNaturalist
Developed in a joint venture of the National Geographic Society and the California Academy of Sciences, this is a must-try plant identification app. The app is a great way to discover or identify species of plants. It can also identify birds, amphibians, insects, and other species.
It takes all the data from the observations recorded on iNaturalist’s website by the community and experts. This also ensures there is a huge database to recognize and discover types of species as well.
It is safe for kids as it doesn’t collect any user data and doesn’t seek any registration as well. The app has an Explore feature where users can check out newer species of plants and other living organisms.
Earn badges on observing different species and complete challenges that come up on the app.
- Easy to use
- No need to create an account
- Kids-friendly
- Problems with identification sometimes
Key Features: Recognizes plants, mushrooms, bug, flowers | Kid-friendly | Explore | Challenges & badges
Download: iOS | Android (Free)
Plant Lens
Plant Lens is another plant identifier app that you would find for your smartphone. It lets users take a photo of the plant or flower they want to recognize and runs it through a database of 60,000 species to find matches.
When the app recognizes any plant, it will show all information on its genus & family, how to take care of it, and wiki among others. It has a separate personal collection where you’ll find all the plants you searched for.
Plant Lens can identify plants, flowers, trees, leaves, mushrooms, cactus, succulents, and others. It is a handy app for teachers, gardeners, and people alike who love nature and the species it blossoms in. Although it isn’t the most popular app, it does work pretty swiftly.
- Personal plant map
- Plant Encyclopedia
- Not always reliable
Key Features: Recognizes 60,000 species | Personal Collection | Encyclopedia on plants | Beautiful UI
Download: iOS | Android (Free, In-App Purchases)
Agrobase
Agrobase has a cult following given the fact that it is the most popular plant, flower, tree identification app. With its focus on helping agronomists and farmers, it does serve for casual users as well.
It is mainly used around horticultural, fruit, crop, vegetable, and livestock farmers. Agrobase can easily identify insects, diseases, weed, pests, and more. This helps the user identify any issues and find a fix right on the app itself.
Agrobase has a humongous database and it is updated daily helping users identify flowers and crops and other vegetation. It also aids farmers in recognizing what went wrong with the crops and instructs them towards a probable solution.
It is an all-in-one plant identifier app with insects, pesticide identification app to use. If you are a botanist or a farmer or alike, I would straightaway recommend this app.
- Timely updates
- Farmer-friendly
- Can identify weeds and insects
- Too many ads
- Does not have many plants outside the US
Key Features: Consistent & timely updates | Recognizes plants, weeds, insects, pesticides & others | Community contributions | Huge database for identification | Step-by-step instructions
Download: iOS | Android (Free, In-App Purchases)
SmartPlant
If learning about plants, recognizing them is a hobby, SmartPlant is a must. The app lets users identify plants and trees by matching it with its huge catalog of plant species.
Unlike many other apps, this plant, tree, flower, or fruit identification app takes the cue from real experts to recognize and name a species. It also acts brilliantly in identifying pests and diseases too.
SmartPlant gives you a feature to talk to all the experts if you have any plant-related questions. The app works simply by scanning by snapping a photo and there you have it. You can set plant care reminders using the SmartPlant app.
- Talk with experts
- Plant care reminders
- Many features are paid
Key Features: Talk with experts | Easy to use | Scans photo & recognizes plants with information | Plant care reminders | Discover plants
Download: Android (Free, In-App Purchases)
Plant, tree, and leaf identifier apps can help you find flora around you and even make the best out of the gardener in you. Hope this helped you choose the best plant identification app that well suits your need.