Learn to Identify Plants

While you’re working on your Summer Learning Outdoor Enthusiast badges, why not learn a little more about the trees, wildflowers, and other plants you see?

The apps and videos below will help you identify plants whether you are hiking around Kentucky or just hanging out in your own backyard.


Learn & Go: Plant Identification

For even more resources, plus the chance to win a set of plant identification books, stop by our Learn & Go: Plant Identification table at the library on Wednesday, June 23, from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.


Apps

PlantNet

Android I iOS

PlantNet is a free app that does not use ads. Tap the camera icon to take a photo or choose one in your device’s gallery. Choose the related plant organ (flower, leaves, fruit, bark). The app works best if your photo includes just one plant organ at a time. The database will suggest several matches, and you can tap through photos or click on the “i” icon for more information.

Seek

Android I iOS

Seek is a free app by the iNaturalist team, a joint initiative of the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society. Though you can identify photos from your gallery, for us the app worked best when we used the camera, which keeps searching for matches while you point at the subject from different angles.

Earn badges, complete challenges, and save your observations.

LeafSnap

Android I iOS

Take a photo or choose one from your gallery, then choose leaf, flower, fruit, or bark. Although the app is free, it will show you an ad before you can see the suggested results. You’ll have to view another ad to find out more information about the plants.

Though the ads can be annoying, the app is easy to use, the information is clearly displayed, and you can easily save the plants you’ve identified. Paid versions without ads begin at $4.99/month.


Videos

Plant Science: Introduction to Botany

This self-paced video course from The Great Courses includes 24 episodes, such as “The Joy of Botany,” “Days and Years in the Lives of Plants,” “Secrets of Flower Power,” “Bad Plants Aren’t So Bad,” and more. To get started, visit our website at jesspublib.org/learning and choose The Great Courses.

Common Kentucky Trees

These brief videos from the extension forester at the UK Forestry and Natural Resources feature a new Kentucky tree every week.

Kentucky Native Plants Society

Go on a wildflower hike, learn to collect columbine seeds, learn about the iNaturalist app, and more with these videos from the Kentucky Native Plants Society.