Flora Incognita

Technische Universität Ilmenau

About this app

FLORA INCOGNITA - DISCOVER THE DIVERSITY OF NATURE

What's blooming? With the Flora Incognita app, this question is quickly answered. Take a picture of a plant, find out what it's called and learn everything you want to know with the help of a fact sheet. Highly precise algorithms based on artificial intelligence identify wild plants even when they are not (yet) in bloom!

In the Flora Incognita app you can easily view all your collected plant finds in a observation list. Maps show where you have found your plants. This way you can see how your knowledge about wild plants is growing.

But Flora Incognita is even more! The app is free of charge and without advertising, because it is part of a scientific research project that aims to improve nature conservation. The collected observations are used to answer scientific research questions that deal, for example, with the spread of invasive species or the effects of climate change on biotopes.

In regular stories, you will learn about news from the project, get insights into the scientific work or will be made curious about what is happening in nature right now.

WHY SHOULD YOU USE FLORA INCOGNITA?
- Identify wild plants simply by taking a photo with your smartphone
- Learn more about plant species with the help of extensive plant profiles
- Collect your findings in your observation list
- Become part of an innovative scientific community
- Share your findings on Twitter, Instagram & Co!

HOW GOOD IS FLORA INCOGNITA?
Species identification with Flora Incognita is based on Deep Learning algorithms that have an accuracy of well over 90%. It is important to take sharp and as close as possible pictures of plant parts such as flower, leaf, bark or fruit for a high identification accuracy.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PROJECT?
Visit our website at www.floraincognita.com or follow us on social media. You can find us on X (@FloraIncognita2), Mastodon (@[e-mail]), Instagram (@flora.incognita) and Facebook (@flora.incognita).

IS THE APP REALLY FREE OF CHARGE AND ADVERTISING?
Yes. You can use Flora Incognita anytime, as long as you want. It is free to use, with no ads, no premium version and no subscription. But maybe you will enjoy searching and identifying plants so much that it will become a new hobby. We have received this feedback many times!

WHO DEVELOPED FLORA INCOGNITA?
The Flora Incognita app is developed by scientists from the Technical University of Ilmenau and the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry Jena. Its development was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with funds from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety as well as the Thuringian Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Nature Conservation and the Foundation for Nature Conservation Thuringia. The project was awarded as an official project of the "UN Decade of Biodiversity" and won the Thuringian Research Award in 2020.

Ratings and reviews

I've looked through so many plant identification apps and this is one of a kind. It's free, with no ads, and the most accurate I've found too! I am really enjoying all the fun facts about the plants I find and I love that it doesn't have excessive AI usage. One suggestion I have though, is to have the badges show what species were involved in getting it. For example, I got the first level of "ferntastic" but I only remember identifying one fern and would like it to show more. Great app!

I guess it could be my fault somehow, but this app has correctly identified 0 of the plants I've shown it, even with good pictures. i don't know if it's just not that good at native plants/weeds, or I don't know. But it gives me exactly the same results no matter what options I choose and they have all been incorrect. ex: I have a nettle of some kind in my yard but not sure which. App thinks it's a mulberry tree which is definitely isn't.

I'm really liking this app! So far it has correctly identified every plant I have, no matter how young or old it is. I wasn't even sure if some of my flowers in my little garden were flowers or weeds. I was very pleased to find out they were all flowers! I just ID'd one of my potted trees and was amazed that it gave the correct identification! Only one other app, that I have tried, has ID'd it. It was a pay app with a free trial. I am very excited that this free app has done as well!

What’s new

Version 3.13.

* Offline Mode: Improved system stability for network-independent identification.
* Species Profiles: Expanded botanical details and characteristics.
* Bug Fixes: General performance improved and app stability optimized.

We wish you a relaxing holiday season and a happy New Year.