So in between existential crises and depression naps I have been trying to garden a bit. Nothing amazing just - pots of flowers - trying to create butterfly friendly spaces - etc. I also started trying to figure out what “weeds” I wanted to keep and what I wanted gone. So I poked around on the app store to see if I could find anything that could help me - and I found SEEK by iNaturalist and its sort of neat so I’m going to pimp it. Basically how it works is you take a photo of a living thing - or “scan” it by giving the camera multiple angles and the app breaks down what it is. From kingdom to phylum to class, order, family. genus and finally actual species. You can even filter it so it looks at the bug in a shot - instead of the plant it on. And it gives a little wiki blurb about said organism. For common things it does this pretty quickly for more niche stuff it takes longer. (It got my cursed dutchman’s pipe plant correct to the the genus but fumbled on species. But it is a really farking niche plant so I am not judging. ) It doesn’t ALWAYS get it - some of the sprouts I have that aren’t developed enough are just being classed as a dicot. Or the weird grass we have is just - dicot - maybe a grass. Our many succulents are just classed “stone crop” and it sort of trails off after that. Which is - not unfair since a lot of them share similar characteristics. It’s been a fun learning experience for me - cause - well for example I learned that we are accidentally growing a potato in my flower pots. And that the plant we always assumed for decades was a Philodendron is in fact Golden Pothos also known as Devil’s Ivy, which makes more sense (and yes, that plant IS an asshole.)
It also does more than plants and bugs. It also appropriately identified my cat as a cat (very important) and wants me to look at more mushrooms and frogs.
It also keeps a nice little log of what you’ve seen and gives you little badges for looking up stuff. It feels sort of like a pokemon go vibe of “go out - be careful - explore! - DONT EAT WHAT YOU FIND” So yea - good fun app - it’s fun wandering around like I’m an away team with my little tricorder and most importantly and the main reason I’m pimping this program....IT’S FREE. There’s no ads - no subscriptions. You don’t even have to make a membership on their website (you CAN - so you can network and share with your buddies that neat bug you found and they can show you this mushroom.) So if you got a question about “what IS this spider?” or “hey is this a weed a wildflower or an escapee from my neighbor’s yard?” This might help you out.
