Biologists and plant enthusiasts now have the power of Michigan’s most complete plant identification guide in the palm of their hands.

University of Michigan researchers and research software engineers have developed the Michigan Flora mobile app, a plant identification app that will draw from the Michigan Flora Online website, hosted and curated by the U-M Herbarium.

The website is a continuously updated successor to the Field Manual of Michigan Flora, a comprehensive guide to plants that grow in Michigan. Originally published in a series of three volumes in the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s, Michigan Flora was then consolidated and republished as the Field Manual of Michigan Flora in 2012. It allows users to identify plants and includes plants’ scientific names, habitat, whether they’re native to the region, and maps that indicate in which counties plant species are found.

Now, researchers as well as citizen scientists will be able to access the plant identification benefits from their phones using the Michigan Flora app, even when they don’t have internet service, says U-M Herbarium research collection manager and assistant research scientist Brad Ruhfel.

“The website was a huge step forward, but there was a roadblock to using it in the field. If you don’t have Wi-Fi or cell signal, you can’t use the flora website,” he said. “A lot of people who use this resource are out in the field identifying plants in places where you don’t have an internet connection. So, we’re excited for professionals, amateurs, students and everybody in between to be able to use it a little bit more easily, for free.”

Housed in LSA, the University of Michigan Herbarium is home to 1.7 million specimen collections, one of the largest of its kind in the world. In collaboration with the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, the Herbarium is a leading center of training and research of Earth’s various life forms. To learn more about the U-M Herbarium, visit the website.

 

Read the complete article in Michigan News.

 

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