How to Expand Your Knowledge of Plants & Animals Using Only Your iPhone

During a walk at a local forest preserve with a friend, she stopped to admire a broad-limbed, short tree covered in fuchsia blossoms. She guessed it was a redbud, turning to me for affirmation. I gave a slow shrug, eyebrows raised. Maybe it was? Now I wanted to know.

Normally I wouldn’t have thought to name any plant or tree beyond the maples surrounding our home, aside from our lilac bushes, or maybe the pine trees… 

But wait, were those pines? Could they be firs instead? Spruces? Offspring of a previous year’s discarded Christmas tree that took root and grew?  

Why I Expected I Should Know – And Why You Might Too

The pink-blossomed tree in question looked much like those I’ve seen in yards and parks around our suburb. I should have known the name of such a common and showy springtime bloomer. It just rarely occurred to me to pay enough attention to what grows outside to learn the names of bushes or plants. 

Then again, more than a handful of my friends had this knowledge. At this point, I wanted it too. 

Like maybe I should break free from my botanical ignorance.

“If you do not know the names of things,
the knowledge of them is lost, too.

~ Carl Linnaeus, Swedish physician & biologist

But Wait, That Ignorance Has an Appropriately Official Name

There’s a term for this lack of awareness, this inability to distinguish varieties of green species around you. It’s called “plant blindness.” 

“Humans can only recognize (visually) what they already know,” says Elisabeth Schussler, a U.S. botanist and biology educator, who, with colleague James Wandersee, coined the term.

Sounds right. Take lilacs. Those I’m familiar with. 

A hedge of lilac bushes grew along the gravel driveway at my childhood home. In the spring their sweet fragrance tickled my nose as I drifted back and forth seated on my swing on the nearby swing set. Often my mother helped me snip bouquets from the bushes to wrap in a damp paper towel and present to my schoolteachers. 

However, my grasp of flowering trees pretty much ends there. 

The rest blurs together.

Give It Your Best Shot“ (With Your iPhone)

Apple’s iOS 15 for iPhone and iPad added a helpful feature to the built-in Photo app called Visual Lookup. It enables you to identify plants, trees, animals, plus art and landmarks. 

Here’s how it works:

1. Take a picture of the object you want to identify.
2. Within the Photos app, look for the “i” info button on the bottom of the screen. If you see a star beside it, you’ll be able to use the Visual Lookup feature.

You’re One Step Closer to Genius (Or Your Chosen Plant’s Genus)

And there you have it! Suggested possible identities for the plant (or tree or snaggle-toothed furball) in front of you. No more idle wondering or outright missing the diverse objects growing in your environment. 

But wait, there’s more. 

You have a tool to change more than your ability to name botanical features in your region. You have a tool to help you become more cognizant of them. To maybe even care more about them.

No more embarrassment at not being familiar with nature around you. Sure, you might find yourself using Visual Lookup often at first. But over time your knowledge of creatures and plants outside your door will expand. And with it, your confidence in being connected to the rest of life on planet earth.

Visual Lookup to the Rescue

I motioned to my friend to hold off walking away from the tree we’d been wondering about. Pulling my iPhone from my pocket, I snapped a picture.  A look in the Photos app revealed the Visual Lookup symbol under the new shot. I tapped it. Up popped a suggested answer: the Eastern Redbud.

My friend was right! I noted the name for future reference so I could be “in the know.” 

But if I happened to forget, I could always call on the clever tool built into my iPhone.

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