Hill discusses how plant identification apps for smartphones have seen “significant improvements” over the past several years, and how these apps offer folks “the opportunity to take a photo and get an instant identification in many cases.” With this in mind, we’ve tested five plant identification apps available on Android and iOS that you can use to quickly find out what plant you’re interested in, whether you’re hiking outdoors with loved ones or starting an indoor garden that you want your pets to be safe around. Hill’s responsibilities include collaborating on plant and seed identification as a member of MSU’s Plant & Pest Diagnostics team.

“Sometimes it is a curiosity about the world around us,” she writes, and at “other times it is out of the desire or need to manage areas like gardens, agricultural fields, restored habitats, and/or natural preserves.” Dr. Hill, Ph.D., an academic dpecialist in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences at Michigan State University (MSU). “We are driven to identify plants for many reasons,” explains Erin C. Ditto if you’re wondering if that glossy leaf your loved one pulled up while camping is poison ivy, if that house plant your cat just nibbled on will make it sick or any other particular reason you may have. Whether you’re looking for help identifying plants along your morning hike or designing the flower or food garden of your dreams, there is a mobile plant identification app that can help you.

Spring has officially sprung and people will be spending more time in the great outdoors as the season gears up.

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