Houseplant Identification Tool

Our houseplant identification tool will help you figure out the species of any houseplant with just an image.

Make sure to also join our houseplant community forum to discuss everything plant related with other readers!

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How It Works

Simply upload a picture of your plant and let our tool do the work. We can identify over 12,000 plant species from across the world!

For best results, try to upload multiple pictures. You’re much more likely to get an accurate results if you provide a few pictures for us to reference.

Powered by AI

This tool uses state of the art machine learning algorithms to ensure the most accurate results possible.

We estimate that our ID tool can correctly identify houseplants in 90% percent of cases. For best results, try to upload multiple pictures from different angles.

Coming soon...

Plant Health Assessment

Need help identifying an issue or disease that is killing your plant? We can help with that!

Just upload a picture of the affected plant and get a full assessment including tips to help nurse your plant back to health.

Houseplant Identification Tips

Whether you just bought a new plant and realized it didn’t come with a label or you need a little help remembering the name of the plant you added to your collection years ago, identifying your houseplants is an important part of keeping plants. Knowing what plants you have in your collection is certainly interesting but being able to correctly identify your plants can also help you understand their specific care requirements, such as their lighting and fertilizing needs.

Today, there are thousands of different species of houseplants, which can make the thought of plant identification a bit intimidating. Thankfully, there are some simple tips that can simplify this process, and useful tools, like free plant identification software, that can take all of the guesswork out of identifying any unknown plant.

Why It’s So Important to Correctly Identify Your Plants

If you have friends over and they ask you about your houseplants, it can give you a major boost of self-confidence to know that you can discuss your plant collection expertly and with ease. But the importance of correctly identifying your plants goes way beyond that.

Plant identification can help you determine what plants you have in your collection so you can provide the proper care requirements, such as watering and fertilizing schedules and lighting needs, that specific species need. Beyond that, some plants are known to be quite toxic, so plant identification can be a matter of health concern as well, particularly if you have small children or house pets that may take a nibble out of your plants.

How to Identify Your Houseplant

Careful observation is key when it comes to plant identification. Take note of any notable characteristics of the plant you would like to identify, such as plant size, growth habit, leaf shape and flower color. Fuzzy leaves, for example, are one of the most telltale characteristics of African violets, while crown-of-thorns (Euphorbia milii), as the name implies, have notably thorny stems.

Once you have identified your plant’s unique characteristics, it’s time to take some photos and get started identifying your plant.

Simplify Plant Identification With Plant ID Tools

Once upon a time, when houseplant keepers wanted to identify their mystery houseplants, they would have needed to take a trip to their local library and peruse countless books on houseplants, carefully comparing grainy photos to their unknown plant. Today, with the help of technology, plant identification has never been easier and more accurate. Online searches, phone apps and plant identification websites have made it super simple to figure out what plants you have from the comfort of your living room.

Just Houseplants has our very own free Houseplant Identification Tool that works on any computer or smartphone and can determine what plants you have in a matter of seconds. Relying on state-of-the-art machine learning (also known as artificial intelligence), our identification tool will compare the photos of your plant to the over 12,000 houseplant species in our database to produce search results in a matter of seconds. With an over 90% accuracy rate, our tool can take all the hard work out of plant identification.

Using Our Houseplant Identification Tool

To begin, you can take photos of your plant directly with your smartphone or computer or upload photos you’ve already taken into the identification tool. Try taking photos of any distinguishing characteristics of your plant, such as leaf color and shape, growth habit and flower size and coloration. While our search tool has an accuracy of over 90%, to improve your search results, try uploading multiple photos of your houseplant from different angles. And, of course, aim for quality photos that are not blurry or overly pixelated for better results. After uploading your photos, click “Submit,” and let our tool do the rest.

In a few seconds, our tool will identify your plant and provide you with some important information about it. Your search results will include the estimated accuracy of your search result (clearer photos produce more accurate results), as well as the common name and scientific name of the plant, photos for comparison and a bit of information about your plant species, such as country of origin, growth habit and species variation.

While our identification tool is very accurate, for added certainty in your identification, try double checking your search results with an internet search for the scientific name of the plant you identified. Comparing your plant to the search image results should give you that extra boost of confidence in your plant identification. Search results will also provide you with the specific care requirements and toxicity information for your particular plant species to help you ensure you’re meeting the care needs of your mystery houseplant.

Once you’ve identified your plant, you can give yourself a good pat on the back. With the help of our ID tool, it really is that easy!

Try to ID Your Plant With an Internet Search

If you don’t have a camera handy or the ID tool gives you unclear results, you can try identifying your plant with an internet search. Take note of the characteristics that make your plant unique and try using those terms in your search query. Some of the terms to search for include:

Some ways to describe your leaves, including references to leaf color, shape, texture, and size, such as:
- Simple, lobed or compound leaves
- Heart-shaped leaves, star-shaped leaves, oblong leaves, etc.
- Broad leaves, large leaves, tiny leaves, etc.
- Smooth and glossy leaves or fuzzy leaves
- Purple leaves, variegated, striped, spotted, red-edged leaves, etc.
References to plant flowers, including terms such as:
- Globe-shaped, cross-shaped, star-shaped, tubular, etc.
- Flower color, including bi-colored blooms
- Fragrance notes, such as honey-scented, fruit-scented, etc.
- Bloom-time, spring, summer or fall (this is important for plants like Christmas cacti that bloom at a particular time of the year)
- Size and number of blooms (bromeliads, for instance, only produce a single bloom, while spider plants produce a multitude of blossoms)
Growth habit, such as:
- Trailing, upright, tall, vining, or low and mounded
Plant variety, like:
- Succulent, cacti, tropical plant, herb, etc.

When conducting a search result on your own, try using as many of these descriptive words as possible to improve your search results. It can also be helpful to compare your plant to plants you already can identify by using search queries such as “daisy-like flower that smells like jasmine” or “plants similar to pothos with black leaves.” And be sure to include the term “houseplant” in your search query to eliminate any outdoor and wild-growing plants from your search results.

It can also help if you keep in mind that many plants in a single family have similar characteristics. This means that if you can correctly identify one plant and see commonalities in your mystery houseplant, you may be well on your way to correctly identifying your plant. For instance, if you know what a common aloe (Aloe vera) looks like and your mystery plant has similarly fleshy leaves with tiny spikes, you know there is a potential that you have some variety of aloe on your hands. Doing a brief search for “different aloe varieties” and comparing their differences can help you determine which variety of aloe you have.

While internet search engines are not a surefire way to identify your plant, by understanding how to use search keywords effectively and by carefully comparing photos, you can usually correctly identify your plant with just a little bit of legwork. If you’re having difficulty, try different search engines, or browse the pages of dedicated houseplant websites, such as Just Houseplants, to gain more insight about your mystery plant.

Consult Online Groups and Forms

If all else fails, there are many houseplant communities that are more than happy to help you with plant identification. Facebook, in particular, has many dedicated houseplant groups, where you can simply upload photos of your houseplant and their members will help you not only with identification, but also with common care tips requirements. The advice you receive from groups like this can be quite helpful as it is often based on the firsthand experience acquired by members. Advice can include specific answers such as fertilizing requirements, how to treat and prevent common pests and how to encourage your plant to bloom.

If you’re in the search for a houseplant group to help you identify your mystery plant, check out these groups, which boast both a large membership and a very active following:

Facebook: Houseplant Addicts
Facebook: Houseplant Hobbyists
Facebook: Houseplants by gardenstead

Conclusion

Correctly identifying your houseplants is an important step in becoming a true houseplant enthusiast and a skilled houseplant keeper. Identifying your plants not only helps you determine plant safety with regard to household pets and small children, but it can also assist you with pinpointing the steps you need to take to keep different species of plants healthy for years.

While houseplant identification was once a tedious task, with the advent of internet technology and, specifically, useful software like plant identification tools, it’s never been easier. All you need is a camera, a few clear photos and the ID tool will do the rest. Next time you need to identify a plant, give our identification page a try and you’ll see how quickly you gain confidence with houseplant identification and care.