Both Alisma
Alisma plantago-aquatica vs Alisma triviale
These two are not on this page because a keyword tool suggested them. They are here because our own identification model genuinely mistook one for the other, on real photographs, 4 times. We publish the rate, and then we tell you what actually separates them.
Side by sidefigs. a and b
Alisma plantago-aquatica
European Water-plantain
Alisma triviale
northern water-plantain
How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated
| When the plant was | The model said | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Alisma triviale | Alisma plantago-aquatica | 4 of 20 (20%) |
Measured on 38,299 openly licensed, research-grade photographs. Full method and dataset.
What actually separates themon the record
| Family | Both Alismataceae. The family does not separate them. |
|---|---|
| Genus | Both Alisma. Congeners, which is why this is hard. |
| Flowering | Peaks in July versus July. Timing does not separate them. (n = 734 and 586.) |
What we do not have yet: the diagnostic morphological character that a botanist would key on, from a source we can cite. We are not going to invent one. Until we have it, this page tells you the two are genuinely confusable, how often, and what the taxonomy and the flowering data do and do not settle.