Both Orchidaceae

Aplectrum hyemale vs Corallorhiza maculata

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.

Confused 4x by our model Method published

Side by sidefigs. a and b

Aplectrum hyemale, photographed by John Brown
fig. a John Brown, CC0 1.0

Aplectrum hyemale

putty root
Corallorhiza maculata, photographed by Pierre Cartier
fig. b Pierre Cartier, CC0 1.0

Corallorhiza maculata

spotted coralroot

How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated

When the plant was The model said How often
Aplectrum hyemale Corallorhiza maculata 4 of 20 (20%)

The confusion runs one way only. The model mistakes Aplectrum hyemale for Corallorhiza maculata, but not the reverse.

Measured on 38,299 openly licensed, research-grade photographs. Full method and dataset.

What actually separates themon the record

Family Both Orchidaceae. The family does not separate them.
Genus Aplectrum versus Corallorhiza.
Flowering Peaks in May versus June. If the plant is in flower, timing helps. (n = 513 and 3,005.)

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.

Both recordsfull pages