Both Eutrochium
Eutrochium maculatum vs Eutrochium purpureum
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
Eutrochium maculatum
spotted Joe-Pye weed
Eutrochium purpureum
sweet Joe-Pye-weed
How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated
| When the plant was | The model said | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Eutrochium purpureum | Eutrochium maculatum | 4 of 17 (24%) |
Measured on 38,299 openly licensed, research-grade photographs. Full method and dataset.
What actually separates themon the record
| Family | Both Asteraceae. The family does not separate them. |
|---|---|
| Genus | Both Eutrochium. Congeners, which is why this is hard. |
| Flowering | Peaks in August versus August. Timing does not separate them. (n = 2,836 and 596.) |
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.