Gentianaceae and Primulaceae

Gentiana calycosa vs Lysimachia arvensis

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, 3 times. We publish the rate, and then we tell you what actually separates them.

Confused 3x by our model Method published

Side by sidefigs. a and b

Gentiana calycosa, photographed by Paul McClellan
fig. a Paul McClellan, CC BY 4.0

Gentiana calycosa

Mountain Bog Gentian
Lysimachia arvensis, photographed by Zeke Marshall
fig. b Zeke Marshall, CC BY 4.0

Lysimachia arvensis

scarlet pimpernel

How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated

When the plant was The model said How often
Gentiana calycosa Lysimachia arvensis 3 of 20 (15%)

The confusion runs one way only. The model mistakes Gentiana calycosa for Lysimachia arvensis, but not the reverse.

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

What actually separates themon the record

Family Gentianaceae versus Primulaceae. Different families, which is a real separation.
Genus Gentiana versus Lysimachia.
Flowering Peaks in August versus April. If the plant is in flower, timing helps. (n = 1,076 and 12,305.)

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