Blechnaceae and Osmundaceae

Lorinseria areolata vs Osmunda regalis

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

Lorinseria areolata, photographed by Nathan T. Jones
fig. a Nathan T. Jones, CC BY 4.0

Lorinseria areolata

netted chain fern
Osmunda regalis, photographed by Rafael Medina
fig. b Rafael Medina, CC BY 4.0

Osmunda regalis

European royal fern

How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated

When the plant was The model said How often
Lorinseria areolata Osmunda regalis 3 of 19 (16%)

The confusion runs one way only. The model mistakes Lorinseria areolata for Osmunda regalis, but not the reverse.

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

What actually separates themon the record

Family Blechnaceae versus Osmundaceae. Different families, which is a real separation.
Genus Lorinseria versus Osmunda.

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