Plant identification help

Accurate plant identification is important but challenging. If you are not sure about the plant name, try these options:

PictureThis App:
Download from Google Play or the App Store (free, trial, and premium versions). No plant identification app is perfect, but this one has scored better than most in accuracy comparisons. We are hesitant to rely on a plant-identification app alone for a possible poisoning.

Facebook:
Use the “Poisons Help; Emergency Identification for Mushrooms & Plants” Facebook group for expert help. This group is for emergencies only (ingestions or skin reactions). These volunteer experts don’t provide medical or veterinary advice and are not affiliated with webPOISONCONTROL. For non-emergencies, please consult other Facebook groups.

INFO NEEDED FOR PLANT OR MUSHROOM IDENTIFICATION HELP (Facebook group):

• Location: City, state/province, country

• Emergency description, for example:

  • My 2-year-old ate half a yellow flower from a tree, 10 minutes ago, and has no symptoms.

  • We ate grilled mushrooms from my lawn 4 hours ago. Now all adults are nauseated or vomiting.

• Who was exposed and how:

  • Age and estimated weight

  • State "human"

    • webPOISONCONTROL only addresses exposures in humans, but this Facebook Group will help with identification for either humans or animals that eat plants or mushrooms. 

• How long ago? Use this format: "20 minutes ago"

• Symptoms:

  • Whether or not symptomatic,

  • What symptoms have developed,

  • How long after ingestion each symptom began, and

  • Diagnostic lab results.

• Photos

  • Clear, close-up, well-lit, multiple angles, with a common object (coin or ruler) for size reference.

  • For plants, include stem, seeds, flower, and whole plant.

  • For mushrooms, include habitat, full specimen, stem, gills, and cap details.

IMPORTANT:
Enter the plant’s botanical name in the webPOISONCONTROL tool, not the common name, for the most accurate recommendation. Completely different plants may have the same common name.