I know many folks here deal with class projects - which end up posting mostly cultivated plants. I’m dealing with one that doesn’t have a project, so I don’t know of a way to reach out to the organizer. I’ve been trying to ID the plants, but then marking them as cultivated (if it’s obvious they are) and then saying something like:
This looks like it may be cultivated. Be sure to mark planted plants as “captive/cultivated” when you upload observations of cultivated plants. You can also do so after uploading by clicking the “thumbs down” next to “Organism is wild?” in the Data Quality Assessment section at the bottom of this page on the website. Thanks!
I’ve been noticing class projects here and there on some of the species I follow. It’s kind of annoying when the entire class of 20 submits different photos of the same plant, all with the wrong ID… I really like your response for the “cultivated plant in a class project” situation, I think I’m going to save it for later use. I often run into “insufficient information” problems with class projects, where all of the students upload just one photo of a leaf, not even showing the whole petiole, opposite side, bark, branch, habit, etc… I would like to have a standard response for encouraging the observer to provide more information as well.
If you photograph plants planted by people, do not forget to check the box “It is captive or cultivated.” This database is primarily interested in wild plants, including weeds. You may still upload garden plants for your personal enjoyment and education, but remember, if a person planted it, check the box! Here’s a short video showing how to do it in the mobile app: https://vimeo.com/331151155 Thank you and have fun.
I don’t mention the DQA because it’s very hard to find on the app and most students don’t know there is a website. It would be easier for them to click “edit” on their observation to bring back that screen shown in the video, or just to remember it for future observations.