Help me identify (Non-Experts Welcome) 2.0

[ydobon]

the forum topic that I am rebooting was closed a while back (Click here).

I am borrowing the original text from the forum post @pisum made

There’s been some talk about how to distribute the task of identification in iNaturalist to a larger group. I suspect that a lot of potential identifiers out there don’t know where to even begin. So this thread is intended to provide some information on specific taxa that will be easy for anyone to pick up and begin identifying. It will also provide a mechanism to track those who are interested in identifying. (That way, the usual identifiers will know who these people are and can step back and help guide them a little more.)

For experts (or knowledgeable non-experts) who want help cleaning up / maintaining taxa, please add a “Help me identify [XXX]” post that explains how others can help. A general request/tutorial for identification should follow these general guidelines:

1. only taxa that can be easily identified by non-experts given a little guidance
2. guidance that consists of no more than 5 traits to look out for and no more than 5 commonly confused taxa
3. guidance on when a genus level taxon can be marked as “as good as it can be”, if applicable
4. guidance on geography, if appropriate
5. maybe a little blurb or links to info about the taxon to tell people why it’s important
6. a specific time frame for an initial cleanup
7. a quick poll (that identifies responders) to track who’s going to help with the initial clean up
8. a second quick poll (that identifies responders) to track who is willing to adopt the taxon by subscribing to it to monitor/maintain it over time

For potential identifiers, if you see taxa that looks interesting, just indicate your interest in the appropriate quick poll, and start identifying over at iNaturalist.

Useful info for potential identifiers:

1. Here’s an article on identifying observations in iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started#identify
2. Here’s a video tutorial for the Identify page: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/video+tutorials#identify
3. On on the right side of the website homepage (https://www.inaturalist.org/home ), there’s a Subscription section, with buttons to “Subscribe to a Taxon” and to “Subscribe to a Place”. “Subscribe to a Place” also allows you to subscribe to a taxon within a place.

If you have any ideas for taxa that you think would be good candidates for identification by non-experts or taxa that you would like help to figure out how to identify, this might be a good thread for discussing those kinds of things, too.

[ydobon]

Help me identify Zephyranthes drummondii in Texas

Zephyranthes drummondii is a relatively large rain-lily that is in the genus Zephyranthes. It typically flowers in the Spring, and It has four lookalikes in Texas.

Identify Page
Taxon Page

Identification Tasks :

1. Confirm IDs on species-level Zephyranthes Drummondii observations. It typically has the following features :
   a. (Usually) 6 white petals
   b. anthers in a tight bundle, not protruding outside of the floral tube
   c. Stigma not extending past the anthers
   d. blue-green, often drooped leaves
2. Kick out misidentified plants : See the guide* made by @pfau_tarleton for Texas here : https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1CUOqy8kDbBZs3vC_2yty-4gJBuWNu9kY6DEYScASus4/edit#slide=id.p

*If you are not familiar with botanical terms, here is a helpful photo :

3. As with other flowering plants, It will be helpful to also mark the “flowering” under the Plant Phenology Annotations, if the plant is flowering.

I’m planning to do a cleanup of the taxon 2023-04-03T04:00:00Z→2023-04-06T04:00:00Z. If you’re interested in helping me do the cleanup of this taxon, vote in the quick poll below :

• Yes, I want to help
• No, I can’t help

If you want to subscribe to the Taxon, and maintain it over time, vote in the quick poll below :

• Yes, I want to help
• No, I can’t help

[lappelbaum]

I can help with Zephyranthes in Texas some but I’m bogged down with so many other east Texas and Louisiana plants that I can’t help maintain.

[tiwane]

@ydobon I can reopen the original topic, let me know if that’s what you want me to do. For future reference, you can message @forum_moderators and ask us to re-open a closed topic.

[ydobon]

Can you reopen the original topic then unlist this one?

[tiwane]

Done.

[pfau_tarleton]

Thanks for the help!