Hello! Would it be a good idea, when posting observations, to include comments on local lore about the species being observed? The reason I bring this up is that I believe local lore can be a clue to IDng. For example, I may not know the scientific name of a plant nor the English common name, but …

[image] cristinamontes: I may know its common name in my native language and that it’s edible for humans, for example, or it has medicinal uses in my place. I would say absolutely yes on the native language part. I would strongly caution against noting that it is edible or has medicinal uses…

[image] asteroidowl: I would strongly caution against noting that it is edible or has medicinal uses. That’s not what iNat is for really, but more importantly, people can easily see what you said and then go out without further research and then blame you or iNat for harm they caused themselves.…

There’s also been this that happened: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/inat-alledged-as-source-of-deadly-mushrooms-in-australian-triple-murder-trial/64622 Whenever someone posts a photo of a mushroom (usually) and asks “is it edible” I always respond that iNat isn’t for that. Anyway - it’s a good q…

Allow me to be the devil on your shoulder… I am always interested to read “local lore” types of notes, both when IDing and when browsing observations to learn what grows/lives in a location. iNaturalist about documenting our interactions with the natural world, and I think it’s ok to interpret that …

If your native language is available as a list of common names in iNat, you can type the common name when identifying and get the scientific name, or if it hasn’t been entered, enter it on the taxon page. However, iNat searches all languages. One species of Odocoileus is called “venado bura” in Span…

Local common names are a vital and essential part of oral history.

[image] asteroidowl: I would strongly caution against noting that it is edible or has medicinal uses. I don’t agree with that statement - I see the concern, but I think that’s too restrictive. iNaturalist observations can absolutely (and in my opinion should because that is very interesting!)…

[image] asteroidowl: I would strongly caution against noting that it is edible or has medicinal uses. Makes absolute sense not to state such things as fact, indeed, but I see no problem with statements like “a tea made with the leaves is commonly believed by locals to have anti-inflammatory p…

There are also dedicated projects - this one is research and scientist based for example https://www.inaturalist.org/people/suvarna https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/medicinal-plants-of-south-africa

https://www.inaturalist.org/people/cristinamontes Is this you ? Might you consider - adding a picture - nature or a drawing (something for us to recognise) - and some where and what for your iNat interests (again not intruding on your privacy - but a country or region ?)

Local Lore in iNaturalist

General

Topic		Replies	Views
New User, Are Notes Typically Encouraged or Discouraged? General	40	2199	May 1, 2023
Use of iNaturalist for recording indigenous and local knowledge General	10	973	July 5, 2021
Using Inaturalist to educate yourself - what are your tricks? General	19	2306	February 28, 2023
I'm no specialist, how should I proceed with my observations? General	35	2545	January 4, 2022
Posting without much ID knowledge? Nature Talk question	55	1161	November 21, 2025

Local Lore in iNaturalist

Related topics