People often ask us to identify wildlife, plants, and pests. Although we are happy to help, there are currently many free or low-cost resources that do an excellent job at that. Here are some that our program participants may find useful:
Free Plant ID Phone Apps
NOTE: Plant ID apps are not always accurate. We recommend cross-referencing the identification with other resources, such as books or plant databases (below).
PictureThis
Simply take or upload a photo of any plant, get instantaneous and accurate plant ID results with our revolutionary artificial intelligence technology.
Seek by iNaturalist
Take your nature knowledge up a notch with Seek! Use the power of image recognition technology to identify the plants and animals all around you. Earn badges for seeing different types of birds, amphibians, plants, and fungi and participate in monthly observation challenges.
PlantSnap
Identify plants, flowers, cacti, succulents, and mushrooms in seconds with the click of a button on your mobile device.
Pl@ntNet
With the Pl@ntNet app, identify one plant from a picture, and be part of a citizen science project on plant biodiversity
Garden Answers
Garden Answers offers cutting-edge plant identification technology for mobile devices and has built a community of gardening experts who offer advice and guidance to our users.
LeafSnap
To identify a plant, you simply need to snap a photo of the plant, and the app will tell you what it is in a matter of seconds! LeafSnap can currently recognize 90% of all known species of plants and trees, which covers most of the species you will encounter in every country on Earth.
Plant ID Websites
OregonFlora
OregonFlora has assembled a comprehensive guide to the ~4,700 vascular plants of Oregon that is shared through this website, the Flora of Oregon books, and our wildflower identification app.
Plant ID Books and Pocket Guides
Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast Washington Oregon BC & Alaska 3rd Edition
By Jim Pojar and Andy Mackinnon, this classic, bestselling field guide features 794 species of plants commonly found along the Pacific coast from Oregon to Alaska, including trees, shrubs, wildflowers, aquatic plants, grasses, ferns, mosses, and lichens. Areas covered are the coastal region from shoreline to alpine, including the western Cascades — from tide pools to rain forests and meadows.
Encyclopedia of Northwest Native Plants for Gardens & Landscapes
By Kathleen Robson, Alice Richter, Marianne Filbert, this comprehensive reference describes plants native to the Pacific Northwest—the ferns and conifers; annuals, perennials, and grasses; and flowering trees and shrubs that populate and define this distinctive region. Featured are some 530 subject species that occur naturally from southwestern Alaska to Oregon’s border with California, and from the coast east to Idaho, plants that are not only beautiful ornamentals but important components of habitat diversity.
Wildflowers of Oregon’s Cascades Range
By Daniel Mathews, Wildflowers of Oregon’s Cascades Range is a quick and easy-to-use, light-weight, durable, all-weather field guide to 99 carefully selected native flowers. Some shrubs and small trees are included, along with herbs. Each is illustrated with a gorgeous photo of the flower and identified with the help of just a few easy-to-understand key characteristics. The range includes Crater Lake National Park, the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area, and all the mountains south to California. Many of the same flowers are also common in the Coast Ranges and even the intervening valleys.
Free Personalized Gardening Help
Metro Master Gardeners
Master Gardeners answer your gardening and pest management questions to help you make informed decisions. We will most often want to send you a detailed response with links to more information. We will try to answer you within 48 hours.
Free Bird ID App
Audubon Bird Guide
The Audubon Bird Guide is a free and complete field guide to over 800 species of North American birds, right in your pocket. Built for all experience levels, it will help you identify the birds around you, keep track of the birds you’ve seen, and get outside to find new birds near you.
Merlin Bird ID
Answer three simple questions about a bird you are trying to identify and Merlin will give you a list of possible matches. Sound ID listens to the birds around you and shows real-time suggestions for who’s singing. Snap a photo of a bird, or pull one in from your camera roll, and Photo ID will offer a shortlist of possible matches.