How Wildflower Search Handles Flower Size for Identification
Wildflower Search uses a set of preset size categories rather than a numeric measurement field, and it expects you to estimate the size of a single flower, not a cluster or the whole plant. The site's own guidance suggests using a quarter (about 1 inch in diameter) as a field reference if you don't carry a ruler, and it notes that its size data may be imperfect because botanical descriptions often omit flower size. If you're identifying a plant with tiny or inconspicuous blooms, the practical answer is to select "Very Small" and rely on the other criteria—location, color, shape, and time—to narrow the results.
The size options you can choose
The search form offers these flower size choices:
| Option | Approximate size |
|---|---|
| Very Small | No stated measurement |
| About 1/4 inch | ~6 mm |
| About 1/2 inch | ~13 mm |
| About 3/4 inches | ~19 mm |
| About an 1 inch | ~25 mm |
| Around 1.5 inches | ~38 mm |
| Around 2 inches | ~51 mm |
| Around 3 inches | ~76 mm |
| Over 4 inches | >102 mm |
Note that there is no "About 4 inches" entry—the scale jumps from "Around 3 inches" to "Over 4 inches," so a flower measuring roughly 3.5 inches falls into an ambiguous zone. Pick the closer of the two.
How to measure in the field
The site's own tip: a U.S. quarter is about 1 inch in diameter, so you can hold it next to a bloom to judge whether the flower is roughly a quarter-inch, half-inch, or an inch across.
Two rules matter more than precision:
- Measure one flower, not the cluster. When a plant has clusters of small flowers, the instructions say to measure the size of an individual flower even though it may be very small. A flat-topped head of tiny florets is not a 2-inch flower.
- Expect variation. The site acknowledges that flower size often varies within a species, and that some of its size information may be wrong because botanical descriptions frequently leave flower size out.
What "Very Small" actually covers
"Very Small" is the catch-all for two situations:
- Flowers that are genuinely tiny and hard to measure.
- Plants whose flowers are not obvious at all—the site places these in the "Very Small" category by default.
If you're looking at a grass, a sedge, or a plant with greenish, reduced, or hidden flowers, "Very Small" is usually the right starting point rather than a measurement you can't make.
Practical implications for your search
- Don't over-trust the size filter. Because size data is incomplete and variable, treat it as a soft constraint. If your first search returns nothing, loosen or drop the size criterion before abandoning the other filters.
- Combine size with color, petals, and location. Size alone rarely identifies a flower; the form is built around stacking several criteria.
- Use elevation and time as tiebreakers. The search also accepts coordinates, elevation (within 500 feet), and observation time, which can compensate for an imprecise size estimate.
- When in doubt, go smaller. A flower you'd call "about an inch" but aren't sure about is more likely to match if you also try the next size down, since many entries cluster at the smaller end.
The short version: estimate one flower against a coin, choose the nearest preset category, and if the bloom is tiny or inconspicuous, choose "Very Small" and let the other criteria do the work.