wildflowersearch.org

Wildflower Search identifies plants by narrowing a database using the conditions you can observe: where you found the flower, when you found it, and what it looks like. You set those criteria on the search page, then review the matches. It works best when you can supply a location and a date, because those two filters cut the candidate list faster than color or shape alone.

Step 1: Set the location

The search page offers several ways to tell the site where the flower was found:

• Set New Location — use this to place yourself at a known spot.
• Enter Coordinates — type the latitude and longitude directly. The site states that most formats are accepted, and shows examples such as 36.056316, -112.08046, 36° 3′ 22.77′′ N, 112° 4′ 49.66′′ W, and 36 3 22.77, 112 4 49.66.
• Plant Elevation — enter the elevation within 500 feet of where the flower was found. You can submit the value in feet or in meters, and pressing any value ignores elevation entirely.

If you do not know the coordinates, a phone's map app or a GPS reading from your photo's metadata will give you a decimal pair that fits the first example format.

Step 2: Set the observation time

Click the calendar to set when you saw the plant. You can pick a specific date, or use the Month / Week selector with options like January 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Last, and so on. There is also Now for the current week and Any Time to turn the time filter off.

Time matters because flowering periods differ by species and region. A plant in bloom in April in one area may not be flowering there in August.

Step 3: Describe the plant

The filters below the location and time fields let you describe what you saw. Each one you set removes plants that do not match.

Two notes from the site itself are worth keeping in mind:

• Size is approximate. Botanical descriptions often omit flower size, so some size data may be wrong. If you don't carry a ruler, a quarter is about an inch in diameter.
• Measure a single flower, not the cluster. When a plant has clusters of small flowers, measure one flower even if it is tiny. Plants with flowers that are not obvious are placed in the "Very Small" category.

Habitat descriptions on the page are written in plain terms — for example, Disturbed covers roadsides, railroads, burned areas, and vacant lots, while Alpine means growing above timberline. Pick the one that matches where you actually stood.

Step 4: Submit and review matches

After setting your criteria, submit the search and look through the results. Each match is a candidate, not a verdict. If the list is long, add another filter you are confident about (color and petal count are usually the easiest to judge from a photo). If the list is empty, loosen a filter — elevation and exact date are the most common reasons for no results.

Common snags

• No location yet. The page shows a default location (the example excerpt shows Ashburn) until you set your own. Confirm the location field reflects where you actually found the plant before trusting the results.
• Elevation left on. If you are unsure of the elevation, ignore it rather than guessing; a wrong value within the 500-foot window can exclude the correct plant.
• Time filter too narrow. If you only remember the month, use the month-level option instead of a specific week.
• Color disagreements. Lighting, age, and variety can shift apparent color. If nothing matches, try the neighboring color or drop the color filter and rely on location, time, and shape.

The site also has an Instructions link on the search page and a Login option; the excerpt does not describe what an account adds, so treat login as optional unless you find you need it.

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:

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:

1. Flowers that are genuinely tiny and hard to measure.
2. 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.

Wildflower Search lets you narrow a plant identification by combining three groups of criteria: where you found the flower, when you found it, and what it looks like. You can set a location, an observation time, and any number of plant characteristics, then submit them together to get a filtered list of candidate species. The more criteria you add, the shorter the list — but each one you add also risks excluding the correct plant if you guess it wrong.

Location criteria

The site accepts location in several forms, and you can set a new location or clear all criteria at any time.

• Place name — type a location such as a town or area and use it as the search center.
• Coordinates — enter the coordinates of where the flower was found. Most formats are accepted, including decimal degrees (for example 36.056316, -112.08046) and degrees/minutes/seconds (for example 36° 3′ 22.77″ N, 112° 4′ 49.66″ W).
• Plant elevation — enter the elevation of where the flower was found, within 500 feet. You can submit the value in feet or in meters. Pressing any value ignores elevation, so you can skip it if you don't know it.

Elevation is optional but useful in mountainous terrain, where the same species may only appear within a certain band.

Time criteria

Observation time is set with a calendar and can be as broad or as narrow as you need:

• A specific month, week, or day
• The current week
• Any time (filter off)

If you don't remember the exact date, a month or a season is usually enough, because flowering periods are what the filter is really checking.

Plant characteristics

This is the largest group of criteria. Each one is a set of checkboxes or options you select to describe the plant you saw.

Two practical notes from the site itself:

• Sizing without a ruler — a U.S. quarter is about one inch in diameter, so you can hold it next to the flower to judge the size category.
• Size is approximate — flower size often varies, and botanical descriptions frequently omit it, so some size information on the site may be wrong. For plants with clusters of small flowers, measure a single flower even if it is tiny. Plants whose flowers are not obvious are placed in the "Very Small" category.

How to combine criteria

Start with the criteria you are most confident about — usually location and color — and add more only if the result list is still too long. For example, if you found a blue, five-petaled flower in a desert area in April, set the location, the month, the color, the petal count, and the desert habitat together. If the correct plant doesn't appear, remove the criterion you were least sure about (often size or petal count) and search again.

A login is available on the site, and there is a separate instructions page if you want the site's own walkthrough before you start.

Wildflower Search (wildflowersearch.org) is a free web-based wildflower identification tool. You enter what you observed about a plant—where you found it, when, its flower color, petal count, size, leaf arrangement, and habitat—and the site narrows the candidates to help you identify the species. It is built for people who have a flower in front of them or a photo and want a shortlist of likely matches, rather than a general plant encyclopedia.

How the search works

The site works as a filter, not a photo-recognition engine. You set as many or as few criteria as you can reliably observe, and each one removes plants that don't fit. The more accurate criteria you supply, the shorter and more useful the result list.

Location and coordinates

You can set a location by name or enter coordinates directly. The site accepts most coordinate formats, including:

• Decimal: 39.044, -77.487
• Degrees/minutes/seconds: 36° 3′ 22.77″ N, 112° 4′ 49.66″ W
• Spaced numbers: 36 3 22.77, 112 4 49.66

If you don't know the exact spot, a nearby town or a set of coordinates from your phone's map app is enough to anchor the search to your region.

Elevation

Elevation is optional. Enter the elevation of where the flower was found, within about 500 feet, and press Submit. You can enter it in feet or meters. If you don't know it, press any value to ignore elevation entirely—useful when you're unsure but don't want to exclude valid matches.

Observation time

You can set the observation date by clicking a calendar, choosing a month and a week within that month (1st, 2nd, 3rd, or Last), or simply use the current week. "Any Time" turns the time filter off. Because flowering periods are seasonal, setting the right time is one of the most effective ways to cut down the list.

What you can filter by

A note on flower size

Size is one of the harder criteria to judge. The site itself notes that flower size often varies and that botanical descriptions sometimes omit it, so some size data may be inaccurate. A practical tip from the site: if you don't carry a ruler, a U.S. quarter is about one inch in diameter and works as a rough reference. For plants with clusters of small flowers, measure a single flower rather than the whole cluster. Plants with inconspicuous flowers are grouped under "Very Small."

When to use it

Wildflower Search fits best when you:

• Have a flower in bloom and can note its color, petal count, and rough size
• Know roughly where and when you saw it
• Want a manageable list of candidates to check against a field guide or photo

It is less suited to identifying plants from a single photo alone, since it has no image upload—you translate what you see into the filter criteria yourself. If you only know the color and nothing else, expect a long list; adding location, time, and habitat is what makes the results practical.

Getting started

1. Set your location or enter coordinates.
2. Add elevation if you know it, or skip it.
3. Set the observation time to the week you saw the flower.
4. Choose the plant category, petal count, color, and size you observed.
5. Add leaf attachment and habitat if you're confident about them.
6. Review the resulting list and compare against descriptions or photos.

The site also provides an Instructions page linked from the main search screen if you want a walkthrough of each field.