Apios americana vs Aralia spinosa
These two are not on this page because a keyword tool suggested them. They are here because our own identification model genuinely mistook one for the other, on real photographs, 3 times. We publish the rate, and then we tell you what actually separates them.
Side by sidefigs. a and b
Apios americana
Aralia spinosa
How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated
| When the plant was | The model said | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Apios americana | Aralia spinosa | 3 of 19 (16%) |
The confusion runs one way only. The model mistakes Apios americana for Aralia spinosa, but not the reverse.
Measured on 38,299 openly licensed, research-grade photographs. Full method and dataset.
What actually separates themon the record
| Family | Fabaceae versus Araliaceae. Different families, which is a real separation. |
|---|---|
| Genus | Apios versus Aralia. |
| Flowering | Peaks in August versus August. Timing does not separate them. (n = 4,534 and 207.) |
What we do not have yet: the diagnostic morphological character that a botanist would key on, from a source we can cite. We are not going to invent one. Until we have it, this page tells you the two are genuinely confusable, how often, and what the taxonomy and the flowering data do and do not settle.