Asteraceae and Salicaceae
Baccharis salicifolia vs Salix exigua
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.
Confused 3x by our model Method published
Side by sidefigs. a and b
Baccharis salicifolia
mule fat
Salix exigua
Narrowleaf Willow
How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated
| When the plant was | The model said | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Salix exigua | Baccharis salicifolia | 3 of 16 (19%) |
Measured on 38,299 openly licensed, research-grade photographs. Full method and dataset.
What actually separates themon the record
| Family | Asteraceae versus Salicaceae. Different families, which is a real separation. |
|---|---|
| Genus | Baccharis versus Salix. |
| Flowering | Peaks in March versus April. If the plant is in flower, timing helps. (n = 1,434 and 358.) |
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.