Berberidaceae and Aquifoliaceae
Berberis thunbergii vs Ilex decidua
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
Berberis thunbergii
Japanese barberry
Ilex decidua
possumhaw
How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated
| When the plant was | The model said | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Ilex decidua | Berberis thunbergii | 3 of 19 (16%) |
Measured on 38,949 openly licensed, research-grade photographs. Full method and dataset.
What actually separates themon the record
| Family | Berberidaceae versus Aquifoliaceae. Different families, which is a real separation. |
|---|---|
| Genus | Berberis versus Ilex. |
| Flowering | Peaks in April versus April. Timing does not separate them. (n = 686 and 103.) |
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.