Liliaceae and Onagraceae

Calochortus splendens vs Clarkia rubicunda

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, 4 times. We publish the rate, and then we tell you what actually separates them.

Confused 4x by our model Method published

Side by sidefigs. a and b

Calochortus splendens, photographed by George Williams
fig. a George Williams, CC BY 4.0

Calochortus splendens

Splendid Mariposa Lily
Clarkia rubicunda, photographed by LJ Moore-McClelland
fig. b LJ Moore-McClelland, CC BY 4.0

Clarkia rubicunda

ruby chalice clarkia

How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated

When the plant was The model said How often
Calochortus splendens Clarkia rubicunda 4 of 20 (20%)

The confusion runs one way only. The model mistakes Calochortus splendens for Clarkia rubicunda, but not the reverse.

Measured on 38,949 openly licensed, research-grade photographs. Full method and dataset.

What actually separates themon the record

Family Liliaceae versus Onagraceae. Different families, which is a real separation.
Genus Calochortus versus Clarkia.
Flowering Peaks in February versus April. If the plant is in flower, timing helps. (n = 2,118 and 1,655.)

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.

Both recordsfull pages