Cylindropuntia imbricata vs Yucca brevifolia
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.
Side by sidefigs. a and b
Cylindropuntia imbricata
Yucca brevifolia
How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated
| When the plant was | The model said | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Cylindropuntia imbricata | Yucca brevifolia | 4 of 16 (25%) |
The confusion runs one way only. The model mistakes Cylindropuntia imbricata for Yucca brevifolia, but not the reverse.
Measured on 38,949 openly licensed, research-grade photographs. Full method and dataset.
What actually separates themon the record
| Family | Cactaceae versus Asparagaceae. Different families, which is a real separation. |
|---|---|
| Genus | Cylindropuntia versus Yucca. |
| Flowering | Peaks in June versus March. If the plant is in flower, timing helps. (n = 421 and 2,009.) |
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.