Phrymaceae and Namaceae

Diplacus bigelovii vs Nama demissa

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

Diplacus bigelovii, photographed by Millie Basden
fig. a Millie Basden, CC BY 4.0

Diplacus bigelovii

Bigelow's monkeyflower
Nama demissa, photographed by Kristen Nelson
fig. b Kristen Nelson, CC0 1.0

Nama demissa

purple mat

How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated

When the plant was The model said How often
Diplacus bigelovii Nama demissa 4 of 18 (22%)

The confusion runs one way only. The model mistakes Diplacus bigelovii for Nama demissa, but not the reverse.

Measured on 38,299 openly licensed, research-grade photographs. Full method and dataset.

What actually separates themon the record

Family Phrymaceae versus Namaceae. Different families, which is a real separation.
Genus Diplacus versus Nama.
Flowering Peaks in March versus March. Timing does not separate them. (n = 2,591 and 2,430.)

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