Orchidaceae and Orobanchaceae

Gymnadenia conopsea vs Pedicularis groenlandica

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

Gymnadenia conopsea, photographed by John Kenrick Gibson
fig. a John Kenrick Gibson, CC0 1.0

Gymnadenia conopsea

Fragrant Orchid
Pedicularis groenlandica, photographed by Ellyne Geurts
fig. b Ellyne Geurts, CC0 1.0

Pedicularis groenlandica

Elephant's-Head lousewort

How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated

When the plant was The model said How often
Gymnadenia conopsea Pedicularis groenlandica 3 of 20 (15%)

The confusion runs one way only. The model mistakes Gymnadenia conopsea for Pedicularis groenlandica, but not the reverse.

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

What actually separates themon the record

Family Orchidaceae versus Orobanchaceae. Different families, which is a real separation.
Genus Gymnadenia versus Pedicularis.
Flowering Peaks in July versus July. Timing does not separate them. (n = 1,467 and 1,048.)

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