Brassicaceae and Polemoniaceae
Hesperis matronalis vs Phlox pilosa
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
Hesperis matronalis
dame's rocket
Phlox pilosa
prairie phlox
How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated
| When the plant was | The model said | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Phlox pilosa | Hesperis matronalis | 3 of 17 (18%) |
Measured on 38,949 openly licensed, research-grade photographs. Full method and dataset.
What actually separates themon the record
| Family | Brassicaceae versus Polemoniaceae. Different families, which is a real separation. |
|---|---|
| Genus | Hesperis versus Phlox. |
| Flowering | Peaks in June versus October. If the plant is in flower, timing helps. (n = 7,260 and 1,029.) |
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.