Both Brassicaceae
Hirschfeldia incana vs Mutarda nigra
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, 5 times. We publish the rate, and then we tell you what actually separates them.
Confused 5x by our model Method published
Side by sidefigs. a and b
Hirschfeldia incana
Shortpod Mustard
Mutarda nigra
Black Mustard
How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated
| When the plant was | The model said | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Mutarda nigra | Hirschfeldia incana | 5 of 20 (25%) |
Measured on 38,949 openly licensed, research-grade photographs. Full method and dataset.
What actually separates themon the record
| Family | Both Brassicaceae. The family does not separate them. |
|---|---|
| Genus | Hirschfeldia versus Mutarda. |
| Flowering | Peaks in July versus September. If the plant is in flower, timing helps. (n = 1,018 and 178.) |
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.