Cupressaceae and Salicaceae

Juniperus deppeana vs Populus fremontii

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

Juniperus deppeana, photographed by Reid Hardin
fig. a Reid Hardin, CC BY 4.0

Juniperus deppeana

alligator juniper
Populus fremontii, photographed by Alan Rockefeller
fig. b Alan Rockefeller, CC BY 4.0

Populus fremontii

Frémont Cottonwood

How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated

When the plant was The model said How often
Juniperus deppeana Populus fremontii 3 of 20 (15%)

The confusion runs one way only. The model mistakes Juniperus deppeana for Populus fremontii, but not the reverse.

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

What actually separates themon the record

Family Cupressaceae versus Salicaceae. Different families, which is a real separation.
Genus Juniperus versus Populus.

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