Both Quercus

Quercus falcata vs Quercus marilandica

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 Same genus Quercus Method published

Side by sidefigs. a and b

Quercus falcata, photographed by Nathan T. Jones
fig. a Nathan T. Jones, CC BY 4.0

Quercus falcata

southern red oak
Quercus marilandica, photographed by Micki Colbeck
fig. b Micki Colbeck, CC BY 4.0

Quercus marilandica

blackjack oak

How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated

When the plant was The model said How often
Quercus falcata Quercus marilandica 4 of 20 (20%)

The confusion runs one way only. The model mistakes Quercus falcata for Quercus marilandica, but not the reverse.

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

What actually separates themon the record

Family Both Fagaceae. The family does not separate them.
Genus Both Quercus. Congeners, which is why this is hard.

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