Lamiaceae and Urticaceae

Stachys sylvatica vs Urtica dioica

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

Stachys sylvatica, photographed by Daniel Cahen
fig. a Daniel Cahen, CC BY 4.0

Stachys sylvatica

hedge woundwort
Urtica dioica, photographed by Paul Cook
fig. b Paul Cook, CC BY 4.0

Urtica dioica

great stinging nettle

How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated

When the plant was The model said How often
Stachys sylvatica Urtica dioica 3 of 20 (15%)

The confusion runs one way only. The model mistakes Stachys sylvatica for Urtica dioica, but not the reverse.

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

What actually separates themon the record

Family Lamiaceae versus Urticaceae. Different families, which is a real separation.
Genus Stachys versus Urtica.
Flowering Peaks in December versus July. If the plant is in flower, timing helps. (n = 1,684 and 1,385.)

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