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Experience with edible plants apps?


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  • #1323410
    Ryan Smith
    BPL Member

    @violentgreen

    Locale: East TN

    I've always been interested in foraging for wild edibles and have a couple books on the subject. Books aren't the lightest thing in the world and I do always take my iPhone on hikes, so I've been considering an edible plants app. Turns out most of them aren't free and range between $5-$10 which makes trying several of them a bit expensive. Anyone have some first hand experience with one and can make a recommendation? Thanks

    Ryan

    #2154535
    Kattt
    BPL Member

    @kattt

    I don't have experience with the "edible" plants apps, but I did buy a couple of plant ID ones in the past. Maybe they have improved a lot, but I found them only marginally useful, and even that only because I already know quite a bit about plants.
    To be sure about the id of a plant, it really takes seeing it a number of times, at different stages, in different settings, etc. Two plants belonging to the same species can look very different. If you are already trained and at least know how to identify plants by family on your own, then a book or an app can help narrow it down to genus and species.
    Basically I would not recommend an app as the means to identify edible plants unless you spend some time learning the basics of plant identification.

    #2154561
    Ryan Smith
    BPL Member

    @violentgreen

    Locale: East TN

    "If you are already trained and at least know how to identify plants by family on your own, then a book or an app can help narrow it down to genus and species. "

    Hi Kat, thanks for the reply. The above is pretty much what I'm looking for. I have quite a bit of experience in plant identification so a nice reference app would be helpful, but I still wouldn't rely on it completely. If I felt confident I had the correct edible I would take it home and research further.

    Ryan

    #2154653
    Buck Nelson
    BPL Member

    @colter

    Locale: Alaska

    and found it to be useful. Like Kat mentioned, there are limitations in using an app, and her point about the variability in a single species is a good one.

    Wild Edibles does lack a few common wild edibles. For the price I thought it should be more complete.

    Bottom line, it's not as good as a good guidebook but it's definitely handy to have on your smartphone if you're into foraging. Many times I was glad to have it.

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