How to Identify Plants on iPhone

The quickest way to identify a plant on iPhone is Visual Look Up: open the photo in the Photos app, tap the Info button, then tap the leaf icon that appears on or below the picture. If that gives you nothing useful, try Google Lens in the Google app or a dedicated plant identification app, and check the suggested name before you act on it.

Each option suits a slightly different job. The sections below walk through all three, then compare them side by side.

Method 1: Visual Look Up in the Photos app

Visual Look Up is built into iOS. Apple describes it as recognizing items in your images, including plants and flowers, and returning results from Siri Knowledge and the web.

What you need

• iOS 15 or later. That is the requirement Apple lists for iPhone.
• A supported region. Visual Look Up is not offered everywhere. Apple’s support page links to its list of regions where the feature works, so check it if the option never appears.
• A photo. Visual Look Up works on an image you already have.

There is nothing extra to download. You also do not need to lift the plant out of its background or crop the photo first; open the picture as it is.

Step by step

1. Open the photo. In Photos, tap the picture to view it. In apps such as Messages, Mail or Notes, touch and hold the image to select it.
2. Check the Info button. When Visual Look Up has found something to identify, the Info button shows a small star. Apple notes that if the star is missing, Visual Look Up is not available for that photo yet.
3. Tap the Info button, then tap the leaf icon. Apple says the icon appears in the photo or below it, and a leaf marks plants and flowers.
4. Read the result. Visual Look Up shows suggestions from Siri Knowledge and the web. Tap one to learn more.

On a web page in Safari, touch and hold a plant image and tap Look Up in the options menu.

Starting from the Camera

Because Visual Look Up works on a photo, the route from the Camera app is simple: take the picture, open it, and follow the steps above.

While you are standing next to the plant, take two or three shots: a flower, a leaf attached to its stem and the whole plant. If one photo does not produce a leaf icon, another may give the tool more to work with.

Method 2: Google Lens in the Google app

Google’s help pages say Lens on iPhone works through the Google app or Google Photos, not through your camera app, and list plants and animals among the things it can recognize.

To use it from the Google app, following Google’s instructions:

1. Install or update the Google app. Google asks for the latest version.
2. Open the app and tap Google Lens in the search bar.
3. Point the camera at the plant and tap Search, or tap the photo picker to choose a picture you already took.
4. Scroll to the search results at the bottom of the screen.

Lens returns search results: similar images and web pages about what it thinks it sees. That is useful when you want to compare your plant with many photos or read about it on several sites. Compare more than the first result before deciding.

If you use Google Photos, you can also open a picture there, tap More, then Google Lens.

Lens activity can be saved to your Google Account, depending on your Web & App Activity settings. Google’s help page explains how to review that history or stop it being saved.

Method 3: A dedicated plant identification app

Visual Look Up and Lens are general visual search tools. A dedicated plant app is built around one job: naming a plant and helping you look after it. That matters most for a houseplant you plan to keep, where the next question after “what is this?” is usually “how much light and water does it need?”

Plantive, for example, is an iPhone app (iOS 17 or later) that identifies plants, flowers, trees, succulents and houseplants from a photo, then shows care guidance for watering, light and general care. It is free to download with optional in-app purchases, and its App Store privacy label says the developer does not collect data.

Other plant apps add different tools, such as reminders or plant journals. The plant identification app comparison sets current App Store listings side by side. It does not rank accuracy, because no public listing can prove it.

Which option should you use?

	Visual Look Up	Google Lens (Google app)	Dedicated plant app
Setup	Built into iOS 15 or later; depends on region	Install the Google app	Install the app; check its iOS requirement
Starts from	A photo in Photos, Messages, Mail, Notes or Safari	Live camera view or a photo you pick	A photo of the plant
Good for	A fast check of a picture you already took	Comparing your plant with many similar images online	Tying the name to care guidance for a plant you keep
What you get	Suggestions from Siri Knowledge and the web	Search results: images and web pages	A suggested name plus care information
Keep in mind	No leaf icon means no result for that photo	Activity may be saved to your Google Account	Features and pricing vary; read the listing and privacy label

A practical order: start with Visual Look Up, because it is already on your phone and works on photos you have taken. If there is no leaf icon, or the suggestion does not match what you see, run the same photo through Lens to compare a wider set of images. When the plant is coming home with you and care is the real question, a dedicated app such as Plantive keeps the name and its care guidance in one place.

Take a photo that identifies well

Every one of these tools depends on the picture. Before you tap anything:

• Make one plant the subject. Get close enough that the plant fills most of the frame, not the pot, the bed or the plants behind it.
• Focus on the most distinctive part. Tap the screen on a flower, a leaf attached to the stem or a fruit.
• Use even daylight. Avoid strong backlighting, deep shade and color filters.
• Check that it is sharp before you move on.
• Take more than one photo. Flower, leaf and whole plant each give a tool different evidence.

For the full technique, including what to photograph when a plant has no flowers and how to check a suggested name, see how to identify a plant from a photo.

After you get a name

A suggested name is a starting point, not a verdict.

Check the botanical name. Common names are shared between different plants. Compare the scientific name’s reference photos with a feature you did not photograph, such as the leaf underside, the stem or the growth habit. If the features disagree, keep the identification tentative.

Check pet safety separately. Look up the confirmed name on the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plants list, which covers cats, dogs and horses. The ASPCA notes that its list is not all-inclusive and that eating any plant material may cause vomiting or stomach upset in dogs and cats. If you are choosing plants for a home with animals, start with these pet-safe houseplants. If a pet has already chewed an unknown plant, call your veterinarian or an animal poison control service rather than waiting on an identification.

Then look up care. Once the name holds up, use the plant care guides for light, watering and potting details. If you have just brought the plant home, the new houseplant first-week checklist covers inspection and placement.

Sources and further reading

• Look up what’s in a photo with your iPhone or iPad — Apple Support
• Search with an image on Google - iPhone & iPad — Google Search Help
• Get info about your photos & surroundings - iPhone & iPad — Google Search Help
• Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants — ASPCA