Authors Barry and Judy Breckling along with High Country Apps have partnered to produce the new Yosemite Wildflowers plant identification app for mobile devices. Although the app is designed to help amateur plant enthusiasts identify wildflowers, more experienced botanists will also value the app for its extensive content. Users can browse the species list by common or scientific name (and by family name) to locate a plant and access photos and related information. However, most users will rely on the easy-to-use search key to identify plants of interest.

---

The key consists of thirteen categories: type of plant (wildflower, shrub, or tree), petal color, flower shape, number of petals, leaf arrangement, leaf type, leaf shape, leaf margin, texture, size, habitat, vegetation zone, and flowering month. You can select characteristics in as many or as few categories as you want. As you make selections, the number of matching species is displayed at the top of the page. At any point, you can click the Show button to access a set of thumbnail images and names of plants that are potential matches. You can scroll through the species in the list and tap a thumbnail image to access photos, descriptions, and additional information for the selected species.


Once you have chosen a plant, you can scroll down to see additional photos, botanical drawings, and range maps. Along the bottom, you have three choices: Images (which is where you are now), Description, and Tidbits. The Description page gives detailed plant descriptions of the species, habitat, and flowering time. The Tidbits page gives interesting information about the plant and also tells you about similar looking plants.