Illinois Botanists Big Year 2021

Find the most plant species in Illinois in 2021 and rejoice in your victory!

And the winner is…

Abel Kinser (@abelkinser) with 853 species!

As of 16 January 2022, @abelkinser had 1,581 Research Grade observations of 853 plant species in Illinois for 2021. Congrats!

2021 Illinois Plant Stats

6,741 observers
86,910 Research Grade observations of plants – 41% by people who had joined this project
2,089 species
2,010 identifiers

The Illinois Botanists Big Year is an annual friendly competition of the Illinois Native Plant Society to see how many species you can find in a single year in Illinois. The main goals of the project are to spark discovery in people of any age and experience, encouraging them to stop to look at plants they might have otherwise have passed by, as well as to create connections and build camaraderie among plant enthusiasts, share knowledge, and contribute to a growing database of the flora of Illinois. The year 2021 was its fifth year: 132 people joined the project.

The Illinois Botanists Big Year only looks at Research Grade observations (those that have identifications that have been confirmed by at least one other person), a rough tool to ensure a level of data quality. For 2021, only 48% of the qualifying observations of plants have reached Research Grade in Illinois so far.

Big thanks to the hundreds of people from around the world who dedicate so much effort to helping sort and identify Illinois plant observations, particularly @abelkinser this year, who has made almost twice as many IDs as anyone else, and the folks who made a huge push within the past couple weeks @j_p3 @tkoffel @maryah @nellse @brothernorbert @t_e_d @cwarneke and others! Without the dedicated work of so many identifiers iNaturalist would not function.

Compared to our last identification update:

Date	January 1st	January 10th	January 16th
Unknowns (no ID at all)	3,768	1,941	44 – heck yeah (help identify)
Plants	81,720 Research Grade and 96,970 Need ID	83,524 Research Grade and 96,807 Needs ID	86,910 Research Grade and 94,082 Needs ID (help identify)
Needs ID at rank family or coarser	10,101	10,280	10,940 – increased in part because so many “unknowns” were coarsely identified as plants (help refine)
Needs ID obs by ILBBY 2021 participants	22,572	21,937	21,380 (help identify)
Identifiers	2,732 people. Of those, 308 people have made 50 or more IDs on IL plants observed in 2021, 197 made 100 or more IDs, 75 made 300 or more IDs, and 21 people made 1,000 or more IDs.	2,755 people. Of those, 311 people have made 50 or more IDs on IL plants observed in 2021, 200 made 100 or more IDs, 76 made 300 or more IDs, and 21 people made 1,000 or more IDs.	2,767 people. Of those, 311 people have made 50 or more IDs on IL plants observed in 2021, 201 made 100 or more IDs, 82 made 300 or more IDs, and 24 people made 1,000 or more IDs.

@abelkinser – 11,296
@j_p3 – 6,525
@bouteloua – 5,872
@adriansydor – 5,098
@elfaulkner – 3,170
@grantfessler– 2,525
@tkoffel – 2,477
@sedge – 2,455
@wildlandblogger – 2,298
@greensnake879 – 2,283

Most “Improving” IDs

The number of times they were first to make the ID that the community subsequently agreed with (improving IDs on plant observations in Illinois in 2021):

@abelkinser – 1,238
@j_p3 – 1,003
@bouteloua – 954
@elfaulkner – 501
@adriansydor – 486
@k2018lena – 420
@greensnake879 – 385
@sedge – 394
@wildlandblogger – 309
@rynxs – 306

Niches

The Sedgehead: Most species in the genus Carex: @sanguinaria33 with 55 species!

The Grassmaster: Most species within the family Poaceae: @abelkinser with 66 species!

The Compositor: Most species within the family Asteraceae: @elfaulkner with 122 species!

The Sporophyte: Most species outside of flowering plants, Magnoliophyta): @abelkinser with 71 species!

The Most-observed Plant

Again – Trillium recurvatum, prairie trillium, with 1,124 RG observations.

Observation by @julieu in Winnebago County

The 100 sp. Club

Botanizers who made Research Grade observations of over 100 species of plants in Illinois in 2021 (not restricted to people who joined the project): @abelkinser @adriansydor @benzerante @big_al_xo @bob375 @bouteloua @brandoncorder @brdnrdr @canelasincera @carolt-80 @caryaovata @cathyph @chartreuse @christinebosacki @cmidden @crwrcwamt @d_coulter @danielpohl @dennis_nyberg @dorwageld @dziomber @eattaway92 @elfaulkner @ewarden @grantfessler @greensnake879 @hazelnutman @hortusmax @illinoisbotanizer @irmela @isoetes @j_p3 @jackassgardener @jj_mcluckie @joelmc @johncebula @johnhboldt @jonidenker @jophophora @k2018lena @k3outdoors @karibou20 @kkucera @laniarius @marensr @mattnugent @maureenclare @micahbowman @mmasell @mn2010 @mrostrowski @mwistrand @outdoorsie @parksisters @paulroots @pfshannon @prairie_fairy @prairiebeeman @r_vanherik @randall228 @rarecatsnake @redadmiral98 @reduviidae @ruthmetterhausen @rynxs @samwilhelm @sanguinaria33 @sara_614 @schizachrium @sedge @seversondells @sidchan282 @skrentnyjeff @ssinn @swgpotter @taco2000 @tom_lazar @tony695 @tonyg @ungulateunion @vnevirkov @wildlandblogger @wildlifeduke @woodridgejeff @zoology123

Species New to Illinois on iNat

Dozens of species new to iNat in Illinois this year. A few listed below:

Non-flowering plants
Monocots excluding Poales
Poales (grasses, sedges, rushes, and friends)
Plants in Asterales (sunflowers and friends)
Plants in Lamiales (mints and friends)
Plants in Rosales (roses and friends)
Plants in Fabales (peas and friends)
Plants in Caryophyllales (pinks and friends)
Plants in Malpighiales (nances and friends)
Plants in Ranunculales (buttercups and friends)
Plants in Gentiales (gentians and friends)
Plants in Brassicales (mustards and friends)
Plants in Apiales (carrots and friends)
Plants in Fagales (beeches and friends)
Plants in Boraginales (borages and friends)
All other (eu)dicots except the groups above

Some Plant Pic Picks

Asclepias meadii (Mead’s milkweed) by @abelkinser in Saline County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/85159409

Ranunculus harveyi (Harvey’s buttercup) by @nebseivad in Randolph County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/73905996

Caulophyllum thalictroides (blue cohosh) by @mmasell in DuPage County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/74189202

Allium tricoccum (wild leek) fruits by @sedge in Vermilion County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/68743197

Conopholis americana (bearcorn) by @elfaulkner in Lake County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/80173562

Physcomitrium pyriforme (bladder moss) by @mmasell in Lee County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/73792802

Asimina triloba (pawpaw) buds by @grantfessler in McLean County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/72806824

Valerianella umbilicata (navel-shaped cornsalad with syrphid buddy) by @sanguinaria33 in Kankakee County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/87326934

Lupinus perennis (wild lupine) by @bonsaisai in Lee County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/79686615

Shepherdia canadensis (buffalo-berry) by @psweet in Lake County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/72450354

Liatris cylindracea (cylindrical blazingstar) by @jingyilu in Cook County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/87662442

Hymenocallis occidentalis (woodland spiderlily) by @bob375 in Massac County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/89413415

Hibiscus laevis (halberd rosemallow) by @prairie_fairy in Champaign County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/94388972

Verbesina alternifolia (wingstem) by @staceygluchman in Kane County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/91923596

Rhexia virginica (Virginia meadowbeauty) by @joshklostermann in Lee County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/100196198

Silene ovata (ovate catchfly) by @illinoisbotanizer in Hardin County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/96837154

Pteridium aquilinum (bracken fern) by @maureenclare in Lake County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/91342613

happy botanizing,
—@bouteloua (cassi saari)

Previously…

The year 2021 marks the sixth annual Illinois Botanists Big Year. Anyone may participate, from professional botanist to plant identification novice, by uploading photographic proof of their plant sightings to an online database: iNaturalist. Through the website or mobile apps, botanical enthusiasts upload photos, a species identification, GPS location, date of sighting, and field notes. Since other iNaturalist users can help with identification, participants need not be plant experts and can learn quite a bit about plants just by snapping photos and engaging with the community.

How to join in the fun: Join the project, add your plant observations to the iNaturalist.org website or iPhone/Android app, and they’ll automatically count toward the contest when they meet the rules below.

Rules

Must be a plant (bryophytes and vascular plants – native and non-native species are accepted)
Observation must be within Illinois
Must be observed between the dates of January 1st, 2021 and December 31st, 2021 (and uploaded by January 15th, 2022)
Observation must be “research grade.” That means it must be “wild/naturalized” and that you need a photo, date, location, and at least two people to agree on the species, to confirm the identification accuracy

Join the Project on iNaturalist

Nature newbie? No worries – we will help identify any plants you see. Don’t have a smartphone? You can upload photos through the website without need for a smartphone. Just take a photo and upload it to iNaturalist.org and identify as best as you can, even if that’s just “plant.”

Winning Categories: