There are estimated to be nearly half a million species of plant in the world. Classification of species has been historically problematic and often results in duplicate identifications. Automating plant recognition might have many applications, including:
Species population tracking and preservation Plant-based medicinal research Crop and food supply management
The objective is to use binary leaf images and extracted features, including shape, margin & texture, to accurately identify 99 species of plants. Leaves, due to their volume, prevalence, and unique characteristics, are an effective means of differentiating plant species. They also provide a fun introduction to applying techniques that involve image-based features.