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Next time you head out into the great outdoors, make sure to stop and smell the flowers. Then take photos of a few with our PlantSnap app.

PlantSnap is a new mobile app that aims to connect nature lovers with the great outdoors.

Ever spotted a beautiful tree or stunning flower and wondered what it was? (Or been struck with the sudden fear that you’ve been hiking through poison oak for miles?)

Instead of adding bulky field guides to your backpack for those situations, download PlantSnap, a mobile app for Android, iOS, and Windows. Snap a photo of the plant you want to identify, and PlantSnap does the work of figuring out what it is – all within seconds.

PlantSnap is currently in beta but is expected to launch in January 2017.

Beyond providing a fantastic excuse to get out into nature – it’s for science! – PlantSnap can help botanists and other plant-lovers identify habitats and see whether and where certain plants are spreading. Teachers and professors will be able to share information about plants with their students, and gardeners and their clients can make sure they’re on the same page.

The app covers every plant out there, worldwide, from vegetables and herbs to wild plants to “weeds” – more than 220,000 species. It uses deep learning and artificial intelligence to recognize and rule out plants based on leaves and flowers.

Then it provides information including the plant’s common and scientific names, the type of plant, where it grows, whether it’s edible or not, and more.

And best of all, it can be used in the field – no need to make sure plants are separates out onto a white background before you snap. If you get out of rage of a cell tower or WiFi, you can still snap, and the app will identify the plant once you’re back on the grid.

So next time you’re out for a walk in nature, use PlantSnap to identify the flowers – and then stop to smell a few.

Next time you head out into the great outdoors, make sure to stop and smell the flowers. Then take photos of a few with the PlantSnap app.

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If you like our stories and you love the Earth, consider donating to our campaign. We are encouraging the world to #smelltheflowers with our new app, PlantSnap. This intuitive tool helps you identify plants so you can better understand your surroundings. Our Kickstarter is live now.