Welcome to the Illinois Botanists Big Year 2020!
And we're off! I see some of you have been out and about already. :)
Find the most plant species in Illinois in 2020 and rejoice in your victory! The year 2020 marks the fifth annual Illinois Botanists Big Year. Anyone may participate, from professional botanist to plant identification novice, by uploading photographic proof of their plant sightings to iNaturalist. Each observation will automatically count toward the contest if it meets the rules below.
Rules:
- Must be a plant (bryophytes and vascular plants – native and non-native species are accepted),
- Observed in Illinois,
- Observed in 2020 (and uploaded by January 15th, 2021), and
- Research Grade (that means it must be “wild/naturalized” and that you need a photo, date, location, and at least two people or >2/3 consensus on a species ID, in order to confirm the identification accuracy)
Winning Categories:
- Most Species
- Most Observations
- The Sedgehead (most species within Carex)
- The Grassmaster (most species within Poaceae)
- The Sporophyte (most species outside of flowering plants, Magnoliophyta)
- Anyone have other ideas for fun winning categories?
The official website, where you can find previous years' results and other helpful information is: https://ill-inps.org/illinois-botanists-big-year
For those wondering, the 2019 results will be announced on January 26th, 2020.
You have until then to help contestants out with identification.
happy botanizing!
-cassi / @bouteloua
