A flowering prairie plant believed to be locally extinct in Canada for more than four decades has been rediscovered in southern Ontario, thanks to community-submitted photos on the citizen-science platform iNaturalist.
The Illinois Tick-Trefoil, a member of the pea family, had not been officially recorded in Canada since 1978. Its reappearance followed a 2018 photo uploaded to iNaturalist Canada, which sparked expert review and ultimately confirmed the plant’s identity.
Observations submitted to iNaturalist are looked at by a community of experts and naturalists. Once enough agreement is reached on an identification, records can achieve “research grade” status, allowing scientists and conservation agencies to use the data in formal analyses and assessments.
