High-throughput iNaturalist image analysis reveals flower color divergence in <i>Monarda fistulosa</i>.

ABSTRACT: Characterizing patterns of trait variation across widespread species is a fundamental goal of natural history. Here we create a pipeline to analyze a large community science dataset and test hypothesized flower color divergence across the range of a widespread wildflower. Monarda fistulosa is a North American perennial that produces showy lavender inflorescences. Although previous literature suggests that the flowers of western M. fistulosa might display a deeper purple color than the eastern varieties, this divergence has not been assessed at scale. We process over 40,000 community science photographs of M. fistulosa to identify flowers and extract color. We demonstrate that the flowers of the montane western variety have lower lightness and higher chroma, correspondi

SUBMITTER: McKenzie PF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12154663 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature