A note on "wild"
I just got done looking at the plant list. Unfortunately, I had to disallow a large number of species from the list that were obviously cultivated specimens. The goal of the City Nature Challenge is to document WILD flora, fauna, and funga. Cultivated or captive organisms are not part of our native flora and should not be included in the CNC. They can be included in iNat, but should be marked as "captive/cultivated" or "organism is not wild." That way, they get a casual marker and go in your own records, but not in the public database of wild organisms.
Organisms, particularly plants, in parks and gardens can be problematic. Things to look for: If they have a sign telling you what they are, they probably don't count. If they have watering lines or are mulched, they probably don't count. If they are surrounded by nice borders or sidewalks, they probably don't count. If they are a specimen tree surrounded by nice, mowed lawns, they probably don't count. Virtually all crape myrtles don't count. If they have artificial supports, they probably don't count. If they are in cages that look like they were built for them, they probably don't count.
So, what can you count? Obviously wild plants on the borders of parks probably do count. Plants struggling to survive frequent mowing in yards, probably do count. But the grasses we lavish all that water on are "cultivated," so don't bother with them. Roadside flowers originally sown by TexDOT are marginal, but are probably self-supporting, so give them the benefit of the doubt. Birds and butterflies coming to flowers in a garden or in and out of zoo cages probably count. Animals that are temporarily restrained for photographing them (fish in viewing boxes, that velvet ant that I should have put in a petri dish today, snakes grabbed before they get away, and fish caught by fishermen were wild up until the point at which they were captured, even if they are shortly to become dinner.
When in doubt, it's probably cultivated.
Bruce
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