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Real or AI?Can you spot the AI plant photo?

TimeBinder adds a layer of protection against AI and human fraud and disputes. Six side-by-side photographs of plants and flowers. One of each pair is AI.

Your score is worked out in your browser. Real photos are public-domain or CC0. The AI images were made for this quiz and show no real person.

Pick the AI photo in each pair

Tap the photo you think is AI-generated. You will see the answer and a tip straight away.

Takes about 2 minutes. Your score is worked out in your browser and is not tied to your name.

Six rounds. Two plant photos each. One is AI.

Each round shows two photographs of plants or flowers, the sort you might see in a garden catalogue, a seed listing or a feed. One is a real photograph. The other was generated by AI. Pick the one you think is AI, then see what gave it away.

  • Real photos are public-domain or CC0 pictures from Wikimedia Commons.
  • The AI images were made for this quiz from text descriptions, not as copies of the real photographs or of marketplace listing images. No real person appears in any of them.
  • Sides are shuffled every time you play.

Can you tell AI plant photos by looking? The short answer

Often not, and in the past month the question has been asked about seed listings and garden photos, not only about generators. On 30 October 2026, The Sequim Post (Ruby Carlino) warned that AI-generated images are being used to market seeds for plants that do not exist, including purple hostas, rainbow roses and blue strawberries. That article restates, and attributes to 404 Media, earlier eBay listing figures from a June 2026 investigation; those counts are the outlet’s figures, not independently counted here, and the original 404 Media report is older than 30 days. On 30 October 2026, an Ask A Master Gardener column in the News-Review, posted on 1 November 2026 by the Douglas County Master Gardener Association (Janet Bitter), answered a reader who had seen orchids that almost looked like little kittens, and treated those pictures as a scam using AI-edited photos. Autocomplete on 12 November 2026 offered “ai flower photo”, “ai generated flowers” and “ai garden image generator”. This quiz does not use those listing images or novelty plant stills.

Spotting by eye is unreliable. TimeBinder is not a tool for identifying generated media. A TimeBind shows only that an exact file existed no later than a recorded time and that a copy you hold still matches it. This quiz cannot check a seed listing or a file you hold.

Five clues in plant photos, and why none is proof

These are the habits that showed up in the quiz. They are worth knowing, but each one fails often enough that you should never settle a listing or “is this generated?” dispute on them alone.

  1. A brochure hero shot. A full sunflower against a clear blue sky, or lavender rows running to a perfect horizon. Real garden and farm photographs are often staged that way too.
  2. Identical florets or rosettes. Hydrangea florets that repeat the same shape, or succulents spaced as if in a catalogue tray. Real nursery plants can look just as even.
  3. Too-clean droplets and leaves. Perfectly regular dew on a peach rose, or leaves with no tears or dust. Real close-ups are often tidied as well.
  4. A smoother studio blossom. An orchid or rose that looks lit for a catalogue pack, with a simplified centre. Real greenhouse photographs can look the same.
  5. Novelty anatomy or impossible colour, in the wild. Listings for plants that do not exist often lean on those tells, which is why recent gardening columns mention them. Many generated plant photos, including the ones in this quiz, are ordinary species with quieter mistakes. A realistic rose can still be generated.

All five get weaker once an image is cropped, filtered, compressed and re-shared, which is how most people see plant photos in a feed or a listing. If a photograph of a plant matters later, the stronger record is the original file and when it existed, not a guess from the way it looks.

If a plant photo matters, keep a record of the original

When a picture of a plant is questioned, an argument about how it looks goes nowhere. A better question is whether you can show the exact original file and when it existed.

  1. Keep the original file untouched. Do not edit or re-save it. Work on copies.
  2. Make a TimeBind when you take or finish it. Your browser makes the SHA-256 fingerprint, and the file stays on your device. TimeBinder records the fingerprint with a time on the Bitcoin blockchain.
  3. Keep the file and the Proof of Time Certificate together.
  4. Check later with the file comparison checker. A copy that still matches is the same file. One that does not match is a different file.
Make a TimeBind: first one free →

First Pooled TimeBind free, no card, then from US$5. An ASAP TimeBind is US$15.

What a TimeBind shows, and what it does not. It shows that an exact file existed no later than a recorded time and that a copy shown later still matches its fingerprint. It does not show who made the file, who owns it, that its contents are true, or whether AI was used to make or edit it. This is general information, not legal advice.

Image credits and licences

Every real photo is public domain or CC0, which permits modification and reuse. Each AI image was generated by TimeBinder for this quiz from a text description of a similar plant, not as a copy of the real photograph and not as a copy of a marketplace listing still. Photos were cropped to a 4:3 frame. No real person is shown. The quiz does not use seed-listing images or novelty plants that do not exist.

The real photographs used in the Real or AI? plants quiz
SubjectReal photo sourceLicencePhotographer / uploader
A cluster of succulentsWikimedia CommonsCC0Annie Spratt
A sunflower headWikimedia CommonsCC0Marjorie Bertrand
A garden roseWikimedia CommonsCC0Ameen Fahmy
An orchid blossomWikimedia CommonsPublic domainPseudopanax at English Wikipedia
A lavender fieldWikimedia CommonsCC0Francis Cheung
Hydrangea bloomsWikimedia CommonsCC0Gaetano Cessati

If you would rather practice on faces than plants, the free Is this person real? quiz is a five-round practice test. It cannot tell you whether a file you hold is AI-made.

If you would rather try mushrooms, the free Mushrooms: real or AI? quiz is six rounds of real and generated photographs. It cannot tell you whether a file you hold is AI-made, and you should never forage or eat anything based on a photo.

If you would rather try something built in the trees, the free Treehouses: real or AI? quiz is four rounds of real photographs against AI images. It cannot tell you whether a file you hold is AI-made.

If you would rather try something from the vegetable patch, the free Giant vegetables: real or AI? quiz is five rounds of real photographs against AI images. It cannot tell you whether a file you hold is AI-made.

Real or AI? plants quiz: FAQ

How does the Real or AI? plants quiz work?

You get six rounds. Each shows two photographs of plants or flowers, such as succulents, a sunflower head, a garden rose, an orchid, a lavender field or hydrangeas. One is a real photograph and one was generated by AI. Tap the one you think is AI, see which was which, read what gave it away, and get a score you can share. The quiz uses plant stills with no people in the frame. It does not use marketplace seed-listing images or the novelty “plants that do not exist” pictures described in the news cited on this page.

Where do the real photos come from?

They are public-domain or CC0 photographs from Wikimedia Commons, listed with the photographer and licence in the image credits table on this page. The AI images were generated by TimeBinder for this quiz from text descriptions of similar plants, not as copies of the real photographs and not as copies of viral seed-listing images. No real person appears in any image.

Why plant photos, and why now?

In the last month, gardening outlets have been warning readers about AI images used to sell seeds for plants that do not exist. On 30 October 2026, The Sequim Post (Ruby Carlino) described listings for purple hostas, rainbow roses and blue strawberries, and restated earlier 404 Media figures about eBay seed listings. On 30 October 2026, an Ask A Master Gardener column in the News-Review, posted by the Douglas County Master Gardener Association on 1 November 2026, answered a reader who had seen orchids that almost looked like kittens. Autocomplete on 12 November 2026 offered phrases such as “ai flower photo”, “ai generated flowers” and “ai garden image generator”. This quiz is a visual practice test. It cannot tell you whether a seed listing or a file you hold is AI-made.

Can people tell AI plant photos by looking?

Often not. A tight crop of a wet red rose can be a real photograph, and a tidy peach rose with even droplets can be generated. Clues such as identical florets, a brochure sunflower against a clear sky, or postcard lavender rows help on a still image, but they are hints, not proof, and they fade once a photo is cropped, filtered or re-shared.

Does TimeBinder tell me whether a plant photo is AI-made?

No. TimeBinder is not a tool for identifying generated media, and it cannot tell you whether AI made a file. A TimeBind shows that an exact file existed no later than a recorded time and that a copy you hold still matches it. That is useful when you can say “here is this file, recorded by this time,” not when you need to know how the picture was made.

Do you store my score or answers?

Your score is worked out in your browser. This page sends a few anonymous events to our analytics, such as the quiz being finished with a score band, never your name or email.

How can I show a plant photograph is the file I kept?

Keep the original file unedited, and make a TimeBind of it when you take or finish it. Later, a copy that still matches the fingerprint is the same file, and the record shows it existed no later than the recorded time. It does not show who took the photo, that the plant exists, or who holds the copyright. Read how to prove a photo is not AI for the honest limits.

Related guides and tools

Date the original plant photo before it gets copied

Add a layer of protection against AI and human fraud and disputes: a dated, checkable record of the exact file you hold.

  1. Open the app and sign in with email or Google.
  2. Add your files. They stay on your computer.
  3. Seal them and download your Proof of Time certificates.
Open TimeBinder →

First Pooled TimeBind free, no card, then from US$5. See pricing.