What is Metaflora?
Metaflora is a daily plant identification game. Each day presents one Mystery Plant, and you must identify it in as few guesses as possible. Wrong guesses reveal taxonomic feedback—kingdom, phylum, class, order, and other ranks—so you can narrow down the answer through up to 25 tries.
How to play Metaflora
- Visit the Metaflora homepage and enter the garden.
- Type a plant name as your guess for the Mystery Plant.
- Review the taxonomic feedback when your guess is wrong. The game shows which ranks your guess shares with the answer.
- Keep guessing until you identify the Mystery Plant or run out of your 25 attempts.
- Wait for the countdown to reset, then solve the next daily Mystery Plant.
Reading taxonomic feedback
Each wrong guess narrows the Mystery Plant by showing how much classification your guess and the answer share. The more taxonomic ranks they have in common, the closer you are. The interface displays this feedback alongside a countdown to the next puzzle.
Tips and strategy
Use the NCBI taxonomy as your reference. Other sources like Wikipedia may classify plants differently, so expect occasional disagreement.
Some familiar vegetables share a single species entry. Broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, and kohlrabi all belong to Brassica oleracea, which appears in the game as "cabbage."
You have a maximum of 25 guesses per puzzle. Make each one count by aiming to eliminate entire taxonomic groups rather than guessing randomly.
Common questions
How were the plants selected?
The game includes plants based on familiarity and species diversity to keep puzzles interesting.
Why does the classification differ from Wikipedia?
Metaflora uses NCBI taxonomy. Other widely used taxonomies may disagree on certain classifications.
Where are broccoli and cauliflower?
They are not missing. These vegetables are varieties of Brassica oleracea, listed in the game as "cabbage."