Welcome, everyone, to the third annual 48-hour plant identification marathon! The first two years we concentrated on New England; this year, by request, we are adding New York State, just in case you've run out of plants to ID in New England (that was my feeble attempt at sarcasm, by the way). This year the ID-a-thon runs from 7 PM Eastern Time on Friday, Feb. 23rd, to 7 PM on Sunday, Feb. 25th. I'm sure you'll all be thoroughly sick of winter by then - I already am - so spending a weekend looking at photos of unfrozen plants may be just the boost you need to carry you through till spring.

Please join the project by clicking the Join button in the upper right-hand corner of the project home page here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/2024-new-england-and-new-york-plants-id-a-thon-feb-23-25 If you join the project, you'll get these journal posts delivered to your dashboard. I'll make another post a few days before the event just as a reminder and then multiple posts throughout the weekend to help spur you to what I hope will be extraordinary IDing efforts.

Please feel free to ask questions at any point, especially if you're new to this event or to making identifications on iNaturalist. The easiest way to ask a question is by making a comment on this journal post, but you can also send me a private message. If you are new, you might find it helpful to read these journal posts: Why Should You Make IDs? - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/new-england-plants-id-a-thon-feb-25-27-2022/journal/61755-why-should-you-make-ids and How I Make Identifications - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/new-england-plants-id-a-thon-feb-25-27-2022/journal/61944-how-i-make-identifications

Here, I'm going to invite many active plant observers and identifiers to join this project, but everyone is invited to join! There will be another such mention in a post a few days before the event, because a number of people have said they would find that reminder helpful. And while I have your attention, let me just say thank you! - for making so many plant observations in New England and New York and, especially, for IDing so many observations for other observers.

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