This data set contains roughly 5600 photographs of plants and plant parts from 153 sites recorded in all major biogeographic regions of Switzerland using smartphone cameras. Image names contain a letter referring to depicted plant parts: b = bark, i = inflorescence, f = infructescense, s = several parts, v = vegetative parts. Photos are grouped in folders by observation (individual or population), i.e., photos in the same folder are of the same species, observed at the same time and sampling plot. At a higher organisational level, these folders are grouped by sampling plot (usually 3×3 m in open areas and 10×10 m in forests). The main folder contains metadata including taxon name, sampling time and location, as well as the TypoCH habitat type encoded as integers.

This data set accompanies the following publication: Popp, M. R., Zimmermann, N. E. & Brun, P. Evaluating the use of automated plant identification tools in biodiversity monitoring—a case study in Switzerland. Ecological Informatics 103316 (2025) doi:10.1016/j.ecoinf.2025.103316.