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GET
Find Flowers by Color
Find flowers by color using spectral reflectance data from the Floral Reflectance Database (FReD).

Overview

This endpoint searches a database of 2,509 flower spectral measurements to find flowers matching a given color. Colors are matched using perceptual distance in CIE LAB color space, providing results that align with human color perception. The data comes from the Floral Reflectance Database (FReD), a scientific database of flower spectral reflectance measurements used to study plant-pollinator interactions and color vision.

Color Input Formats

The color parameter accepts multiple formats:

Supported Color Names

Common colors: red, green, blue, yellow, orange, purple, pink, white, black, brown, violet, magenta, cyan Flower-specific: lavender, coral, salmon, crimson, rose, peach, cream, ivory, gold, amber, lilac, mauve, plum, indigo, turquoise, chartreuse, burgundy, fuchsia, periwinkle

Query Parameters

color
string
required
The color to search for. Accepts color names, hex codes, or RGB values.
limit
integer
default:"20"
Maximum number of results to return (1-100).
human_colour
string
Filter by human-perceived color category. Use /v1/flowers/human-colours to list available values.
bee_colour
string
Filter by bee-perceived color category. Use /v1/flowers/bee-colours to list available values.
family
string
Filter by taxonomic family. Use /v1/flowers/families to list available families.

Response

query
object
Parsed query parameters.
matches
array
Matching flowers sorted by color similarity.
total_in_database
integer
Total number of flowers in the database.
citation
string
Academic citation for the data source.

Example Request

Example Response

Understanding Bee Color Vision

Bees see colors differently than humans. They have three photoreceptors: Bees cannot see red but can see ultraviolet, which is invisible to humans. The bee_colour field indicates how bees perceive the flower:
  • UV: Reflects mainly ultraviolet
  • blue: Reflects mainly blue wavelengths
  • blue-green: Reflects blue and green
  • UV-blue: Appears “bee purple”
  • UV-green: Unique to bee vision
  • white: Broad spectrum reflection

Additional Endpoints

List Families

Returns all plant families with sample counts.

List Human Colors

Returns all human-perceived color categories.

List Bee Colors

Returns all bee-perceived color categories.

Get Flower by ID

Returns complete record including spectral color space coordinates.

Data Citation

This endpoint uses data from the Floral Reflectance Database (FReD):
Arnold SEJ, Faruq S, Savolainen V, McOwan PW, Chittka L, 2010 FReD: The Floral Reflectance Database — A Web Portal for Analyses of Flower Colour. PLoS ONE 5(12): e14287. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0014287

Error Handling

Query Parameters

color
string
required

Color to search for. Accepts color names (red, lavender), hex codes (#FF5733), or RGB values (rgb(255,87,51) or 255,87,51).

limit
integer
default:20

Maximum number of results (1-100).

Required range: 1 <= x <= 100
family
string

Filter by taxonomic family (e.g., Asteraceae).

human_colour
string

Filter by human-perceived color category.

bee_colour
string

Filter by bee-perceived color category (UV, blue, blue-green, green, UV-blue, UV-green, white).

Response

Matching flowers sorted by color similarity

query
object
matches
object[]
total_in_database
integer
citation
string