A Manually Annotated and Curated Mediterranean Plant Image Dataset of Native Species from Lebanon

The FloraLebanon (FL) is a curated field dataset of 24,944 plant images from 102 Mediterranean species native to Lebanon. University student volunteers took images during field expeditions to the Al Shouf Biosphere Reserve in 2024. The volunteers followed a structured image-capture protocol developed for the project to document whole plants, leaves, stems, flowers, fruits, and habitats. Image pre-processing involved the manual removal of redundant and poor-quality images, followed by a second cleaning technical validation. Species identification was validated by examining voucher specimens taken from the field and confirmed by two independent taxonomic experts. The FloraLebanon (FL) dataset includes plant images, a metadata sheet of plant nomenclature, and scans of voucher specimens. The FloraLebanon (FL) dataset is open access, collected and curated to support machine learning and biodiversity monitoring. Our goal is to expand the dataset to cover Lebanon’s flora, estimated at 2,600 species.