While ethnobotanical studies extensively document plant inventories and local taxonomies, Indigenous means of identification remain comparatively understudied (Berlin et al. 1974; Jernigan 2006; Sõukand & Kalle 2010). We address this gap by examining how plant identification operates as a collaborative, multi-sensory process in Abui, a non-Austronesian language of Eastern Indonesia with approximately 15,000 speakers. Our primary data derive from conversations between Abui plant knowledge holders and apprentices recorded during forest walks.

We analyze Abui plant identification within a cognitive framework comprising three components: detection (recognizing plant boundaries), matching (linking specimens to mental representations), and labeling (recalling taxon names). Across all three components Abui teachers employ both holistic and feature-based processing, often assuming that identification is "obvious," not requiring verbal instruction. They prioritize teaching plant names and ecological/use information over explicit identification of (visual) features---a finding which aligns with identification methods observed in other Eastern Indonesian communities (cf. Ellen 2023). Crucially, collaborative verification occurs at each stage of the identification process, with participants jointly establishing referents, correcting errors, and negotiating shared plant concepts via an iterative process.

This work has urgent implications for language and culture maintenance, both in Abui and beyond. It is well-known that traditional informal learning erodes as modern schooling reduces engagement with the environment (Hunn 2002; Zarger 2010). Understanding how knowledge holders teach identification provides baseline documentation for biocultural revitalization efforts and reveals that identification expertise itself, not just nomenclature, is a form of endangered knowledge requiring immediate ethnobotanical attention.