Plant Identification Resource Guide

1. The PLANTS Database

The PLANTS Database provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories.

Go here: http://plants.usda.gov/gallery.html

2. The New York Flora Atlas

The New York Flora Atlas is a source of information for the distribution of plants within the state, as well as information on plant habitats, associated ecological communities, and taxonomy. In addition, users can learn about the location of vouchered specimens and see images to get a better visual for each plant. The next step is to create a Manual to the New York State Flora. Early efforts are underway to move towards this goal.

Go here: http://www.newyork.plantatlas.usf.edu/

3. Leafsnap: An Electronic Field Guide

Leafsnap is the first in a series of electronic field guides being developed by researchers from Columbia University, the University of Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institution. This free mobile app uses visual recognition software to help identify tree species from photographs of their leaves. Leafsnap contains beautiful high-resolution images of leaves, flowers, fruit, petiole, seeds, and bark. Leafsnap currently includes the trees of New York City and Washington, D.C., and will soon grow to include the trees of the entire continental United States. This website shows the tree species included in Leafsnap, the collections of its users, and the team of research volunteers working to produce it.

Go here: http://leafsnap.com/

4. LEAF Tree Key - University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

This interactive on-line dichotomous tree key will help you identify some of the coniferous and deciduous trees native to Wisconsin.

Go Here: www.uwsp.edu/cnr/leaf/Treekey/tkframe.htm

5. What Tree Is It?

You see an unknown tree. Or perhaps have found part of a tree, and you want to know from what kind of tree it came. Often, you can identify an unknown tree by just one part, such as a leaf or a fruit. This web site will lead you through qualities of leaves and fruits from the common trees of Ohio. You will work your way through these choices by selecting images that more closely resemble your sample. To be certain of your identification of an unknown tree, however, you must use as much of the tree as possible. Trees are made up of many parts. They have woody trunks and branches that are covered with bark. They have leaves, and they produce fruit. Remember that a tree is a complex organism. You should get to know the whole tree, and until you learn more about trees, you probably won’t be able to identify a particular tree with just a single part. You may have to make several trips to the tree, looking at it both closely and from a distance.

Go Here: http://www.oplin.org/tree/

6. VTree ID (Virginia Tech)

Dichotomous Keys: Figure out your unknown by clicking on the button that best describes it. A table will list the possible matches, with links to our tree fact sheets. If a picture exactly matches your leaf, clicking on the picture will take you directly to a fact sheet for that species.

Multichotomous Key: Think of this as a process of elimination, narrowing the possibilities with each selection. If you select "I don't know" for every decision, you will view all the species in the database. Only make selections that you are sure about - or you might accidently eliminate the answer!

Go Here: http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/idit.htm

7. Urban Silviculture Project

Biodiversity and the Urban Forest: An urban forest includes trees in parks, forests, and gardens and along streets within an urban area. Biodiversity is the variety of living things on Earth. It includes ecosystem diversity (some examples of ecosystems are temperate forest, grassland, wetland, desert), species diversity within ecosystems, and genetic diversity within species. Having a variety of trees in an urban forest encourages biodiversity, which leads to healthier, balanced ecosystems. In a balanced ecosystem, a single insect or disease is less likely to cause wide-spread damage.

Go Here: http://bit.ly/pocOph

8. Urban Disturbed Sites Species List

The following species are suitable for reforestation and restoration on disturbed urban sites. These plants can thrive in areas with low nutrient levels, low permeability, a minimal amount of organic matter and high salinity levels resulting from urban fill and runoff. The species-specific lists reflect open and forested areas.

Go here: http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_about/parks_divisions/gnpc/pdf/urban_disturbed_sites_species_list.pdf