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Virginia Tech Tree Identification brings the award winning Virginia Tech digital dendrology material to your iPhone. It contains fact sheets for 969 woody plants from all over North America with an in-depth description, range map and thousands of color images of leaves, flowers, fruit, twigs, bark and form.
Category Price Seller Device
Reference Free John Peterson iPhone, iPad, iPod

Users can narrow the species list for any location in North America using the phone's GPS or any entered address or zip code. Basically the application can become "The Woody Plants of Where You Are Standing." For example, it can become "The Woody Plants of Southwestern Oregon," "The Woody Plants of Central Park," or "The Woody Plants of 37.108 lat., -80.452 long., elevation 2118."
Users can further narrow the species list by answering a series of very simple tree attribute questions such as where the plant is growing, leaf shape, leaf arrangement, flower color or fruit type. The species list can also be narrowed by typing a keyword such as oak, Abies, red or palm. For example, if "oak" is typed, only oaks found in the defined area will be listed.
A feature also allows you to send any tree related question to "Dr. Dendro," a tree expert in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation at Virginia Tech. You can send a tree description or pictures of your plant and experts will help with identification.
KEY FEATURES
•969 woody plants from all over North America.
•Over 6,400 color photographs of leaves, flowers, fruit, twig, bark, form, and range map for each species.
•In depth description of all plant parts.
•Narrows species list based on your location and elevation using the device's GPS or user entered location.
•Search for species by a key word, e.g. maple.
•Identify species by answering a series of simple questions. A picture is displayed showing what is being asked.
•Navigate between species with a push of a button.
•Send a tree question to "Dr. Dendro," a tree expert at Virginia Tech.
VIRGINIA TECH TREE IDENTIFICATION DIGITAL MATERIAL
Visit our web sites at: http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu
Woody Plants in North America, 2012, Kendall/Hunt Publishing is a multimedia tutorial on DVD covering 920 woody plants with over 23,000 color photographs of leaves (summer and fall), flowers, fruits, twigs, bark and form for each plant. The software displays multiple images of all plant parts so user can develop a "feel" for normal field variation. A customizable self-quizzing section allows users to evaluate their progress in plant identification. For more features on this software, visit: http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/wpina.htm
NOTES
The 650 MB database of tree photographs and text is downloaded from our server. We recommend you install Virginia Tech Tree Identification using a fast WIFI connection. A cellular connection will generally be too slow.

Text and photography by John R. Seiler, John A. Peterson Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Virginia Tech and Ed Jensen, Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University.

Reviews

Good but Not What I Hoped For
b_s_l

I’ve been using VTree for almost a year, and honestly still have not decided if I like it or not. The problem is that I never know in advance if it will help ID a tree or give me nonsense (this is with the full database installed). I’ve often ended up standing beneath a tree and manually working my way through the photos of likely candidates to figure out the species after carefully entering as much data as I could into the search fields and getting either nothing or a response I know is wrong (e.g., the stand of Liriodendron behind my house repeatedly being identified as Oak, Ash, or other species, apparently depending on the app’s mood of the moment).


What changed?
Systemrename

Essential app. Expect it to be difficult to identify forest plants without skill, but using this app can build that skill and it remains essential for anyone who is trying to identify thousands of species reliably all over the United States What changed? I get crashes when updating location off grid. Still seeing missing photos. Test bed: Moto G5 Android with no connection.


Crashes when I try to open the app
DryBnz

Downloaded and installed on iPhone 7+ with latest iOS software. Crashes when i try to open the app.


Won’t open app
bggie

Would love to try and use the app and excited to try again, but every time I try to open it crashes, not sure if there’s anything I am able to do on my end


No photos
Ann2255

If the photos would open it would be a great app.


Needs work - a lot
doeslayersr

I installed the app and started with only downloading the trees the app thought was in my area... completely useless. The area specific download omitted many common trees I can see out my windows, much less what I would find with the walk in the woods. Black walnut, sassafras, red bud, Osage orange, hickory, black locust, honey locust, paw paw....etc...were all missing from the location/area specific download. Now doing the complete download to see if it is any more complete.


The best tree and woody plant App
MBDHokie

This is a fantastic app that consolidates an amazing amount of scientific information for mobile application. I love the GPS and address features that allow me to search for plants in any location. I can also narrow my search just by inputing some simple plant characteristics. If I am still stumped, I noticed an option to email an expert. A suggestion for future update would include being able to swipe through the photos, however, hitting the BACK button isn't much to ask for FREE! Thanks VT!


Fantastic idea, delivery is meh...
Dutch253

The idea is fantastic but there are definitely issues with the app. Almost none of the pictures work for me. The layout is great and I love the GPS function. Just wish all the features worked. Update: the pictures are downloading now BUT...it's been 6 hours on a wifi connection now it's at 60%...


Needs a way to discard unnecessary data.
Jon1270

This is the most comprehensive tree ID app I've seen -- too much so. It downloads and stores thousands of photos and fact sheets for species that don't grow in my area, and storage of all that surplus data is a problem on my device. There really needs to be some way to discard (or avoid downloading in the first place) unneeded data. I could quibble with other aspects of the UI, but it's the sheer unwieldy size that threatens to be a dealbreaker.


Great app
Arcsterra

Had no trouble downloading - there are a lot of very hi quality photos which show great detail when zoomed in. Very good tree ID set up, short informative text. Only complaint I have is that urban trees are missing - such as Sophora japonica, etc. However the app does include shrubs and vines. I highly recommend the app.


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