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Tree and Plant identification
Posted by Unknown Member on October 27, 2020 at 6:15 pmIn a recent post about tree location our beloved Uncle Paden pointed out an often overlooked important part of tree location, that is, Proper Identification of the species located.
In States that identify invasive and nuisance species and utilize these in mitigation with the developer to solve environmental tree concerns, you are doing your client a disservice if trees are not properly identified. It can be costly to any and all concerned.
There is a plethora of phone apps available to you that will make this a breeze and are smarter than you. Download 2 or 3 on your phone so they will be handy. And best of all your survey will be correct.
Some are here: https://greenarborists.com/three-great-tree-identification-apps-smart-phone/
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holy-cow replied 3 years, 4 months ago 21 Members · 30 Replies- 30 Replies
Appreciate the information, one app that I would add to that list is Google Lens. A buddy of mine who is a tree climber showed it to me and it has been very helpful in correctly identifying tree species.
Found one of those apps that I can use on my flip phone. Snapped a quick photo and it works great !
@rj-schneider My sentiments exactly !!! Why visit the doctor when we’ve got WebMD … ????
I thought I was good at tree ID until I moved to the southeast. I’ve been down here a decade and I still don’t know half the thirty or so different oaks.
Here’s a map that helps put it in perspective:
Is it a loblolly or slash pine? ????
Last night I grabbed a leaf from the yard and took a pic. Ran it through Lens, Virginia Tech and LeafSnap.
All came back with different trees. I am bad at tree ID, guess I will have to still use my pocket fold guide.
Glad we only have a few tree species here. Sometimes an odd one gets planted and they usually die after a couple of bad winters.
The first question on the LSIT exam I took back in 1984 was:
Dendrology is important to land surveyors for what reason?
I thought I somehow had gotten the wrong exam. Fortunately, I had dated a forestry major in college and our “dates” were Saturday ventures for her to collect plant specimens for her dendrology class.
I’ve used this one here in Texas and it works quite well. I’ve always been terrible at identifying trees so this is a great help to me.
https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/seek_app
T. Nelson – SAM, LLCI didn’t even know I had an oak tree!!
If I recognize the object falling from the tree that hits me on the head then I might be able to get halfway close at identifying it. Say a pine cone falls out, then it might be some sort of pine tree, but I’m not going to swear to it. If an apple falls out, then it might be some sort of apple tree. If a cucumber falls out, I’m leaving.
the A&M dudes are the gold standard around here as far as i’m concerned.
if available, i highly recommend taking a tree and plant i.d. course for your CEU/PDH hours. nice change from “the importance of correct chicago manual of style construction of easement descriptions and legal descriptions part III as it relates to surveying and the ethics thereof” or the 950 other such similar courses.
The ??Seek? app works pretty damn well! Check it out. Used to have a crew member that knew just about everything growing in Oregon. The drafters really appreciated it.
Do any of these apps work without cell service? Many of the areas I work in do not have service – I can take photos and get an ID when I’m back in civilization, but that’s often not very helpful.
yet another great app for this problem is the good old text message- provided you have a good buddy or two who’s an arborist and/or landscape architect. can’t say how many times i’ve been bailed out on the spot by texting my friend darryl while standing under some exotic looking tree that isn’t one of the old standards around here.
Hopefully real soon! Early 2021
“Starlink’s satellite internet service is in beta testing phase, with a public launch possible by the end of 2020. By the end of 2020, Starlink broadband service is expected to be available in parts of the US and Canada.”
I??ve used this source with great success.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/156706504394635/?ref=sharedo you have a copy of peterson’s by chance? doesn’t require any cell service or wifi…
the only time my copy leaves the glove box is if i run across something i don’t recognize.I was messing around with Lens a bit yesterday in the woods. I (THINK) it did a pretty darn good job. I tried snapping a pic of the tree trunk, and also the needles / leaves, and comparing the 2 responses, it came up with the same result almost all the time, and when it didn’t one result was pretty out to lunch, so I could eliminate that. Really fast too – but I had 3 bars, so good service.
Thank you, this is going to be some decent help. I am going to be witnessing some Gov’t corners next week, and will report back after doing 20-50 identifications (if I have service out there)
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