The Catalyst

By Matt Scofield, Sports Editor

Hikers, bikers, and campers who come across an interesting looking plant will no longer have to guess the species of the plant- the new Apple iPhone application, TreeID, will have all of the plant’s information brought up on the iPhone screen within seconds.

The newest in iPhone application technology is being developed by researchers at the Smithsonian University, Washington D.C. Known as the TreeID, this new application will enable the user to snap a photo of a leaf or flower while out in the wilderness and the program will post the photo online. Once online, the leaf or flower’s image will be processed by an advanced photo recognition database and the name and information of the plant will be sent back to the iPhone user. Unlike the previous version of TreeID, which asked the user a series of questions until the correct species was identified; the new version will use an actual photo of the plant’s leaf to identify the species.

This application is not only for the interest and enjoyment of the iPhone users; scientists and researchers will be able to access this database and check for new plant species from the posted photos. Scientists predict this app to greatly increase the number of plant species known to man. Researchers say that once a specimen’s name is identified, it opens up a whole world of information about that organism.

“We believe there is enough information in a single leaf to identify a species,” explained W. John Kress, a Smithsonian Museum botanist and researcher for TreeID.

The TreeID is currently being tested at Central Park in New York City. Designers hope iPhone technology will spread down towards the tropics of Central and South America where there is an abundance of exotic and unidentified plant life. Researchers for the application also hope that TreeID will encourage people’s interest in the plant life around them.

“Our brains can’t remember all of [a plant’s] characteristics, but the computer can,” stated Kress. TreeID will make life easier on scientists and nature lovers alike.

However, TreeID designers are predicting the dawn of a new day when there won’t be any need for proper scientists. Everyone will have the tool to do a scientists work right at their fingertips: the iPhone. In the years to come, TreeID will turn every iPhone owner into a plant scientist at the simple touch of a button.