Another Test of Leafsnap Tree Identification App
In a recent post we tested the new tree identification Apple app Leafsnap with 5 trees and it was right on two of them. Today we collected more species and tested it again. Here are the results with the number signifying the position of the guess.
1. American elm – 9. Second tree – 7.
2. Scarlet Oak – 1.
3. Swamp white oak – 1.
4. Red oak – 1. Second tree – 8.
5. White ash – 15.
6. Northern catalpa – 4.
7. White oak – 1.
8. Shadbush – 8.
9. Bigtooth aspen – 1.
10. Red maple – 3
11. Black oak – 5
12. Quaking aspen – 20.
13. Russian elm – 2.
13. Black locust – 4.
14. Black cherry – 8.
15. Box elder maple – 3.
16. White mulberry – 2.
17. Norway maple – 4.
18. Honey locust – 1.
A third of the trees were guessed right but the majority were misidentified, some of them badly. We can see why it might misidentify oaks because of the variety of shapes from tree to tree and on large and small trees. It seemed weird that it would miss easy ones like red, box elder, and Norway maple and quaking aspen, some of our most common trees. As an accurate way to identify trees we don’t think this app is quite ready for prime time.
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New York Flora Association Blog 
June 16, 2011 at 3:36 pm
I’ve had a similar level of success (or should I say, failure). Pin oak and black cherry were identified correctly, but black walnut was consistently misidentified as butternut, with the true identity at #6 or lower. And two tries with different Norway maple leaves identified them as sugar maples!