<font size=2 face="sans-serif">All:</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">No matter what our natural history area
of specialty, we all depend on the identification of vegetation and plants
at some point in our careers. Traditionally we learned these through the
use of field guides and botanical keys, however now that smart phones have
matured and have become reasonably smart there is a capacity for identification
that they can add over time that will become part of our standard toolbox.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">One such effort is going on with a program
called leafsnap which has been beta tested using the trees of the Northeast.
The development group would now like to expand the guide to include trees
from throughout North America north of Mexico and the message below present
some detailsfrom the University of Maryland group about how you can make
a contribution by sending them photographs of identified trees. Just think
of this as passing on the efforts that your mentors and natural history
heroes passed on to you when you were learning. Now, hopefully we have
new generations to come that will be interested in natural history who
will have new, and perhaps easier, tools. </font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">One realizes that these new efforts
are going to be imperfect and I am sure that the developers would be interested
in your insights as you are the arbiters of good natural history. </font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Feel free to pass on to other groups
and interested parties.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Message below</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">---------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
</font><font size=2 color=#2f2f2f face="Arial">Calling all nature enthusiasts!
We need your help to build the world’s most comprehensive electronic field
guide for plants. Our existing iPhone app, </font><a href=http://leafsnap.com/><font size=2 color=#0062e1 face="Arial"><u>Leafsnap</u></font></a><font size=2 color=#2f2f2f face="Arial">,
uses visual recognition software to help identify tree species from photographs
of their leaves. However, our current database only includes trees in the
Northeast U.S. Help us expand that coverage by uploading images of tree
leaves using the </font><a href=http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/leafsnap><font size=2 color=#0062e1 face="Arial"><u>iNaturalist
app</u></font></a><font size=2 color=#2f2f2f face="Arial"> (available for
both iOS and Android devices). Detailed instructions for participating
in this exciting mobile crowdsourcing project are available here: </font><a href="http://biotrackers.net/Leafsnap-Project/home.html"><font size=2 color=#0062e1 face="Arial"><u>http://biotrackers.net/Leafsnap-Project/home.html</u></font></a>
<br>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">--------------------</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Sam </font>
<br>
<br><font size=1 face="Tahoma">Sam Droege sdroege@usgs.gov <br>
w 301-497-5840 h 301-390-7759 fax 301-497-5624<br>
USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center<br>
BARC-EAST, BLDG 308, RM 124 10300 Balt. Ave., Beltsville, MD 20705<br>
</font><a href=Http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/><font size=1 face="Tahoma">Http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov</font></a><font size=3 face="Tahoma"><br>
</font><font size=1 face="Tahoma"><br>
The Identification of Grasses</font><font size=3 face="Tahoma"><br>
</font><font size=1 face="Tahoma"><br>
A grass can be "glumey" in more ways than one,<br>
When its classification remains to be done;<br>
You pull off the parts, and soon feel your age<br>
Chasing them over the microscope stage!</font><font size=3 face="Tahoma"><br>
</font><font size=1 face="Tahoma"><br>
You peer through the lenses at all of the bracts<br>
And hope your decisions agree with the facts;<br>
While you oculist chortles with avid delight<br>
As you strain both your eyes in the dim table light.</font><font size=3 face="Tahoma"><br>
</font><font size=1 face="Tahoma"><br>
You are left on the horns of quite a dilemma<br>
When you count the nerves on the back of the lemma;<br>
Then you really get snoopy and turn each on turtle<br>
To see if the flower is sterile or fertile.</font><font size=3 face="Tahoma"><br>
</font><font size=1 face="Tahoma"><br>
And then the compression, no problem is meaner -<br>
Is it flat like your wallet or round like a wiener?<br>
"How simple," you think, "for a mind that is keen"-<br>
But what do you do when it's half-way between?</font><font size=3 face="Tahoma"><br>
</font><font size=1 face="Tahoma"><br>
You probe and you guess how the florets will shatter,<br>
For you know later on it is certain to matter;<br>
You long for the calmness of labor that's manual<br>
When the question arises-"perennial" or "annual"?</font><font size=3 face="Tahoma"><br>
</font><font size=1 face="Tahoma"><br>
And that terrible texture, the meanest of all,<br>
Is one of the pitfalls in which you can fall;<br>
"Cartilaginous" maybe-or is it "chartaceous"?<br>
Has even the experts exclaiming "Good gracious!"</font><font size=3 face="Tahoma"><br>
</font><font size=1 face="Tahoma"><br>
Then you wail as you wade through the long tribal key,<br>
"Oh, why must his awful thing happen to me?"<br>
"Grasses are easy," our teacher declares,<br>
As he mops off a brow that is crowned with gray hairs!</font><font size=3 face="Tahoma"><br>
</font><font size=1 face="Tahoma"><br>
H.D. Harrington</font>