The Leafsnap app allows a user to identify a species of tree just by submitting a photograph of a tree’s leaf. The app utilizes visual recognition software and was developed via partnership between the Smithsonian Institution and researchers from Columbia University and the University of Maryland.

Leafsnap, available for the iPhone and the iPad, uses databases for the Northeastern United States but will eventually expand to the whole continental United States.

According to the Smithsonian Institution:

Leafsnap is the first in a series of electronic field guides being developed by researchers from Columbia University, the University of Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institution. This free mobile app uses visual recognition software to help identify tree species from photographs of their leaves.

Leafsnap contains beautiful high-resolution images of leaves, flowers, fruit, petiole, seeds, and bark. The Leafsnap mobile app currently includes the trees of the Northeast and will soon grow to include the trees of the entire continental United States.