Text in Bold indicates user action.
Text in Italics indicates XID/MUDES menu items.
 

• STARTING XID/MUDES
• IDENTIFYING A PLANT USING ATTRIBUTES OF YOUR CHOICE
• USING THE "YES," "NO," "OR" COMMANDS
• IDENTIFYING A PLANT BY ASKING FOR SUGGESTIONS (ANALYSIS)
• SHOW DATA DISTRIBUTION
• SHOW MARKS
• LIST SPECIES/ITEMS AND VIEW REFERENCES
• VIEW SPECIES/ITEM DATA
• SHOW UNUSUAL FEATURES
• ELIMINATING SPECIES/ITEMS OF YOUR CHOICE
• MENU HELP
• SPECIES/ITEM HELP
• PROGRAM HELP
• INVISIBLE MENUS/ATTRIBUTES
• NOTES
• EXITING THE PROGRAM
• TIPS ON MAXIMIZING SUCCESS WITH THE MUDES

NO INSTALLATION IS NECESSARY FOR THE MUDES.

IF YOU ARE USING THE MUDES DIRECTLY FROM THE CD:
 

•     Click on XIDW/XIDW.EXE on the CD to start the program.

IF YOU ARE USING A SONY 505 LAPTOP ON WHICH THE MUDES HAS BEEN INSTALLED:
 

•     Double click the MUDES shortcut icon.
•     A new screen appears. Click the "open folder" icon near the upper left comer.
•     Place the highlight bar on Database for XID Tutorial (demoweed.xid), if it is not already there.
•     Click OK. The cover screen for the XID Tutorial Database now appears.
•     Click OK.

    The current screen shows the main menu headings available under Database for XID Tutorial.   In this exercise you will identify Canada thistle by saying that it has spiny leaves, rhizomes, and wind-blown seeds. These choices could be entered in any order. Note the line on the bottom margin of the box shows that there are currently 72 species remaining in the database.  The highlight bar is on General.
 

•     Double click the highlight bar.
•     Double click Spines or Thorns.
•     Double click Spines on leaves and/or stems. Note that the number of species remaining is now 7.
•     Click Close to return to the General menu.
•     Double click Wind Dissemination.
•     Double click Fruit, seed, or spore wind borne. A message appears on the screen: Family Identified.  This means that all species remaining in the database belong to the same plant family,  in this case Asteraceae.
•     Click OK to clear this message. Note that the number of species remaining is now 3.
•     Click Close to return to the General menu.
•     The next character which you will use is rhizomes, which is not found under General. Click Close to return to the Database for XID Tutorial main menu.
•     Double click Root and/or Vegetative Propagule.
•     Double click Rhizomatous. A message now appears on the screen: Species identified and provides you with the name of the plant. Click OK to clear the message.
•     Click Species List. The name of the plant identified is the only one on the fist at this point so it is highlighted.
•     Click Species Help. A text box with some interesting information about Canada thistle appears.  As you will see later it is also possible to display a picture of the species at this point (if available).
•     Click Close to close the Species Help screen.
•     Click Close to close the Remaining Species List.
•     Click Reset XID. Note that the number of species remaining returns to 72 and all of the menu options under Root and/or Vegetative propagule reappear.
•     Click Close (or press Escape) to return to the main menu.

    YES:

•     Double click Flowers.
•     Double click Flower Color.
•     Double click Yellow. A YES mark now appears to the left of Yellow, and the number of species remaining is 25. You have said the color of the flower on your plant specimen IS yellow.
•     Click Delete Mark to remove the mark. Note that the number of species returns to 72.
•     Marking more than one attribute in a menu with a Yes mark causes the attributes to be combined as "AND." For example: Double click Yellow. Note that the number of species remaining is 25.   Double click Purple. The number of species remaining is now 2. You have said that your flower  is BOTH yellow AND purple in color, or that both yellow AND purple flowers are present within  the species (these situations can be distinguished by marking the Multi-colored attribute).
•     Click Clear menu (or Reset XID) to clear both marks you have made.

    NO:

•     Click Green.
•     Click Mark No. A NO mark now appears to the left of Green, and the number of species remaining is 67. You have said that the color of the flower on your specimen IS NOT green.
•     Click Delete Mark to remove the mark. Note that the number of species returns to 72. NO marks eliminate only those species/items that are marked exclusively for that character. For example, marking most families as NO will eliminate that family, but some families have more than one name (i.e., Asteraceae and Compositae) and either one can be selected in the Family menu.    To eliminate a family with more than one name, both names must be marked as NO in the Family menu.

    OR:

•     Click Orange, Click Mark Or. An OR mark now appears to the left of Orange, and the number of species remaining has disappeared and will not return until you complete the operation.
•     Click Yellow-orange. Click Mark Or.
•     Click Yellow. Click Mark Or. Note that the OR mark now also appears to the left of Yellow-orange and Yellow.
•     Click Quit OR Marking. The number of species remaining is now 25. You have said that you are unsure of the color of the flower on your specimen, but that it is either yellow OR orange OR  yellow-orange.
•     Use the OR technique any time you are unsure of the exact answer. This is very helpful for highly variable attributes such as leaf shape and plant height.
•     Click Clear menu to clear all the marks you have made in the Flower Color menu. Note the number of species remaining returns to 72.

    In this exercise you will use the Analysis function to aid in identifying a dandelion.
 

•     Click Analysis. A screen entitled Attribute Menu Analysis appears. This is a list of suggestions for attributes which will be useful in identifying your plant.  These attributes are listed in descending order for maximum convergence on identification of the unknown.  What this means is if you can use the first attribute, this has the highest probability of descriminating remaining species from one another.  Note, however, you can use these attributes in any order that is convenient for you.
•     Double click Flower Color.
•     Double click Yellow. Note that the number of species remaining is now 25.
•     Click Analysis.
•     Double click (Root and/or Vegetative Propagule).
•     Double click Tap Root. The number of species remaining is now 18.
•     Click Analysis.
•     Double click Flower Width (Head width in Comps).
•     Double click 2.5 cm (1. 0 inch). The number of species remaining is now 9.
•     Click Analysis.
•     Double click Wind Dissemination.
•     Double click Fruit, seed, or spore wind borne. A message appears: Family Identified. This means that all species remaining in the database belong to the same plant family, in this case Asteraceae.
•     Click OK to clear the Family Identified message. The number of species remaining in the database is now 4.
•     Click Analysis.
•     Double click Leaf Arrangement.
•     Double click All basal. The number of species remaining is now 2.
•     Click Analysis.
•     Double click Main Stem Branches.
•     Double click Main Stem Unbranched. A message appears: Species Identified and provides you with the name of the plant identified (dandelion).
•     Click OK to clear the Species Identified message.
•     Click Reset XID to delete all marks you have made on the menus. Notice that the total number of  species remaining now returns to 72.
•     Click Close twice to return to the Database for XID Tutorial main menu.

    Marking attributes of your choice with YES, OR, NO can be combined in any sequence with asking the program for suggestions (Analysis).

Return to Table of Contents

Examining the distribution of attributes among species within the database can sometimes be helpful in selecting attributes useful for rapid identification.  Attributes that are shared by many species are less useful for identification than attributes that are unique or shared by only a few species.
 

•     Double click Flowers.
•     Double click Flower Color. The number of species remaining is 72.
•     Click Distribution. The number of species/items in the database with each of the attributes is shown on the left. This screen tells you that for this database Yellow and White are common flower colors, but Red-orange and Yellow-green are rare flower colors. Although it is possible to  highlight the attributes, this is a "read only" screen and they can not be selected.
•     Click Close to clear the data distribution screen.
•     Click Mark No with each flower color highlighted to discover which species has no data in this  menu. Note how the number of species remaining decreases with each mark until the Species Identified message appears.
•     Click OK to clear the Species Identified message.
•     Click Clear Menu to remove the marks,
•     Click Close twice to return to the Database for XID Tutorial main menu.

•     Double click General.
•     Double click Milky Juice.
•     Double Click Juice milky (9 species remain).
•     Click Close twice to return to the Database for XID Tutorial main menu.
•     Double click Leaves.
•     Double click Leaf Arrangement.
•     Double click Opposite. A message appears: Genus Identified. Euphorbia.
•     Click OK to clear the Genus Identified message.
•     Click Species List to list the remaining species.
•     Click View Marks. At the top of the screen it shows you what you have done, i.e., YES for Juice milky and YES for Opposite. At the bottom is a list of all attributes common to the two remaining  species. You can page down or scroll down through this list.
•     Click Close four times to return to the Database for XID Tutorial main menu.
•     Click Reset XID to clear all the marks you have made.  You can selectively alter marks by entering the appropriate attribute menu and making changes.

•     Click Species List to list the species in the database. Bedstraw, catchweed is highlighted.
•     Click Scientific in the Names box, to toggle the list from common to scientific names with the highlighted species remaining the same (Galium aparine is the scientific name for catchweed bedstraw).
•     Click Common to return to common names.
•     Click bindweed, field.
•     Click References. A screen titled References for bindweed, field appears. This screen shows where you can look up the selected weed in four commonly used weed books. This list can contain as many references as the author wishes to provide.
•     Click Close to return to the Species List.
•     Click Close to return to the Database for XID Tutorial main menu.

•     Click Species List while in any menu to bring up the list of species/items remaining.
•     Pressing Enter or clicking View Data while any species/item is highlighted will allow you to view  all of the data for that species/item. You can page or scroll through the data. View the data for any species.
•     Click Close (or the X button) to return to the species/items list.

•     Click bedstraw, catchweed.
•     Click Unusual Attributes.  A screen titled Distinctive Attributes of bedstraw, catchweed appears.    The number of species/items with each attribute is listed on the left hand side of the screen in  order of increasing frequency. Therefore, catchweed bedstraw is the only species with a leaf  arrangement of Whorled 5 - 8 per node, 1 of 6 species which is a Climbing vine, and 1 of 12  species with 4 petals, etc. This screen should be thought of as containing features the species/item MAY have. These features are not necessarily mandatory. For example, a plant species may have white flowers and blue flowers; the blue flowers could be a unique feature, but your specimen might only have white flowers. If your specimen had blue flowers, however, this screen would have provided a good clue.
•     Click Close to return to the Species List.
•     Click Close again to return to the Database for XID Tutorial main menu.

Assume you know the specimen you are trying to identify IS NOT buffalobur, prairie wild rose, common teasel, or Russian thistle.

•     Double click General.
•     Double click Spines or Thorns.
•     Double click Spines on leaves and/or stems (7 species remain).
•     Click Species List to list the remaining species.
•     Click Eliminate while EACH of these four species is highlighted. This leaves a NO mark to the left of each of these species. Upon marking the fourth species, a Family Identified message appears on the screen. This means that the remaining three species are all in the same family, Asteraceae. Eliminating species/items in this manner is very helpful because now when you click Analysis, the suggestions provided will be completely different than they would have been to distinguish between all seven species/items since the program now tells you how to distinguish  between only the remaining three species/items in the database.
•     Click OK to clear the Family Identified message.
•     Click Close three times to return to the Datahase for XID Tutorial main menu.
•     Click Reset XID to clear a marks.

•     Double click Leaves.
•     Double click Leaf Type.
•     Click Simple.
•     Click Selection Help. The help text box appears with a description of a simple leaf and reference  to the book Plant Identification Terminology. At the bottom of the screen you will see the simple leaf image and text. If the entire screen is not visible you may use the scroll bar or maximize button.
•     Click Close to clear the Simple leaf help screen.
•     Click Close. The highlight bar is now on the parent menu Leaf Type.
•     Click Selection Help. The Leaf Type image now appears and allows you to compare the various  leaftypes.
•     Click Close to clear the Leaf Type help screen.
•     Click Close. The highlight bar is now on the parent menu Leaves.
•     Click Selection Help. The image now allows you to view basic leaf structures and compare simple and compound leaves.
•     Click Close to return to the Database for XID Tutorial main menu.

    If no help exists for any given menu or attribute, the help is automatically given for the next higher  menu level.

Return to Table of Contents

•     Click Species List. If images have been entered into the program, any species/item can be highlighted and then the Species Help button clicked to display the image of that species/item.  These images can be anything from black and white line drawings to full color photos. There are line drawings in the demonstration database for plantain, broadleaf and plantain, buckhorn.  Whether displayed by common or scientific names, the species list is always alphabetical. You
• can reach any species on the list by using the scroll bar or by typing its name, i.e. typing p moves the highlight bar to the first species beginning with p, if you then type l the highlight bar moves to the first species beginning with pl.
•     Move the highlight bar to plantain, broadleaf.
•     Click Species Help.
•     The species image and help text box for plantain, broadleaf appears. You can view the entire image by using the scroll bar on the large box or in less detail by clicking the Zoom button.
•     Click Close (or X) to clear the Species Help screen.
•     Highlight dandelion.
•     Click Species Help. Even though no image is shown, this screen gives you general information about the species which was highlighted. This information may include edibility or toxicity, hints on identification, folklore, and other information which is not well-suited to a data format.
•     Click Close to return to the Species List.
•     Click Close to return to the Database for XID Tutorial main menu.

    No matter where you are in the program, clicking Help provides you with detailed, context specific help that explains how to use the screen you were on when you clicked Help.

•     You are now in the main menu of submenus. Click Help. The Using a Menu of Submenus help screen appears.
•     Click the X (close) button to close the Help screen.
•     Click Analysis. Click Help. The Attribute Menu Analysis help screen appears.
•     Click the X (close) button twice to return to the Database for XID Tutorial main menu.

Return to Table of Contents

    As menus and attributes become non-applicable to the identification process, they also become "invisible" preventing the user from selecting impossible choices and greatly reducing the complexity of the menu structure.

•     For example, in the Database for XID Tutorial main menu, double click Family. Thirty seven families are listed (you can scroll down to see them all).
•     Click Close.
•     Double click General. Note that there are nine submenus to choose from in the General menu.
•     Double click Milky Juice.
•     Double click Juice milky. Note that nine species remain.
•     Click Close to return to the General menu. Note that there are now only six submenus remaining.  This is due to the fact that no species in the database with milky juice can be distinguished by whether or not they are Spiny, Aromatic, or have Chlorophyll. Therefore, these menus are no longer relevant and become invisible.
•     Click Close to return to the Database for XID Tutorial main menu.
•     Double click Family. Note that only five families are now listed in the menu. These are the only families in the database which contain species with milky juice.
•     Click Close to return to the Database for XID Tutorial main menu.

     If you are sure your specimen has an attribute that is not in a menu (but the menu appears, with other attributes), your species might not be in the database, the author may have chosen not to include that attribute, or you may have made an incorrect mark elsewhere, causing the attribute  you seek to become invisible. For example, if your specimen has white flowers but the only choices in the Flower Color menu are Yellow and Purple, you can click Distribution to see if the author included white as a flower color and to see if it has disappeared. If it is shown, you should go to the Species List and click View Marks to display a summary of the marks you have made. if  there is a mark that is somewhat in doubt, go to it in the menu system and delete it (by highlighting the marked attribute and clicking the Delete button. This usually increases the number of species/items remaining and can allow you to get back on the right track if you have made a mistake.

    In the demo database, "false" data is used when it will make the program more efficient for the unskilled user. For example, a dandelion appears to have many petals, but actually they are many separate flowers, each of which has five petals. The data for the menu Number of petals therefore is marked for both five and >10.

    In the help screens of the demo database, sometimes a reference into the text Plant Identification Terminology (Harris & Harris 1994) is given to further expand upon terminology used in the program. The abbreviation "PIT" is used. This book is in print and can be ordered through most book stores or is available through XID Services.

    Many families have more than one name (i.e., Asteraceae and Compositae), and either one can  be selected in the Family menu. To eliminate such a family, however, both names must be marked as NO in the Family menu.

      When you have no more use for the Tutorial Database, you can delete it from the XID directory by deleting the file demoweedxid.

Return to Table of Contents

•     Click Close (or press Escape) until the XID Identification System screen appears blank.
•     Click the X (close) button in the upper right hand corner.

There are many ways to successfully identify tree species, the following appears to be a common strategy adopted by many students with good results:
 

• Closely examine the unknown tree in its entirety, to select a good representative branch on the specimen.
• Note any unusual features that are present.  Enter these first to reduce the database size and menu structure.
• Enter attributes that you are absolutely sure are present on your specimen.
• Utilize the Analysis feature to help you decide what features to look for next.  After each attribute entry, rerun the Analysis feature.