Abstract: Image analysis and pattern recognition are used in dealing with plant classification in this paper. The characteristics of Acer truncatum and A. pseudo-sieboldianum are extracted automatically and classified in VAX 785mini computer. The results show that(1) automatic extractions of characteristics could be achieved ;(2)the similarity of characteristic pattern plate of the same species is higher than that of other species;(3)the correctitude of recognition of the two species is 100%.

Key words: poplar, trabeculate alder, mixed plantation, leaf litter decomposition, soil microbial biomass.