Flame vapor deposition system embedded with a wire feeder was developed for the first time to guarantee the precise control of wire feed rate. Vertically aligned nanowire, nanotube, multi-tube and bush-like tungsten oxide nanostructures were successfully obtained in this system. The feasible growth mechanisms of these nanostructures were proposed. This research offers a robust and fast approach to prepare nanostructured metal oxide thin films with controlled morphologies. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.