The facile synthesis of InN nanostructures is of great importance due to their wide potential applications in (opto) electronic devices. Herein we reported the synthesis of InN nanostructures through a convenient chloride-sourced chemical vapor deposition method with simple processing and free of catalyst. The morphologies of the InN products were regulated from one-dimensional nanocones and hexagonal nanoprisms to octahedrons and four-fold-symmetrical InN hierarchical nanostructures by varying the vaporization temperature of InCl3 and deposition temperature. The formation mechanism of the InN nanostructures has been discussed on the basis of the change in InCl3 vapor pressure and the morphological evolution under different temperature. The field emission properties of the InN nanocones were evaluated due to their unique sharp apex geometry, which showed a turn on field of similar to 12 V/mu m, suggesting their potential application in field emission devices. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.