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Australian Plant Name IndexAPNIWhat's Its NameWINAustralia's Virtual Herbarium

Australian Plant Name Index: The Standard for Botanical Nomenclature

Australian Plant Name Index: The Standard for Botanical Nomenclature

Accurate naming is the foundation of botanical science. In Australia, this critical task is managed by the Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), which is recognized by Australian herbaria as the authoritative source for plant nomenclature—the formal system of naming plants.

The APNI serves as the core component of Australia's Virtual Herbarium. This ambitious collaborative project, supported by A$10 million in funding, was designed to provide integrated online access to the vast data and specimen collections housed within Australia's major herbaria.

Key Facts

  • Authoritative Status: Recognized as the primary source for Australian plant nomenclature.
  • Infrastructure: Acts as the central element of Australia's Virtual Herbarium.
  • Funding: The collaborative project received A$10 million in funding.
  • Purpose: Integrates online access to specimen collections from major Australian herbaria.
  • User Interfaces: Offers two distinct query tools: APNI and WIN.

Navigating Plant Data: Query Interfaces

To accommodate different user needs, the system provides two distinct ways to search for botanical information. Depending on whether a researcher needs raw data or a quick interpretation, they can choose between the following interfaces:

Australian Plant Name Index (APNI)

The APNI interface is a full query tool designed for comprehensive research. It delivers complete results without any automatic interpretation, providing the raw nomenclature data exactly as recorded.

What's Its Name (WIN)

For users seeking quicker answers, the What's Its Name (WIN) interface offers a more streamlined experience. While it is a less powerful query tool than the full APNI, it provides concise results augmented with automatically generated inferences regarding the currency of the plant name.

Comparison of Query Interfaces
Feature APNI Interface WIN Interface
Query Power Full / Comprehensive Simplified / Less Powerful
Result Detail Full results Concise results
Interpretation No automatic interpretation Includes automatic currency inference

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Australian Plant Name Index?

It is the authoritative source for plant nomenclature in Australia and the central component of Australia's Virtual Herbarium.

How was Australia's Virtual Herbarium funded?

The collaborative project was supported by A$10 million in funding to integrate online access to major herbaria data.

What is the difference between APNI and WIN?

APNI provides full, raw results for detailed queries, while WIN provides concise results with automatic inferences about whether a name is current.

What is the primary goal of Australia's Virtual Herbarium?

The goal is to provide integrated online access to the specimen collections and data held by the major herbaria across Australia.

References

  1. "About the Index: Data Sources: Geographical and historical coverage: Australian Plant Name Index". International Plant Name Index. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  2. Croft, J.; Cross, N.; Hinchcliffe, S.; Lughadha, E. Nic; Stevens, P. F.; West, J. G.; Whitbread, G. (May 1999). "Plant Names for the 21st Century: The International Plant Names Index, a Distributed Data Source of General Accessibility". Taxon. 48 (2): 317–324. doi:10.2307/1224436. ISSN 0040-0262. JSTOR 1224436.
  3. Lughadha, Eimear Nic (29 April 2004). "Towards a working list of all known plant species". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences. 359 (1444): 681–687. doi:10.1098/rstb.2003.1446. ISSN 0962-8436. PMC 1693359. PMID 15253353.
  4. "Information about Australia's Flora Botanical Databases: APNI - Australian Plant Information". Australian Plant Name Index. Australian National Botanic Gardens. Archived from the original on 28 February 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  5. "The Australian Plant Name Index −APNI, an on-line resource of Australian plant names− and, What's Its Name?". www.cpbr.gov.au. Australian National Herbarium: Australian National Botanic Gardens; Australian Biological Resources Study. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 13 March 2023.

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