Taxonomic database format

The key building block of this database is the Taxon, or plant name. All taxa are delimited inside square braces: "[]", and contain at least a Genus and a species name. Here is a simple example of the name for the Venus's Fly Trap:

[Dionaea muscipula]

For casual usage, this level of detail is sufficient. But in some cases, several plants may have been given the same name at different times. This was usually the fault of poor communication or misinformation. To clarify these situations, a full name citation will include information about who published the name. All author citations are delimited by curly braces: "{}" Here is an example of two times that the name Drosera capensis was used for different plants:

[Drosera capensis {E.MEY. ex PLANCH.}]

+[Drosera capensis {L.}]

In the last example, the second name was given by the botanist Linnaeus (abbreviated to just "L.") and is considered the valid one. Valid names are always prefaced with a plus sign "+". Cultivar names are prefaced by a dollar sign "$", and invalid names are prefaced by a tilde sign "~".

The idea of valid names also applies to more complicated constructs like hybrids. For instance, the hybrid between Drosera capensis and Drosera aliciae has been named quite appropriately as Drosera * 'capicia' . This information is spelled out in the database entry as:

N: [Drosera * ' capiciae ' {HORT. ex HORT.BOT.PALMENGART.}]

P: in sched. (1994)

S: =[[Drosera capensis {L.}] * [Drosera aliciae {HAMET}]]

In this example, you can see that hybrid names are prefaced with an asterix "*". Also introduced in this example are the field delimiters: "N:","P:" and "S:". These help structure the data. The "N:" line contains the Name of the entry. "P:" gives a reference to where the Name was Published (In this case, the publication is scheduled to come out sometime in 1994). The "S:" entry gives a Synonym for the name, in this case a hybrid formula. Elements of a hybrid formula are delimited by an asterix "*", and nesting is shown by square brackets. This usage of brackets does not conflict with their use for delimiting names, as the combination of two names into a hybrid is itself a valid name. Finally, this example shows that Synonyms are always introduced with either an equal sign "=", or a slash "/". Slashes are used when a name may have been applied to several different species. It stands for "partly", and means that the name is a partial synonym. This often happens when an old taxa is split into two new species on the basis of newer evidence.

Now that you know the general structure of the database, here are some lists of other abbreviations and field delimiters that are used:

Here is a list of Geographic Abbreviations

Ala. = Alabama

AM = America

Ang. = Angola

AS = Asia

AU = Australia

Bel. = Belize

Bol. = Bolivia

C = central

C.Rica = Costa Rica

Ca. = California

Can. = Canada

E = east(-ern)

Eth. = Ethiopia

EU = Europe

Fla. = Florida

Ga. = Georgia

Gal.Is. = Galapagos Islands

Guat. = Guatemala

Guin. = Guinea

Guy. = Guyana

Himal. = Himalaya

Hond. = Honduras

Indon. = Indonesia

La. = Louisiana

Madag. = Madagascar

Mal. = Penins.Malaysia & Singapore

Mass. = Massachusetts

Mex. = Mexico

Mich. = Michigan

Miss. = Mississippi

Moz. = Mozambique

N = north(-ern)

NC. = North Carolina

N.Caled. = New Caledonia

N.Guin. = New Guinea

N.Zeal. = New Zealand

NJ. = New Jersey

NY. = New York

Ore. = Oregon

Pan. = Panama

Par. = Paraguay

Phil. = Philippines

S = south(-ern)

SC. = South Carolina

Sen. = Senegal

subtr. = subtropical

Tan. = Tanzania

Thail. = Thailand

tr. = tropical

Trin. = Trinidad & Tobago

Uru. = Uruguay

Va. = Virginia

Ven. = Venezuela

W = west(-ern)

W.Indies = West Indies

Zam. = Zambia

Zim. = Zimbabwe