WHAT IS THIS TREE? TOWARDS AN ELECTRONIC KEY TO TREES CULTIVATED IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

At present there is no published means of identifying cultivated trees in southern Africa that includes both rare and common, indigenous and exotic species. Yet examination of the queries received by the various herbaria in SANBI and discussion with the editors of gardening magazines and others, indicates that there is a need for such a thing. It seems that at present the most practical way to produce an identification tool that will work satisfactorily with rather less complete specimens than herbarium botanists usually expect, and which nevertheless gives the user an adequate possibility of finding the right name, is to generate an electronic key. Accordingly, a first list of 1585 broadleaf species was selected and a key drafted using Lucid 3. Work has started on extensions to this key to cover softwoods, palms and "other monocotyledons". It is intended that the key should be made available both on the Internet and as a freestanding CD.