The Flora brasiliensis revisited

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The Flora brasiliensis revisited

• G.J. Shepherd

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How big a job ?

• How many species ?

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How big a job ?

• How many species ?

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How big a job ?

• How many species ?
• How many new species ?

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How big a job ?

• How many species ?
• How many new species ?
• How good is the existing taxonomy ?

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What are the bottlenecks ?

• Types
• Literature
• Supporting documentation
• Access to adequate collections

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Access to types ?
from B.R. Baum (1994)
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How long do floras take ?

• source Heywood 2001 - estimated

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Why do Floras take so long?

• Self-inflicted problems

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Why do Floras take so long ?

• Self-inflicted problems
• Must it be complete ?

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Why do Floras take so long ?

• Self-inflicted problems
• Must it be complete ?
• Must it be so uniform ?

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Why do Floras take so long ?

• Self-inflicted problems
• Must it be complete ?
• Must it be so uniform ?
• Rechecking specimen data

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Why do Floras take so long ?

• Self-inflicted problems
• Must it be complete ?
• Must it be so uniform ?
• Rechecking specimen data
• Must we keep on re-inventing the wheel ?

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How can we speed things up ?

• Infrastructure
• Working methods and tools
• Attitudes

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Infrastructure

• Images and information on types
• Images and information on other herbarium
  materials
• Literature
• Other materials - Field notebooks, itineraries,
  etc.

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Working methods and tools

• Description and key-making systems
• Interactive keys
• Reference sources (online/CDs)
• taxonomic names
• author names and information
• collector names and information
• geographical names

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I Sing the Flora Electric ? (apologies to Ray
Bradbury...)

• dynamic structure
• taxonomically heterogeneous
• geographically heterogeneous
• The stone of Sisyphus syndrome
• flexibility (multi classification)

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I Sing the Flora Electric ?

• multi-personality
• detailed taxonomic treatise
• routine identification
• limited area pocket guides
• picture books
• checklists
• information bank and gateway to more general
  information - rare species, sequences, etc.

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