Introduction - Species Plantarum Programme

Chromosome numbers
26
SPECIES PLANTARUM — FLORA OF THE WORLD (1999)
Chromosome counts based on reliably identified material should be included, and run on
from the last line of the description. They should be cited in the form given in the original
source together with the reference, e.g. x = 12, B.A.Barlow & D.Wiens, Taxon 20: 291
(1971).
Common names
Common names are in general not cited. In the case of plants of major economic importance,
the English name may be indicated in the Further Notes paragraph, e.g. under Solanum
tuberosum the name 'potato' should be indicated in the comments.
Citation of Species Plantarum figures
Reference to a figure to be included in Species Plantarum goes at the end of the descriptive
paragraph as Fig. ***, the number being added later by the Executive Editor. Line drawings
and colour plates are all termed Figures, e.g. in Anthocercis littorea, Fig. 4 is a colour plate
and Fig. 5A, B is a black-and-white illustration (Fl. Australia 29: 9, 1982).
Species distribution and habitat
The paragraph after the species description describes the distribution and habitat of the
species in a world context. First the distribution is described in free text in terms of specific
geographical localities or features, together with the country or countries. This is followed
by a coded list of 'botanical countries', as listed in S.Hollis & R.K.Brummitt, World
Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (Hunt Institute for Botanical
Documentation, Pittsburgh, 1992). Only the Level 2 and 3 units are used. These should be
listed with the 2-digit code indicating continent and region, followed by a colon, and the 3letter
code for each 'country', separated by commas. Where a species occurs in each 'country'
of a region, the designation 'All'. may be used. If a taxon is present in a 'country' only as an
introduced or naturalised plant, then the 'country' is given in lower case letters. If a taxon
was previously present in a 'country' but is now extinct there, the 'country' is given in upper
case letters followed by a dagger. Distribution as a cultivated plant is not listed
New South Wales: Between Broken Hill and Orange. 50: NSW.
New South Wales to Queensland: From Bundaberg, Queensland, S to Newcastle, New South
Wales, within 50 km of the coast. 50: NSW, QLD.
Native to central South America, but naturalised widely in tropical, subtropical and warm
temperate countries worldwide. 10: grb. 11: aut. 12: fra. 26: zim. 27: bot, cpp, les, nat, ofs,
swz, tvl. 29: mdg. 38 jap. 42: jaw, mly, phi. 50: nsw, qld, tas, vic. 51: nzn. 63: haw. 76: arl,
cal, nev, uta. 77: tex. 78: ala, fla, geo, lou, msi. 83: BOL. 84: BZC. 85: AGE, AGW, CLN,
PAR, URU.
Well-known regional names may be used in the free text description, e.g. Cape York
Peninsula, Sahara Desert, Rocky Mountains, but not local names such as North Kennedy or
South West Slopes. Distribution must be based on herbarium collections. The free text
description of distribution should use geographical in preference to political terms, e.g.
tropical Africa, SE Asia.
The habitat is then described. It may be given in the same sentence as the distribution,
following a semi-colon; or it may be in a separate sentence in the same paragraph. The soil,