Australian Plant Name Index facts for kids
The Australian Plant Name Index (APNI) is a special online list. It keeps track of all the names given to Australian vascular plants. Think of it like a giant dictionary for plant names!
This list includes every name ever published for an Australian plant. It doesn't matter if the name is still used today, or if it's an old name (a synonym). It also includes names that were not officially accepted.
APNI gives you important details about each name. This includes where the name was first published and other helpful information. It also connects to other plant resources. You can even see which plants grow in different Australian states. Users can also add their own notes and comments.
What is the Australian Plant Name Index?
The APNI is seen as the official source for Australian plant descriptions. This is true for all major plant collections (called herbaria) across Australia. It's a key part of a bigger project called Australia's Virtual Herbarium.
This project received a lot of money, about A$10 million. Its goal is to let everyone easily find information online. This includes data and plant samples from Australia's main herbaria.
APNI offers two ways to search for plant names.
How APNI Started
The idea for APNI first came from a person named Nancy Tyson Burbidge. It began as a set of four large printed books. These books had 3,055 pages in total. They listed over 60,000 different plant names!
Arthur Chapman put all this information together. It was part of a bigger study called the Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS).
In 1991, the APNI became available online as a computer database. It was then looked after by the Australian National Botanic Gardens. Two years later, a new group took over its care. This group was called the Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research.
See also
In Spanish: Australian Plant Name Index para niños
