APNI – Australian Plant Names Index

APNI - Australian Plant Name Index is a list of all published names of Australian vascular plants and their bibliographic and typification details.1

Description

APNI is the standard dataset for plant names in Australia, containing more than 80,000 names. 2

The APNI database is a tool for the botanical community that deals with plant names, not only those in current use, but also those names used in the past – synonyms no longer in use for a variety of technical nomenclatural reasons. It includes information on:3

• names in current use;
• plant name changes;
• previous names for a renamed plant;
• the journal or place where the name was formally published;
• the author of the plant name;
• the place in Australia where the Type of the name was collected;
• the Herbarium where the Type Specimen is lodged;
• additional references;
• relevant comments and notes on the naming process, and
• links to other information such as plant distributions, descriptions and images.

APNI does not offer an 'opinion' on which of the names are currently accepted.4

It is recognised by Australian herbaria as the prime reference for Australian plants, not only for taxonomy, but also for fields such as ecology and horticulture; it forms the basis for legislation relating to the natural environment. Maintenance of APNI is strongly supported by the Council of Heads of Australian Herbaria (CHAH), the peak body representing Australian herbaria, and the botanical community as a whole. APNI is an integral component of Australia's Virtual Herbarium (AVH).5

While APNI offers a technical presentation of Australia's botanical nomenclature to the scientific community, What's Its Name (WIN) was developed as an alternative user-friendly entry point for the non-botanist. What's Its Name is derived from the APNI database and aims to deliver a concise overview of plant names and name changes via the Internet. It provides the current name in use for a plant and a cross-reference to any previously used names. In cases of discrepancy or ambiguity WIN provides a simple explanation of the scientific information suitable for the non-scientific user.6

APNI is involved with IPNI, an international collaboration between The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, The Harvard University Herbaria, and the Australian National Herbarium.7

Function

• Taxonomy
  • Identification tools, keys
• User interface
  • Personal and institutional use
  • Data is available tabulated or without

Why use this tool?

• For an authoritative compilation of plant names8

Who will use this tool?

• Data creation
  • Experts - taxonomy
• Data capture
  • Curators – specimens, identification
• Data providers
  • Institutions
  • Private collections
• Data users
  • Expert
  • Interest groups
  • General public

How will the tool be used?

• Online searchable database
• The web versions of APNI are not case-sensitive and a trailing wild-card is assumed 9
• Pattern matching is based on the SQL database conventions 10
• User input is required

Where in the data chain could this tool be used?

• Data source
• ALA central
• User’s machine

When could this tool be used?

• Before data is made available to ALA
• At the time of a user request
• As a post process, after data is with the user

Availability

• APNI: http://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/databases/apni.html
• ANBG: http://www.anbg.gov.au/anbg/
• WIN - What’s Its Name: http://www.anbg.gov.au/win/index.html
• IPNI - International Plant Names Index: http://www.ipni.org/
• Actively maintained, available on the internet since 1991 11
• Copyright various governments, institutions and individuals: http://www.anbg.gov.au/copyright.html
• Restrictions: personal, non-commercial use 12
• Free access

Comments

• Scientific names only. No reference to common names.
• See Australian Plant Census for a national consensus of currently accepted names