Structure of information on taxa

Taxonomy

This section indicates the belonging of the taxon to the parent taxa of a higher order.

Information about the taxon's systematic position is stored in the database and cannot be changed.

Synonyms

This section provides a list of synonyms which are alternative (but rejected in favor of the main name) scientific Latin names of the taxon.

Synonyms are names that have ever been applied to a taxon, but in the opinion of the authors of the original lists are invalid, or those names that were not in use at the time of the publication of the original sources of the database. It should be noted that many scientists have different points of view and therefore in other sources any synonym can be considered as the name of the taxon.

Synonym lists are generated automatically based on the site database. If any synonymous name does not exist in the database, but is currently applied to a taxon, the question of adding it to the database can be raised on the forum by opening the taxon discussion (a link to go to the discussion is on the left pane of the taxa pages).

Russian names

This section presents a list of Russian-language names of the taxon, divided into categories by area of use and distribution.

This section is open for replenishment so all project participants can add Russian names and categorize them. Оne of added names is assigned as the main one for the taxon (this is done by the moderators). In addition, the names can be provided with comments regarding their origin and discussed on the site's forum.

Images

This section is a gallery of photographs of individuals belonging to this taxon and its subtaxa.

As you browse through a set of images of a species, you will also see all the photos related to its subspecies. Similarly, the photo gallery of a family includes images of all genera, species, and subspecies taxa related to it. Using filters on the pages of taxa, you can exclude from the list images of subtaxa, photos of individuals identified as species, or select images by subject rubrics.

This section is one of the most important components of the plant identification guide. Photos published by participants of "Plantarium" allow you to choose the most suitable taxon from the results of plant identification, find out what a plant you know only by name looks like, or confirm the results of the identification.

Photos can be added to taxa of any level. If the photographed plant/lichen is unknown to you or you don't know its Latin name, upload photos to the section "Unidentified plants and lichens". Sooner or later, there will be a project participant who knows what is shown in the image and will move the photo to the appropriate taxon.

Gallery of images is the section open for replenishment by all participants of the "Plantarium" project.

Distinctive features

This section contains a description of the traits used to visually identify a plant/lichen in the field.

As a rule, such "distinctive features" are a combination of a life form, the most striking features of morphology and a list of characteristic habitats. Comparison with widely known species is quite acceptable; in this case, distinguishing features are indicated.

Each user can propose his own version of the text or leave comments in any form. The final version of the text is formed by a moderator. He can accept one of the proposed options (possibly with changes) or compile a new text based on the proposals of the project participants.

Botanical description

The section is intended for publication of a detailed botanical description (diagnosis) of a taxon taken from a printed source (as a rule, from some regional plant identification guide).

Each user can upload the description text or leave comments in any form. The decision to publish the text is made by moderators.

Other information

This section is intended to place information about the taxon that is not relevant to its identification in the field.

Usually, "other information" is data on biology and ecology, medicinal and nutritional properties of a species, its technical application, etc. In this section, you can write about the history of the origin of the scientific name of the taxon.

Editing and publication of texts in this section is carried out according to the same rules as for the description of distinctive features.

Key traits

The section contains a list of features by which the plant identification guide includes a taxon in the search results.

All key traits are divided into 2 large groups: identifying and informational.

Identifying traits make it possible to identify the found or photographed plant. They are grouped under the categories "Life Form", "Appearance" and "Habitat".

Information traits are summarized in the categories "Ecology" and "Features". They make it possible to select taxa based on properties that are interesting from a biological or practical point of view. It makes easy to use "Plantarium" for educational purposes.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: many of the key traits listed describe how the plant looks (or what it seems) only at first glance! Despite of the species do not possess some characteristics from a strict scientific point of view, this approach makes it easier to use the plant identification guide for visitors without special botanical knowledges. For example, when indicating the size of flowers of Compositae, we often put two marks: one corresponds to the size of individual flowers, and the other corresponds to the size of inflorescences that look like flowers.

Sets of key traits for species and subspecies taxa can be edited by all project participants, but only until they are published (i.e. before taxa being included in the plant identification guide). Sets of key traits of genera and higher-level taxa can only be changed by moderators.

Web resources

The section contains links to web resources (Internet pages) containing additional information about taxa. We usually link to pages containing a botanical description of taxa, maps of its distribution, information on properties and practical use of species.

The collection of links to web resources is being replenished by project participants.