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Interactive Key to Neotropical Flowering Plant Families

Fruit of Clusia grandiflora (Guttiferae)

Although a number of local and national floristic accounts provide keys to Neotropical plant families, there is currently no multi-language key available for the region as a whole. Many of the keys that do exist are heavily dependent on fruiting and flowering characteristics and are not always easy to follow or use, particularly by those unfamiliar with botanical terms. Recent developments in software for computer-based, multi-access keys offer an exciting opportunity to address this issue, facilitating online access, progressive development and refinement (reflecting ongoing taxonomic and phylogenetic advances), and the easy inclusion of visual aids in the identification process.

RBG Kew, building on the experience of its Interactive Key to Malesian Seed Plants (produced in collaboration with the National Herbarium Nederland Leiden), is now working to develop NEOTROPIKEY, an interactive key to the flowering plant families of the Neotropics. This project began in October 2005.

NEOTROPIKEY, developed with LUCID 3 software, will be made available online at no charge via Kew's website and by CD-ROM. Plant families included in the key will be linked to a series of dedicated, web-based information resources (produced with Factsheet Fusion software) including descriptions and synopses, images, glossaries etc. Principal characters employed in the identification process will include floral and fruit morphology as well as a wide range of vegetative characteristics. Wherever possible images will be available to aid the identification process.

The website will provide a summary/overview with acknowledgements, and links to relevant online information resources and collaborating organisations. Families for inclusion have been selected on the basis of a review of key resources including Flowering Plants of the Neotropics (Smith et al., 2004), the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (1998) and Judd et al. (2002), cross-checked with the Vascular Plant Families and Genera Database. Naturalised and cultivated plants are included.

Development of the key is a collaborative process, bringing together the expertise and experience of specialists from around the world. We are drawing on our strong network of Neotropical botanists, to maximise inclusion of existing knowledge.

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