In article <64820019@hpl-opus.hpl.hp.com> walker@hpl-opus.hpl.hp.com (Rick Walker) writes: >In rec.gardens, Giovanni Resta writes: > >> Is there any plants database available by ftp or telnet ? >> My dream is something like the RHS Dictionary (+50000 entries, >> I think) online, but any kind of botanically accurate data are >> welcome (plants descriptions, common names, cultivation notes, >> ethnobotanical information, uses ecc.) > >Dear Giovanni, > >It would be great to have a comprehensive online "dictionary" of plants. >I'd like to see something that gave culture, taxonomic info, chromosome >counts, etc. I have heard of some modest lists of common plants being >included in some "shareware" landscaping programs. You might also be >able to find some CD data disks of some botanical reference books. > >I have written a small expert system that implements a dichotomous key >for identifying 55 major flower families of the High Sierra range. Nothing >fancy, just a computerized version of what you'd normally see in any >field guide. > >I also have a listing of about 400 taxa of carnivorous plant names. An >ongoing project is to add descriptions and cultivation notes to this >list. Jan Schlauer maintains an exhaustive taxonomic bibliography of >carnivorous plants, listing for each one the original defining reference. >Obsolete synonyms are also catalogued and cross-referenced. > >There is also a taxonomic database called "SysTax" that is currently >being used > - by Th. Stuetzel (Bochum) for a revision of the > Eriocaulaceae and management of the botanic garden > Bochum > - by H. Reese-Krug, F. Weberling and J.R. Hoppe (Ulm) > for a revision of the Valerianaceae > - by M. Gschneidner for the management of the botanic > garden Ulm > - by H.H. Hilger (FU Berlin) for a revision of the > Boraginaceae (intended) > - by H.A. Uhlarz for management of the botanic garden > Kiel (intended) > >You can get more info on this system by sending a request to >systax@spezbot.biologie.uni-ulm.de. > >About the best I've come up with so far is an old-fashioned book shelf >full of books... >-- >Rick