Key to Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants

The Australian tropical rain forests contain over 2500 species of higher plants, representing more than 10% of the Australian flora. These rainforests stretch from the lowland and montane tropical rainforests of north east Queensland through to the drier and monsoonal rainforests of the Northern Territory and the Kimberley district of Western Australia. The rain forests of the Wet Tropics area of north east Queensland are the most species rich, with over 1907 species. There is a decrease in species richness along the rainfall gradient to the monsoonal rainforests of Western Australia, where there are 332 species.

The “Australian Tropical Rain Forest Plants - Trees, Shrubs and Vines” (a.k.a. the rain forest key, or RFK) is an interactive multiple-entry identification and information system, where the user decides which characters to choose based on the specimen in hand. The latest version, published in 2003, includes 2154 species of trees, shrubs and vines of northern Australian rain forests.

A total of 138 characters, covering morphology - habit, bark, leaves, flowers, fruits and seedlings - and some geographic and ecological information ensure reliability and power of the key is high. Illustrated help notes assist with interpretation of characters. Plant images help to confirm identification.

A comprehensive information system for each species includes the common name and formal scientific name, together with nomenclatural synonyms, geographical and ecological information, distinguishing features and natural history notes. The descriptions are combined with high quality colour images for most species, leaf x-ray images and a map showing the geographical distribution.

Further development of the system is well underway to add modules for other plant life forms including orchids, herbs, ferns, parasites, saprophytes, palms and pandans. These modules will add approximately 865 species. It is anticipated that the new identification system for all plant groups will be available on the web by end of 2010, as well as on DVD and other novel technologies.

For further information please contact:

Frank Zich

email: enquiry@ath.org.au

web: http://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/cd-keys/rfk/index.html