About the Checklist (version 1.0)

1. Introduction

To enter the checklist, click on the link to List of families. This link is available on every page in the menu on the left.

However, before doing so, I recommend that this page should be read. The purpose of this page is to describe how the checklist was compiled and the assumptions and conventions used therein.

View over the Umzingwane River, Beitbridge District on 4th December 2002.

The information on which this checklist is based was originally compiled by the author in c.1992-3.

This original list has been updated from 3 main sources: published taxonomic revisions, plant specimens incorporated at SRGH and a number of new records made by myself and other botanists.

The purpose of the checklist is to:

provide a list of plant species which have at any time been recorded in Zimbabwe; and
to list the 5 divisions of Zimbabwe used in Flora Zambesiaca in which each species has been recorded.

The list includes native plants as well as introduced plants that have become naturalised; those which are introduced have been indicated by an initial asterisk. The list excludes introduced plants that do not reproduce and compete successfully in the wild.

2. Why a web publication?

Why publish this information on the web rather than in printed form?

It seems clear that neither a web version nor a printed version is superior to each other, but each has different advantages and disadvantages.

These may be summarised as follows:

Advantages of a printed version:

can be used anywhere; (e.g. in the bush – or on the loo);
is often easier to read as printed text than on screen;
can be easily marked up with corrections;
does not require computer/ internet connection;
is perhaps more appropriate for people in Zimbabwe where internet penetration is still very low.

Advantages of a web version:

can be searched electronically;
has (potentially) a large audience in different countries;
can be continuously updated;
has fewer limitations of space;
has very low publication costs

3. Method

Taxon names have been extracted from four major sources. These were:

the National Herbarium, Harare ("SRGH");
Flora Zambesiaca. The following parts had been released as at 1 July 2002 and have been used in the compilation of this checklist: 1(1), 1(2), 2(1), 2(2), 3(1), 3(5), 3(6), 4, 5(1), 5(2), 6(1), 7(1), 7(2), 7(4), 8(1), 8(2), 8(3), 9(1), 9(2), 9(4), 9(5), 9(6), 10(1), 10(2), 10(3), 11(1), 11(2), 12(3), 12(4);
papers and checklists in Kirkia;
the checklist of Zimbabwean plants which was simultaneously being prepared by Anthony Mapaura and Jonathan Timberlake.

In addition, numerous other papers and works were consulted in the search for records.

A particular difficulty arises where material is on loan to other institutions and only empty folders exist at SRGH. In these cases, whatever is written on the folder has been accepted as correct.

Taxa which are doubtful for inclusion have been placed in square brackets and the reason for the doubt is explained on the line following the name of the taxon.

In compiling this list, a number of questions have arisen which I have been unable to answer immediately. A deliberate decision has been made to publish the list drawing attention to the unanswered questions. These queries are enclosed in square brackets as are all comments by me.

The unique nature of the web enables regular updates to be published as new information comes to light. A further point is that there always will be unanswered questions with a large flora such as Zimbabwe's in which there is so much scope for future work.

4. Version numbers

To indicate to users when families were updated the 'List of families' page includes a version number (which begins at 0.0 and increases by 0.1 at each minor update) and the date on which the particular family list was created.

Please note: The versions with numbers 0.0 to 0.9 are drafts of varying degrees of accuracy. Once I am happy with a particular family, I shall renumber it version 1.0 and will then "freeze" the contents of the website at that stage.

In effect, this will define a particular product, namely a "Version 1.0 checklist".

Should I wish to do so, further updates and changes can then continue in a new series of files.

5. Sources

The source of a particular record has been given as a code. The codes are set out in a separate Source codes file.

6. Arrangement of the list

The families are set out in alphabetical order. However, perhaps not entirely consistently, the numbering and order of genera in the list is generally that of De Dalla Torre and Harms (1900-1907).

The number used by De Dalla Torre and Harms has been modified by adding a suffix which consists of a decimal point and three zeros (.000) in a similar manner to that used in Arnold & De Wet (1993). This enables new genera to be inserted into the numbering system with successive suffices .010, .020 etc. Although the suffices generally follow Arnold & De Wet, for some genera, the suffix was not known and I have had to create my own.

For some families, a system other than De Dalla Torre and Harms has been used and where this is the case, this has been noted at the start of that family. The Pteridophyta has been placed at the start of the list and the order used is that of Roux (2001).

The order of species is alphabetical within each genus. Subspecies, varieties and forms have been placed with the type subspecies, variety or form first and the others (if any) in alphabetical order.

At the head of each family, I have listed in abbreviated form what I believe to be the principal literature for that family in Zimbabwe. The reference to Flora Zambesiaca is always given if the family has been done in Flora Zambesiaca. If any item of literature has a "source code", I have used that code. However, in the case of Flora Zambesiaca the author, volume and part number are always given.

I have attempted to bring the authorities into the standard forms prescribed in Brummitt & Powell (1992), but there has not always been sufficient information available to me to do that. Corrections would be welcome.

For each species, the following information has been provided:

Line 1: Scientific name (in bold font) followed by:
- the author(s);
- the divisions of Zimbabwe used in Flora Zambesiaca in which each taxon has been recorded, in the following order: N, W, C, E, S;
- the source of the records using the source codes given above

Example:

Equisetum ramosissimum Desf.

NWCES

FZ, B83

Where the particular taxon is a lower rank than species, i.e. a subspecies, variety or form, these have each been placed on a line below the main specific name.
Line 2 (and 3 or more if necessary): Synonyms, earlier names, misapplied names (all the latter in italic font) again followed by the author(s).
Where a formally recognised subspecies, variety or form has been sunk, I have followed a convenient convention of simply stating the name in italics, without repeating the species name.
I have tried to be helpful in including earlier names so that anyone working with older literature can relate these to the modern name. In particular, synonyms in Drummond (1975) and Eyles (1916) have generally been included where it has been possible to establish what was meant.
The source(s) on which the presence of the taxon and its distribution are based.

7. Statistics

An analysis of the version 1.0 checklist may be found on the Statistics 1.0 page.