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Keys: the tools used for identifying plants
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Keys are a widely used method for identifying plants.
They vary in the way they are constructed.
Many keys are not particularly easy to use because of the words or terminology used within them and the Acacia key provided here is no exception.
The Blackberry tool is a modern key using computer technology to overcome this terminology problem.
It aims to be more user-friendly with the choice often being able to be made between illustrations rather than written statements.
Initially to be projected on the web, the technology for downloading was too slow for most users in 2005 and so the Blackberry tool was converted to a CD-ROM.
A number of earlier interactive keys are still only available on CD-ROM (e.g.
Euclid,
AusGrass,
Orchid Genera and
Families of Flowering Plants)
but in recent years such keys have become increasingly available through the web, primarily through the
Lucid and
DELTA or
Free DELTA sites.
The Pea Key is an example of a Lucid key available in this way.
There is an interactive key for the whole of Acacia in Australia,
Wattle,
but it is presently not accessible except by purchase of the CD-ROM, and so the traditional "dichotomous key" to the Acacia species of South Australia is provided here.
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