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Acacias
of South Australia
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Acacia
Terminology
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To help with the terminology problem, there are some illustrations showing terminology used within this key.
These show
phyllode venation,
glands on phyllodes and rachis,
stipules,
seedling and pinnate leaves,
inflorescence types,
the flower structure,
fruit and seed morphology and
longitudinal and transverse orientation of the seed with respect to the fruit.
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Using a Dichotomous Key
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In using a dichotomous key the user has to choose between two statements.
The statement which best describes the plant being identified is chosen and the user then moves to the next choice of statements indicated by the number on the right hand side.
This continues until an answer rather than a number is obtained on the right handn side.
An example
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in Lead 1, choose between whether a plant has phyllodes or bipinnate
leaves (see seedling
and pinnate leaves). If the plant being identified (Cootamundra
wattle) has bipinnate
leaves then choose lead 136.
- At Lead
136, the choice is between inflorescence types. Since the inflorescence
is racemose or paniculate (see inflorescence
types), choose lead 141.
- At Lead
141 the choice is between whether the branches are prominently angled
and winged or not. The branches are not prominently angled and winged
and so the user is directed to lead 142.
- At Lead
142 the choice is in the number of pinnae (see seedling
and pinnate leaves). Two to six pairs of pinnae indicate that
the plant is Acacia baileyana or the
Cootamundra wattle.
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