Supplement to Native Trees and Shrubs of South-Eastern Australia: Changes and Additional Species

2007·0.59 MB·English

by  Maria Gibson

Software Review
Supplement to native trees and
shrubs ofsouth-eastern
Australia:
changes and additional species
by Leon Costermans
Publisher: CostermansPublishing, 2006.
CD-ROM. ISBN0959910530. RRP$25.00
3.
Native trees and shrubs of south-eastern this supplement. The authoralso explains
Australia was first published in 1981. A in some detail why plant names change,
revised edition was published in 1983 with the importance ofknowing the taxonom-
only relatively minor changes. It is still in ic history of plants and how one can
print and students lovingly refer to it as determine the taxonomic history using
‘Costermans’. This book has become a author citations, useful information for
standard reference and field guide for a the novice or those who have not quite
wide variety ofpeople including working understood these facetswithin theirstudy
botanists and ecologists, students, land ofbotany.
managers, field naturalists and many oth- SUPPLEMENT which consists ofthree
ers. And little wonder, it is easy to use, versionshavingidentical content.
comprehensive and has good quality draw- • A screen version which has a smallerfile
ings and photographs. The many reprints allowingfasternavigation
since then essentially have had no changes • A screen version with higher resolution
in content other than the inclusion ofbrief photos, hence a larger file, which allows
listsofamendments inprintings from 1992 viewingofdetail.
onwards andaseparate 8-pageprintedsup- • A printversion in thebook’svertical for-
plement was made available in September mat.
1992, but many taxonomic revisions and The supplement includes:
descriptionshave occurred since. Thusthe • Copyrightconditions.
book really should be completely revised • An alphabetical listing of 378 species
which would be a majortask taking years, with hyperlinks to the pages on which
over which time more changes would they are described or photographed.
occur! The book also would be more Eighty species not included in the book
expensive as it would need to be enlarged occuron this list.
and restructured. For these reasons the • Part A: Changes and consequent addi-
author felt that the most practical and eco- tions. This explains the many name
nomical way to bring this book up to date changes that have occurred and provides
with taxonomic changes was to provide a additional information on many species
supplementon CD-ROM. occurring in Native trees andshrubs of
The CD-ROM contains a numberoffiles south-eastern Australia. Each name
which are listed on the back cover of the change can be verified by the reader as
case: reference to the author of the name
1. READ ME FIRST which provides rec- change and to thejournal article inwhich
ommendations formosteffective use. the change is described is provided with
2. INTRODUCTION where the author a full reference given under References
explains what brought about the need for in Part B. This highlights the great atten-
Vol. 124 (1) 2007 43
Software Review
tion to detail that Leon Costermans is hyperlinks makes navigation between sec-
known for and which makes this CD tions and points ofinterest extremely con-
such avaluableresource. venient. Familiarity with Acrobat Reader,
• Part B: ‘New’ species, new names for which is used by the CD, makes it even
‘old’ species and some additional more so. For example, one can simply
species. press on the ‘find’ icon (the one with the
• References. This includes links to a vari- binoculars) and locate any word. The read
etyofuseful websites, ideal forthe unini- me first file gives some basic instructions
tiated in particular. on using Acrobat Reader as well as the
• Photographs. These are ofa high resolu- suggestions for most effective use ofthe
tion and can be enlarged greatly to allow CD, so following the author’s instructions
critical comparison ofkey identification isadvised.
characteristics with specimens under The Supplement to Native trees and
investigation. This cannot be done with shrubs ofsouth-easternAustralia: changes
thephotographs in abook. and additional species is highly recom-
• Map which includesall localities referred mended to anyone with an interest in iden-
to in the supplement, a most useful tifying plants and, at the recommended
resource. retail price of $25.00, no-one should be
• Listofbotanicalauthors without it!
This CD will become as popular as the
book to which it is a supplement. It is Maria Gibson
extremely user friendly, even to the ‘CD- PlantEcologyResearchUnit,SchoolofLifeand
uRsOeMthneovCicDe’.inTshiempaluethotreremxsp.laTinhsehmoawntyo 221 BEunvriwrooondmeHnitgahlwSacyi,enBcuers,woDoeda,kiVnicUtnoirviears3i1t2y5,
Treatment of Eucalypts in Supplement to native trees
andshrubs ofsouth-easternAustralia
Eucalyptus taxonomy is complex and fluid omy and with the accompanying literature,
to the extent that ill-informed observers I can attestthattheauthorisaccurate in his
have to deal with at least three versions of information. However, 1 must point out
eucalyptsofsouth-easternAustraliaand itis that he has not dealt adequately with the
little wonder that they become confused, taxonomy of the contentious Eucalyptus
particularly with the many changes of silvestris. There are actually three versions
names and statuses and with the regular ofits status: that it is a species in its own
flow ofnew taxa. To his credit the author right; that it is a form of E. microcarpa\
has not attempted to impose his own ver- and that it is a form ofE. odorata. Whilst
sionofthetaxonomyoftheeucalyptson his he has noted information given by the
readers. Instead he has meticulously pre- original authorand in the Flora ofVictoria
sented the entire range of adjustments, (1997), he hasnot madereferencesto more
including concise accounts of the most recent perspectives such as those by
recently described new taxa, and, in effect, Nicolle (1997), Eucalypts ofSouthAustra-
taken a somewhat neutral position. His lia, and Ross and Walsh (2003), A Census
approach has provided an alternative per- of The Vascular Plants of Victoria,
spective to the sometimes biased books and Seventh Edition. With regard to the latter,
CDswhich tend to peddle a particulartaxo- this is the Melbourne Herbarium’s official
nomicphilosophy. Hisfieldguideoffersthe accountofVictoria’seucalypts.
opportunity for the users to form their own A second concern has been that the use
opinions regarding the taxonomic merits of of photographs of herbarium specimens
the various contentious taxa. It also pro- rather than line-drawings as supplements
vides an important level of continuity of may decrease the visual quality of the
whathasnowbecomeabotanical icon. information provided. The practice of
As one who is thoroughly conversant using photographs ofherbarium specimens
with the recent trends in eucalyptus taxon- has become common in recent taxonomic
44 The Victorian Naturalist