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The WATTLE ver. 3 key (which is also available as an App) enables users to identify wattle plants that occur anywhere in Australia or elsewhere in the world where they are grown. It includes 1,057 formally described species of Acacia, plus several hybrids and informal taxa of this genus. It also includes two species of Acaciella, four species of Senegalia and nine species of Vachellia that occur in Australia and which were previously included in Acacia.

WATTLE ver. 3 builds upon two previous versions of WATTLE, namely, the original version that was published in 2001 on CD and version 2 that was published in 2014 on the Lucidcentral website. Compared with earlier versions, which are no longer available, WATTLE ver. 3 contains more species, updated coding and new or updated descriptions for each taxon, together with photographs and improved distribution maps.

At the heart of WATTLE is a powerful Lucid identification key which helps people of all ages to quickly and accurately identify species. The key is a truly random access tool, one that allows users to enter, in any order, the characteristics of a specimen that they wish to identify. The key then lists those species possessing the characteristics nominated, rejecting those that do not match the criteria entered. By progressively providing additional characteristics about the unknown specimen, users can narrow the search, eventually ending up with just one or a few species.

The key provides context-relevant information (text and images) that assist users to correctly interpret the characteristics of the plant they are attempting to identify. For those who want information about the species that has been identified, WATTLE ver. 3 provides fact sheets containing illustrations, detailed descriptions, photographs and maps that can be accessed directly. Hyperlinks provide simple navigation between fact sheets of related or similar species.

WATTLE ver. 3 is jointly published by the Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS), Canberra, The Western Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (formerly CALM) and Identic Pty Ltd, Queensland. WATTLE complements the Flora of Australia (www.ausflora.org.au).

How to cite this key

Maslin, B.R. (coordinator) (2018). WATTLE, Interactive Identification of Australian Acacia. Version 3. (Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra; Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Perth; Identic Pty. Ltd., Brisbane).

Acknowledgements

A project of this size could not have been undertaken without the generous assistance and technical skills of many people over the past 18 years. This help has been provided by many taxonomic and other specialists, artists, volunteers, government agencies (State, Territory and Commonwealth) and the private sector, and this assistance is gratefully acknowledged here. Specific acknowledgement to those who have provided assistance is included in the previous versions of WATTLE.

We also extend our thanks to the many people across the country who have collected specimens and provided other information essential to the taxonomic work that underpins both WATTLE and the Flora of Australia projects.

Images

For line drawings and photographs, the name(s) of people who created these images, together with an appropriate copyright statement, is associated with each image.

Descriptions

In a majority of cases the descriptions presented here are reformatted versions (updated where appropriate) of those published in the 2001 Flora of Australia treatment of Acacia (book volumes 11A and 11B). The updated Acacia descriptions are now available through the Flora of Australia website (www.ausflora.org.au). New descriptions have been prepared for taxa described subsequent to publication of the Flora volumes. In all cases the contributing authors’ name(s) are shown at the bottom of each description.

Maps

Distribution maps were generated via Fact Sheet Fusion using the Atlas of Living Australia spatial portal web services. These maps were generated in July 2018. The data points include only those which were based on vouchered specimens extracted from the Australasian Virtual Herbarium (AVH), with records marked as cultivated being excluded. However some distribution anomalies may exist on the maps, for example, where cultivated specimens were not recorded as cultivated in the data records, or where data points were based on incorrectly identified specimens or where geocodes were incorrect. To view the latest distribution records please visit the ALA or the AVH.

Software used

Lucid v3.6 was used to construct and manage the identification key.

Fact Sheet Fusion v2.05.125 was used to manage the images and data and create fact sheets for both the web and mobile application.

The WATTLE app (Android and iOS) was created via the Lucid Mobile Platform.

For more information on these tools please visit www.lucidcentral.org

To submit feedback for this app, or to make a bug report, please visit apps.lucidcentral.org/support/

The app splash screen shows the species Acacia wilhelmiana.