BSBI Label
Botanical Society of the British Isles
Introduction Taxa Literature Cytology Geographical Elements

BSBI taxon search form


Search options

Ranks [Help] Display taxa at rank:
 Family  Genus  Species
 Below Species

Names [Help] Display names of type:
 A1  A2  A3  AC  S  K

Search by taxon name [Help]
Family
Genus
Species

Include hybrids in search: Yes No
Include taxa of status: Native Alien Both


Sort options (select the output sequence)

Sort by:
 Latin name 
 English name
 Gaelic name
 Irish name
 Welsh name
 Systematic order (Kent No.)



Instructions for searching the BSBI taxon data

Search for data using taxon names[Search form]


To see information regarding a particular taxon, enter one or more words from the scientific name in which you are interested into the appropriate boxes of the form, i.e. generic names in the Genus box and specific epithets in the Species box.

 The results of the searches from each field will be combined using a logical AND. That is only searches that match ALL the criteria entered will be returned.

 N.B. Entries are NOT case sensitive.

 To look up Gentiana nivalis L., enter:

Gentiana in the Genus box, and nivalis in the Species box.

 Multiple search criteria can be entered into each box and should be separated by a comma. For each box, the values returned will be combined using a logical OR.

 To look up both Gentiana nivalis L. and Ajuga reptans L., enter:

Gentiana, Ajuga in the Genus box, and nivalis, reptans in the Species box.

Partial word searches can be performed by appending either a ']' or a '*' to the end of a search word. Thus if you entered a search value of Gent] in the Genus box all genera starting with "Gent" would be returned.

Selecting the ranks of taxa to display [Search form]

Restricting your output to taxa of specified rank [Search form]


You can opt to restrict the displayed results to taxa of specified rank only. There are four options to select from:
  1. Family
  2. Genus
  3. Species
  4. Below species
You may select one or more of the options simultaneously. By default none of the categories is selected, which means that taxa of any rank will be displayed in the results.

Please be aware that this is a filter on whole records, not an option to switch on and off elements within the displayed results. You must therefore take care when applying this filter. If you enter only a genus name in the Genus box and select only the Family rank filter then no hits will be returned.

Selecting the status of taxa to display[Search form]


Accepted names
You can opt to restrict the output by name type. You may select one or more of the accepted name categories, in which case only taxa of the type(s) selected will be displayed. If no selection is made all four categories will be displayed. The taxa are placed in one of four categories:

A1 Those in the List of Vascular Plants of the British Isles (1991) by D.H. Kent, updated to 2000.
A2 The extra taxa in the New Flora of the British Isles ed.2 (1997) by C.A. Stace.
A3 The taxa extra to the above 2 categories in both Alien Plants of the British Isles (1994) by E.J. Clement & M.C. Foster, and Alien Grasses of the British Isles (1996) by T.B. Ryves, E.J. Clement & M.C. Foster.
AC Charophytes.

Synonyms
By default, synonyms will NOT be included in the results displayed - that is records from taxa which are synonyms will NOT be included in the output. Please note that this is not a filter to switch on or off the display of synonym lists within records from accepted taxa. To achieve this you should use the Synonym options in the section "Output options".

Hybrids
If you wish to eliminate hybrids from the results displayed make sure that the No button has been selected. The Yes option is selected by default.

Status
You can elect to exclude native or alien taxa from your search results. To make sure that results from only native taxa are displayed make sure that the "Native" option of the Status button combination is selected. To display only alien taxa make sure that the "Alien" option is selected. To see the results from taxa regardless of their native status make sure that the "Both" option is selected. The "Both" option is selected by default.



Controlling the content of your output [Search form]


By default a basic set of information is returned by a query. There is a number of options that allow you to expand on this basic set. These are:
 
 
  1. Lists of synonyms (including basionyms) for accepted names.
  2. Basionyms only
  3. Authorities as published in Brummitt and Powell 1992
  4. The place of first publication of the taxon (protologue reference)*
  5. The Kent Number of the taxon
  6. The BRC number of the taxon
  7. The introduced status indicator, i.e. Native or Alien.
  8. English, Gaelic, Welsh and Irish vernacular names.
To include any of these in the output make sure that the Yes option in the button set associated with the desired option is selected. By default all the options are set to No.

*In cases where a name has been misapplied, the reference given relates to the first authority. Thus "Smith non Jones" will be followed by a literature reference by or to "Smith", but "auct. non Jones" will be followed by one by or to "Jones".



Specifying the sort order of your output [Search form]


There are six ways in which you can opt to sort the output results, these are:
 
 
  1. By Latin name
  2. By English name
  3. By Gaelic name
  4. By Irish name
  5. By Welsh name
  6. By Kent number (systematic order)

When selecting the sort order you should bear in mind that records with with no value specified for the sort criterion will sort last. These records will be sorted in latin name order.

References

  1. Brummitt, R.K. & Powell, C.E. 1992 Authors of Plant Names. Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.

  2.