Table Of Content

SoftwareReview EUCLID Eucalypts ofAustralia by Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research Publisher: CSIROPublishing, Collingwood, Australia, 2006 (3rdedition). ISBN064309335. RRP$120.00 EUCLID is incredibly easy to use, mak- and on the identification ofeucalypts. In ing it ideal forbeginnersto eucalyptidenti- the latter section, the importance ofbeing fication as well as for those more experi- abletorecognisewhetheratreeiscultivated enced. A short ten minute tutorial explains or occurs in a particular area naturally is how to use the program and is invaluable explained. If it is cultivated, identification for the novice, but those familiar with cannot use ‘geographic region’ as a charac- Lucid keys may find the tutorial helpful to ter state when using EUCLID in trying to makebestuseofthekey. key out a species. The section on ‘inspec- Thehomepageallowsonetochooseto: tion ofspecies’ is more substantial and pro- 1. learn abouteucalypts, vides important information on many euca- 2. identify a eucalypt, lypt features, providing essential under- 3. browsespecies information or standing that will aid identification. ‘A 4. findoutalittlemoreabout EUCLID. brief history of Eucalyptus, Angophora In ‘learning about eucalypts’ there is a and Corymbia' provides understanding of short introduction, which explains that the underlying systematics, and shows the EUCLID includes the long standing genus importance of including these genera in Angophoraandthemorerecentlydescribed EUCLID Eucalypts ofAustralia. This sec- Corymbia. It is followed by briefnotes on tion is followed byadiscussion ofthe evo- the evolution and distribution ofeucalypts lutionary relationships of eucalypts and hybridisation. ThirdEdition Clickingon ‘identifya eucalypt’ opens to a window with four smaller windows EUCLID labelled with ‘characters available’, ‘character states chosen’, ‘taxa remaining’ or Eucalypts ofAustralia ‘taxadiscarded’. The ‘characters available’ window provides a list of 120 characters that can be selected to describe the specimen being identified. Each character has one or more states. Double clicking on the state ofchoice will make it appear in the character states chosen window. EUCLID then filters out any taxa that do not have this characteristic and moves them from the ‘taxaremaining’ tothe ‘taxa discarded’ window. As successively more and more character states are chosen, only one taxon (occasionally two) eventually will be left in the ‘taxa remaining’ window. Presum- ing no mistake has been made in character states chosen, the last remaining taxon is the species being identified. To determine whether this is correct, the specimen should be compared to its description, which can be accessed by clicking on the 344 The Victorian Naturalist SoftwareReview information icon forthat species. Alsopro- could use an older name that one is famil- vided for each species are a briefnomen- iar with to gain information on the species clatural history and images of the whole and, conveniently, catch up with the name plant as well as close-ups of significant changeatthesametime. characteristics. A link is provided enabling ‘Finding out a little more about onetojumpto anetsearch shouldone wish EUCLID’ provides such things as contact tofind outmoreaboutthespecies. details of those involved in developing The photographs are ofexcellent quality. EUCLID, but appropriate links allow one There are over 9000 images, with more toJumptotheothersections ofthesystem. than 2200 new images not included in the The back cover of the DVD states second edition. There are a total of 894 ‘EUCLID is the definitive electronic iden- taxa, 204 morethan occurred in the second tification and information system now cov- edition. Also new to the third edition is ering all 894 eucalypts ofAustralia in the inclusion ofthe flowering times, type pho- one publication’. It definitely is! This tographs for many eucalypt names and amount of information would be cumber- comparative notes for discrimination of some indeed in book form. EUCLID is speciesin many largeeucalyptgroups. easy to navigate even ifyou have rarely Clicking on ‘browse species information’ used a computer, and the helpful informa- opens to a list of all species included in tion iconsandconveniently linkedglossary EUCLID. Clicking on any species brings allows identification of specimens even if up its related fact sheet with descriptions, one’s botanical skills are almost non-exis- images and nomenclatural history. This is tent. EUCLID is a must-buy for any useful ifthe useralready knows the identi- botanist, ecologist, forester, land manager, ty ofthe specimen and wants further infor- educator, conservationistand student inter- mation on it, or believes he or she knows ested in eucalypts. At $120.00 it is expen- the specimen’s identity but would like to sivebutwellworth it. double check. A useful component ofthis section is the inclusion of ‘miscellaneous’ Maria Gibson names, such as synonyms that are no PlantEcologyResearchUnit SchoolofLifeandEnvironmentalSciences longer in use. Thus, ifa species has under- DeakinUniversity,221 BurwoodHighway gone anamechange,which ishighly likely Burwood,Victoria3125 consideringthe numberofrelativelyrecent taxonomic reviews ofthe eucalypts, one Australian Natural History Medallion Trust Fund Donationsweregratefully received during2007 fromthefollowing; Andrew Isles $1000 Mrs Phyllis Western $10 MrJohn Poppins $20 MrJohn Mitchell $50 BurnieFieldNaturalistClub Inc $20 DrGary Presland $20 The Royal SocietyofVictoria Inc $200 The FieldNaturalistsClubofVictoria $200 Ifyou would like to contribute to this fund, which supports the Australian Natural History Medallion, donations should be sent to: The Treasurer. Field Naturalists Club ofVictoria, Locked Bag 3, PO Blackburn, Victoria 3130. Cheques should be made payable to the ‘Australian Natural History Medallion Trust Fund’. Themedallionisawardedannuallytoapersonwho isconsideredtohavemadethemostsignifi- cantcontributiontotheunderstandingofAustraliannaturalhistoryinthelasttenyears. 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