• News, Additions, and Enhancements
• Recognition for the PLANTS Project

News, Additions, and Enhancements

07/23/2008 - Distribution Documentation Added as Mouseover Text to PLANTS

National Information Technology Center staff added mouseover text documentation for PLANTS distribution data to the PLANTS state distribution map. That’s right, no more guessing where the distributions come from! On any PLANTS Profile distribution map, roll your mouse over any state where a plant occurs and the documentation for that distribution appears in a text box. Documentation is segregated into three types: literature reports, herbarium specimens, and observations from the PLANTS Distribution Update. PLANTS county maps will soon show documentation in an identical manner.

Additionally, all this documentation is now shown at the Data Source and Documentation link at the top of each profile along with other references for that plant that are used at PLANTS. You can now sort the documentation to easily see how state distributions are supported, and copy this for future reference. As always, if you think our information can be improved, please Contact Us.

01/01/2008 – PLANTS Major Data Update Completed

National Plant Data Center staff completed a significant review of PLANTS names and relationships, and made tens of thousands of revisions and additions. We appreciate the help of several expert taxonomists in this work, none more than Dr. Kanchi Gandhi (International Plant Names Index) and Dr. John Wiersema (USDA ARS Germplasm Resources Information Network). Chief among these improvements, we:

• Corrected hundreds of cryptic scientific name misspellings, and evaluated orthographic variants to ensure the correct variant was accepted under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature rules.
• Corrected thousands of scientific name authorities, and made upwards of 30,000 revisions to author abbreviations in accordance with the international standard, Authors of Plant Names (APN). Currently, most individual author names that occur more than six times in the PLANTS database of almost 91,000 records have been evaluated and converted to the APN standard. This work will continue as time allows. We also looked carefully at Latin basionyms and basionym epithets to be sure that authors were being used consistently among these related names.
• Ran dozens of internal consistency and data integrity checks involving—among other things—assignment of synonyms and use of formal Latin emendations. 
• Identified and populated data gaps wherever possible.

01/01/2008 – PLANTS Includes Canada to Extend North American Coverage

We are pleased to announce that through the generosity of Dr. Luc Brouillet (Université de Montréal) and his Canadian colleagues, we added thousands of missing Canadian taxa with their attributes and distribution, and thereby restored the integrity of PLANTS data for North America north of Mexico. Included are the French territory of St. Pierre and Miquelon, and the Danish province of Greenland, the largest island in the world. This phytogeographic unification will make it easier for floristic and monographic workers to use PLANTS, since taxonomic groups are now complete for temperate North America, and important northern areas are fully represented. Collaboration and coordination with the Flora of North America project will be enhanced. NRCS field staff and other agency managers will have a fuller appreciation of many important conservation plants.

Please note that integration of this Canadian data set was difficult because of unavoidable taxonomic conflicts, so undoubtedly some mistakes remain. Please bear with us as we identify and correct them, and Contact Us if you see problems.

01/01/2008 – PLANTS Native Status Data Completely Revised and Expanded

We improved information about plant native status by breaking the PLANTS Floristic Area or PFA (which is North America, and all U.S. territories and protectorates) into regional jurisdictions, each of which now has its own Native Status value. We also evaluated and corrected many data points, and filled in all but a few values that remain blank for problematic species and places. This improvement is significant because the PFA is so vast that many plants are native in some parts and introduced in others; we are now better able to illustrate this phenomenon and provide more accurate information. For example, many North American natives are troublesome Hawaiian weeds, and previously these plants were considered native throughout their range.  These plants are now shown as native in North America, and introduced to Hawaii. The new Native Status jurisdictions are:

01/01/2008 – Alaska County-level Distribution Added to PLANTS

With the help of Dr. Alan Batten (University of Alaska – Fairbanks Herbarium), we added plant specimen documentation for Alaska boroughs that totaled about 90,000 records. PLANTS now lacks county distribution for only one state, Maryland.

01/01/2008 – PLANTS Downloads Enhanced

We improved the data structure for all the PLANTS downloads so that the information is easier to use and import, and we placed a new download link on every results page so query results are readily available in tabular form.

01/01/2008 – PLANTS Identification - New Gymnosperm Key and Grass Keys for All 50 States!

New interactive keys are now available for all U.S. gymnosperm species and all grass (Poaceae) species in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These complement our widely-used U.S. wetland monocots keys.

All are freely available for use online, or for downloading for use with or without a web connection. In addition to dramatically optimizing the identification process, these keys are very rich sources of descriptive data. For example, nearly 300 character states are recorded for every species of grass. These key data are free and can be used in other applications. Each species in the key also directly links to the appropriate profile page on PLANTS, which includes images, common names, distribution maps, synonyms, wetland indicator status, native status, wildlife habitat values, and other useful information.

Monocot data were developed cooperatively by the Missouri Botanical Garden and the USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center, and were compiled from numerous sources by Dr. David Bogler. The gymnosperm data were developed cooperatively by Oregon State University and compiled from several sources by Stephen C. Meyers and collaborators.

11/01/2007 – New Species Added to PLANTS Characteristics and VegSpec

We added 182 new species, most from Alaska and Puerto Rico, to this important data set of expanded ecological characteristics. This brings to 2185 the total number of species covered, plus an additional 398 cultivars, for a total of 2583 plants. In additional to query-driven access you can also choose from the entire list, or access this information through our stalwart Advanced Search.

10/24/2007 – Traditional Ecological Knowledge Technical Note No. 2 Released

Technical Note TN.190.PM.2 entitled “Indigenous Uses, Management, and Restoration of Oaks in the Far Western United States” is now available.  For more than 9,000 years before the arrival of Europeans, native peoples in the West led lives enmeshed with the oaks that surrounded them. Oaks and hands interacted in myriad ways as people went about their daily routines of gathering, tending, and preparing oak parts: acorns, bark, leaves, and branches. Oaks were important to human cultures for countless purposes in addition to food, including basketry, regalia, household utensils, structures, tools, and weapons. This Technical Note is also available through the NRCS eDirectives system under Technical Notes – Title 190 Ecological Sciences – Plant Materials.

11/13/2006 - PLANTS Identification-Wetland Monocots Key Data Available for Testing

A draft key for U.S. wetland monocots is available for testing on-line or by downloading the application. This automated plant key lets you identify the monocots known to occur in wetlands using multiple plant characters simultaneously.

7/12/2006 - Image Gallery Remodel

The PLANTS Image Gallery has been redesigned and enhanced. Search the Gallery by Artist, Image Location, State Distribution, Copyright Status, and more! Improved View and Sort options let you look at 15, 25, 50, or 100 thumbnail images per page. Best of all, synonym names are searched, too. Try Aster or Scirpus to see how this works.

7/12/2006 - Web Site Modernization Update

In addition to the remodeled Gallery, we have updated Invasive and Noxious Weeds to the USDA standard.

3/7/2006 - Major Data Update

PLANTS had added 8000 new names representing 4500 new accepted taxa and 3500 new synonyms. Many of these are vascular plants of the U.S., and most of the rest are agriculturally important. The U.S. vascular flora has been completely revised with updated nomenclature, plant distribution, growth habit, duration, and Native Status. PLANTS now has county distribution data for 48 states! We appreciate the help of the Biota of North America Program in this endeavor. To the best of our knowledge all legal status data are also current, including noxious weed status, threatened and endangered lists, and wetland indicator status. Please let us know otherwise.

3/7/2006 - 30,000+ Images Now at PLANTS

Due to the generosity of many donors, PLANTS now contains over 30,000 plant photographs and line drawings. Thank you! We can always use more pictures, so please contact PLANTS if you have image sets to contribute.

12/19/2005 - Web Site Modernization

We are modernizing PLANTS to fit the new USDA Web standard, which is part of a broader USDA regulation called Web Site Development and Maintenance. This initiative is designed to ensure a standard, consistent, “look and feel” for all USDA Web sites and Web-based applications, while encouraging innovation and minimizing constraints on agencies’ Web-based presentations. A consistent appearance and logic to all USDA Web pages makes it easier to find information quickly and reduces confusion. This new USDA Web standard is set forth in the USDA Web Style Guide, a precise document that governs layout, appearance, accessibility, and usability guidelines, among other things. To date the PLANTS home page, Name Search results page, State Search, Classification Report, Threatened & Endangered, and PLANTS Profiles have been updated, with the rest to follow.

4/1/2005 - New Images at PLANTS

Seed Photos - The National Plant Data Center (NPDC) integrated about 850 new photographs of seeds from the U.S. National Seed Herbarium into PLANTS. This is only a portion of nearly 8,000 that eventually will be posted. The seeds are being photographed by Steve Hurst in collaboration with the USDA Agricultural Research Service Systematic Botany and Mycology Lab. To see a sample of Steve’s fine work, view the profiles for any of the following: Picea glauca (PIGL), Fritillaria camschatcensis (FRCA5), or Rhus aromatica (RHAR4).

Moss photos - Michael Lüth provided 2265 excellent new moss photos that cover 603 species of our moss flora. To see a sample, view the profiles for any of the following: Polytrichum pallidisetum (POPA29), Racomitrium canescens (RACA11), or Pohlia obtusifolia (POOB6). You can see the entire list by using the Advanced Search: select “Moss” under 2. Taxonomy: Category, and select “Only with images” in 5. Additional Information in PLANTS: Image Gallery. These are the first bryophyte images available at PLANTS, and we would like to expand this coverage. If you can help, please contact the NPDC.

4/1/2005 - New Thumbnail Distribution Map Icons Provide Legal Status

We added legal status icons to the thumbnail distribution maps on each profile. Now you can see at a glance if taxa are listed as noxious or endangered or have wetland status, and can use this information in conjunction with existing indicators for image availability and Native Status. At a glance you know if it’s a weedy wetland plant, an endangered upland plant, or an exotic but harmless plant that we have a picture for. Try Solidago (SOLID) or Viburnum (VIBUR) to see how it works.

3/31/2005 - New Plants Added to Characteristics Data and Vegspec

We have added 45 plants chosen for their usefulness in riparian conservation to VegSpec and the Characteristics section of PLANTS. For examples at PLANTS see Annona glabra (ANGL4), Cyrilla racemiflora (CYRA), Halesia diptera (HADI3), or Symplocos tinctoria (SYTI). This information was developed and verified by John McCoy of the USGS National Wetlands Research Center . Also, a Riparian Buffer practice has been added to VegSpec.

4/1/2005 - Traditional Ecological Knowledge Technical Note Released

The National Plant Data Center ethnobotany office recently released a technical note called Traditional Ecological Knowledge: An Important Facet in Natural Resources Conservation (PDF 2.5Mb) . This publication, the first in a series, highlights the traditional ecological knowledge acquired by indigenous and local peoples over hundreds of years through direct experience and contact with the environment. The publication uses examples from California to provide step-by-step guidance on how to explore our rich human past to reconstruct historic land use and management practices in different landscapes. Land managers and restorationists are discovering that ancient cultural practices—burning, pruning, thinning, and weeding of native plants—are not passé. These techniques apply directly to the restoration and management of our natural resources and biodiversity today.

10/13/04 - Legal Status Extended to Related Taxa

We have achieved a first by extending legal status to related taxa at our Plant Profiles. A hierarchical plant classification dictates that status applied at one taxonomic level often applies automatically to another, yet this relationship is usually ignored when presenting legal status information. For example, the binomial Chorizanthe robusta is listed as federally endangered, and that means that any of its varieties or subspecies also share endangered status. We now display this reality by extending endangered status to the two varieties ( robusta and hartwegii ) that make up that binomial. Likewise, the entire Bermudagrass genus Cynodon is listed as a noxious weed in California, and now if you visit the profiles for any Bermudagrass species, e.g., Cynodon dactylon , you will see that even though not listed per se, it is considered noxious in California by virtue of the generic listing. We also have extended legal status from synonyms up through intervening infraspecific taxa, so that if a synonym of a subspecies is listed we now show that status at the accepted binomial profile (see, for example, Viburnum opulus ). While this binomial is not specifically listed, its native variety (var. americana) is protected in two states, as is the variety’s synonym Viburnum trilobum in Pennsylvania.

The practical benefit is that you can visit any plant profile and grasp immediately the complex and nuanced protections and prohibitions for that plant without having to ferret out this information by checking related taxa and synonyms. This system also streamlines data management since we can maintain status lists exactly as they exist legally, and extend legal status appropriately to related taxa by careful programming. We thank the NRCS Information Technology Center for that!

Please note that the legal status lists that are available from modules such as Wetlands, T&E, and Invasive and Noxious occur exactly as they were published; we have extended their status to relatives only at the Plant Profiles.

4/12/2004 - Introduced Plants & Images Now Highlighted for Better Navigation

We added an image availability icon to the thumbnail distribution maps on each profile, and changed the thumbnail map color to gray for introduced taxa. Now you can more easily compare plants since you can see at a glance if there’s an image to view that might help confirm a potential identification. You can also quickly grasp the prevalence of introduced taxa in each genus, and the U.S. regions where they are concentrated.

3/1/2004 - State Noxious Weed Data Completely Revised

We have carefully canvassed available information on state-designated noxious weeds and completely overhauled our data. We now have the most accurate information about U.S. regulated noxious weeds available anywhere (at least for the next week or two!). There has been a recent upsurge in awareness about the invasive species crisis in the United States, and many more jurisdictions have passed laws regulating noxious weeds. Furthermore, the lists are being modified so quickly that it is difficult to stay abreast of changes. If you notice that some of this information is out of date, please contact our botanist or the webmaster.

1/1/2004 - Advanced Search Revised and Expanded

The Advanced Search, our potent search engine, just got even better. We added a number of new fields including PLANTS Invasive status, State T/E (threatened and endangered) Status, and ITIS TSN (Integrated Taxonomic Information System taxonomic serial number). We divided images into line drawings and photographs so that each may be searched separately. We added the ability to enter multiple symbols in the symbol field so that you can now display an idiosyncratic list that has no search commonality, such as your five favorite tree species or the ten worst exotic plants in your area. And we fixed some minor problems with the field order in the download and corrected errors in the search engine programming, particularly those associated with searches employing scientific name ranks and author ranks.

5/22/2003 - Plant Materials Publications Fully Searchable

We have added a new module, Plant Materials Publications. Like Plant Guides and Fact Sheets, this is another successful collaboration between the National Plant Data Center and Plant Materials. PM Pubs allows bibliographic searches of many of the publications produced by Plant Materials Centers and Plant Materials Specialists. These publications deal with the selection, establishment, growth, management, and uses of the hundreds of plants—especially NRCS Improved Conservation Releases—that NRCS uses for land conservation activities. About 400 publications are now searchable, and we expect this number to grow quickly.

4/24/2003 - Image Display Completely Revamped, Now with Drawings

We have completely revamped our image display at the Plant Profiles, and added line drawings to the Gallery. Using a new image processing procedure developed by the NRCS Information Technology Center, for most images we now produce a large and publication image that are accessible from the standard image displayed at the profile. For smaller images we will produce only three versions: thumbnail, standard, and publication. For a few legacy pictures we will continue to offer only the thumbnail and standard sizes until we replace these with better originals.

We have also posted all the drawings from Britton and Brown’s classic Illustrated Flora of the Northern States and Canada, as well as the grass drawings from another classic long out of print, Hitchcock’s Manual of the Grasses of the United States. Coupled with a large contribution from former NRCS employee Gary Monroe, in less than a week we have quadrupled our plant pictures, which now number nearly 16,000. Please help make this number grow by donating your high quality image sets to PLANTS!

8/15/2002 - T&E Module Improved, Now With State Status

The PLANTS T&E module now provides access to state as well as federally protected plants, and in a new flexible search format. Now you can view any of the following kinds of T&E plant lists, each with names linked to plant profiles:

• The federal list
• The federal list for one or more states
• A state list
• A state list for multiple states
• A federal and state combination list

We also provide links to state and federal resource agencies with more information about laws and protection efforts. Use the new module to learn more about our endangered flora or help with your conservation planning and research.

7/15/2002 - Distribution Update Module Unveiled

The Distribution Update Module allows you, our users, to become direct participants in the PLANTS database by sharing information about where plants grow in the U.S. Now you can report a population or observation of plants at just the county level, or more precisely using a Geographical Information System (GIS), Latitude/Longitude measurements, or Township Range & Section coordinates. Reports can be documented by voucher specimens, the literature, or personal observations. The new automated system saves your personal information so you can provide frequent updates if you like, and also requests information that allows us to better evaluate each update. You can also upload photos or drawings that aid or confirm your identification. Each submission is examined (validated) by us and other floristic botanists before being added to PLANTS.

The Distribution Update was designed partly to provide a fast way to incorporate new information about invasive and weedy plants since their distributions often change quite quickly. We hope this new module will be especially useful for state noxious weed coordinators and other invasive plant specialists.

5/1/2002 - Two improvements were made to the Plant Profile

Thumbnail maps. We have vertically integrated each Plant Profile with thumbnail distribution maps for subordinate taxa, and clickable links for higher-ranking groups. This lets you move easily between the profiles for closely related plants and compare their attributes, and the thumbnail distribution maps help you narrow the possibilities geographically and also provide a quick phytogeographical understanding of each group. Each genus now displays a thumbnail distribution map of all species within that genus, and a link to other genera in that plant family. Each species shows thumbnail maps for its subspecies or varieties, and links to genus and family. Clicking on a thumbnail map will take you directly to the Plant Profile for that plant. You can also right-click on a thumbnail to save it on your computer, then use it in documents. The updated Plant Profile also provides quick access to all images of the relevant genus that are in the Gallery. We also added the Classification hierarchy to each Profile for easy reference, and softened the color scheme of the distribution maps. Check out the Plant of the Week to see these new features.

Printer-Friendly Version of Plant Profiles. Click on the "Printer-Friendly Version" link in the lower part of the top box of each Plant Profile to open a new browser window with a condensed version of the profile. This version reduces white space and removes links and other information that aren't relevant in a printed document. Try it with the Plant of the Week!

10/16/2001 - Four significant improvement are unveiled:

A new Advanced Search allows users to extract PLANTS data using virtually any combination of criteria, and display or download the information. This complex tool has been masterfully executed by staff at the NRCS Information Technology Center. We expect the results will satisfy our users' requests for customized PLANTS information

Now there's no need to sort through general search results trying to find the best Web sites for more information about our plants! PLANTS has developed new targeted links to Other Species Accounts and Images by working with helpful colleagues in various states and agencies who offer superior plant information or pictures. Just go directly from a PLANTS profile to a similar page with more information or photos of the same plant.

We have set up new links to the county-level maps of several Web-based floras. Now you can seamlessly view these maps for California, Florida, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin. You can access their maps from the PLANTS state distribution map available on the Profile pages. We're grateful to our cooperators for help in establishing these links.

We have moved to a new, more powerful server that should better accommodate our ever-increasing user community and the increased functionality of PLANTS.

03/15/2001

The improved Gallery has more search criteria including Native Status and a complete list of Growth Habits, and the text lists now indicate the number of photos of each plant.

02/15/2001 - Recent improvements and updates for Version 3.1 include the following:

A new Classification Report lets you see each plant in its phylogenetic place as indicated by the higher classification used in PLANTS. From there you can jump to Plant Profiles, or download your chosen portion of the hierarchy.

A new Crop Nutrient Tool estimates N, P, and K nutrient removal by various crops. These estimates facilitate calculation of nutrient balance sheets which are employed in the design of animal waste management systems. The Crop Nutrient Tool automates and augments the information that is currently in Chapter 6 of the NRCS Agricultural Waste Management Field Handbook.

A new Alternative Crops Module offers an easy way to learn more about crops suitable for small scale farming by limited-resource farmers, small landowners, and homeowners. Search by crop type and state to see what may work in your area.

Plant Guides and Fact Sheets have been consolidated into one location and you can choose them from a single list reached from the green menu bar, the Topics box, or Quick Jump. We’ve added many more, too, so that 393 species are covered in 262 Plant Guides and 159 Fact Sheets. We’ve also converted them to convenient document and .pdf formats. Plant Guides and Fact Sheets are a cooperative effort between the National Plant Data Center and the NRCS Plant Materials Program.

PLANTS now provides a new liverwort checklist for all the accepted liverwort names in North America! We’re grateful to Ray Stotler and Barbara Crandall-Stotler for this compilation. Synonyms will be available soon, perhaps by mid 2001.

Led by colleagues at the NRCS Information Technology Center, PLANTS installed a new server to speed our web service. Further performance enhancements are coming soon.

We have refined growth habit display at the Plant Profiles to eliminate redundancy and better conform with the Federal Geographic Data Committee standard.

5/2000

Over the last few months PLANTS has been improved inside and out. Some of the new or upgraded features include:

PLANTS has expanded the Gallery with 2,800 new photographs generously donated from the Smithsonian Institute Department of Botany and from Jim Stasz of the Maryland-National Park Capital Park & Planning Commission.

Check out 30 new Plant Guides available via the Culturally Significant module!

Federal Threatened and Endangered status as determined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been completely updated and is available through the T&E module.

A new invasive list is now available. The new list is based on several authoritative references and each plant on it is cross referenced to the various lists.

The Excluded and Anomolous names have been completely updated.

The Plant Profile now displays each plant’s group so users can tell at a glance if a plant is a lichen, moss, gymnosperm, monocot, and so forth.

Plant Profile Origins for the mosses, lichens, and vascular plants are updated and PLANTS has added a new category—Cultivated or not in the US—for species that are not native or naturalized in the United States.

Access to county-level data has been streamlined so that users can choose states to display either from a list or from the map.

If a NameSearch or Checklist Search reveals only one accepted plant, PLANTS now bypasses the intermediate list and takes you straight to the profile for that plant.

Hybrids are now displayed in a more sophisticated fashion along with their parent taxa, and question marks now identify the dubious taxa.

9/1999

The National PLANTS database Web site unveils a completely new appearance and fresh utility. The site has a cleaner, brighter look and the pages should load faster. New features include Culturally Significant Plants, Quick Jump, an Invasive and Noxious Plants module, an easier Name Search search routine, and more! Here are just some of the improvements and additions:

Vascular and lichen checklists have been completely revised. The core vascular plant data set had not been completely updated since 1991, and the last lichen revision was three years ago.

PLANTS now offers county-level distribution for 21 states, and state-level vascular plant distributions have been completely updated.

A new Culturally Significant Plants module offers a growing number of fact sheets about plants used by different cultures within the US and its territories.

A new Invasive and Noxious Plants module offers many thousands of links to information about invasive weed control and management, ecology, and identification for nearly every invasive plant in the US. Lists of federal and state noxious weeds are now available as well.

VegSpec data, comprised of about 100 plant use attributes for 2,500 species and cultivars, are now integrated into the Plant Profiles for each species.

Easy access to hundreds of plant fact sheets is now provided via the Topics heading.

The new PLANTS Name Search routine makes it easier to find the plant you’re looking for.

Links to plant information of many types have been completely revised, and are now categorized for easier access.

4/24/1999

A bug was fixed in the state wetland reports, which are now alphabetized and completely accurate.

3/1999

PLANTS web site usage continues to rise! PLANTS is now consulted by 60,000 users each month.

11/1/1998

Plants was moved to a new, faster server. You should have seen the result in faster database results.

10/15/1998

400 new photographs were added to the PLANTS Image Gallery.

Recognition for the PLANTS Project

1/1/2004 - PLANTS Judged Top 50 Among Innovations in American Government

The Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government has selected the PLANTS Web site as one of the Top 50 innovative programs in federal government. The competition is government-wide, and over 700 programs and initiatives were originally considered. Innovations in American Government seeks to restore public confidence in the effectiveness of government and to expand the use of exciting and innovative government programs.

03/12/01

PLANTS was awarded the Star Rating from the Awesome Library, a resource for K-12 education. Star Awards are given to the top Web site within each educational topic.

10/31/00

The PLANTS database was recognized by GovExec.com as one of the top ten U.S. Government Web sites. For details please see Best Feds on the Web.

6/10/98

The PLANTS team was awarded the USDA Secretary's Group Achievement award for the Plants project.