FloraBase - the Western Australian Flora

Brief description

Western Australia is recognised as possessing one of the most diverse and unique floras in the world. The isolated south-western corner of Western Australia, with its mediterranean climate, is considered amongst the world's 34 plant biodiversity hotspots. This website delivers the latest authoritative information about the Western Australian flora in an accessible and interactive manner. Information is presented in a thematic way, so that users focused on particular components of the State's flora, such as the conservation taxa or naturalised weeds can readily keep up to date. Users can also find information by browsing or searching the site to explore their own special interests. FloraBase provides botanical information on all Western Australian vascular plant families, genera and species as well as identification tools, photos, maps, a database of botanical literature and (for registered users) the collecting details of over 722,671 vouchered herbarium specimens from across the State. A database of Robert Brown's Australian botanical specimens is also available. Western Australia hosts representatives from over 210 vascular plant families, the largest families in terms of species number being the Fabaceae, Myrtaceae, Proteaceae, Poaceae and Asteraceae. Endemism in the largest families generally ranges between 50% and 80% indicating both the significant biodiversity of woody perennials and the unique nature of Western Australia's flora. Further floristic information is available here, including details of the newly adopted systematic sequence of families.