This recently released app covers 1,270 species of Acacia and three other related genera.
The identification and naming of wattles was greatly simplified in 2001 with the publication on CD of an electronic (Lucid) identification key called WATTLE. Subsequently updated, this key was made available on the web in 2014. Now available as an app, it is the result of many years’ research by a team of Australian botanists, headed by Bruce Maslin.
This Wattle app contains copious feature state drawings and notes and fact sheets, including over 8,000 images of wattles displayed in an updated Lucid Mobile Fact Sheet design.
There are two interesting facts about this Wattle app.
First, the app was released on Wattle Day (1st September): wattle, or specifically the golden wattle (Acacia pycnantha Benth.), is Australia’s National floral emblem. A Media Release provides further information about the app.
The second story concerns Libby Sandiford, a botanist in Western Australia. Coming across a wattle plant she did not recognise, Libby ran the plant specimen through the Lucid Wattle key and found, and later confirmed, that she had rediscovered Acacia Prismifolia, a species thought to be extinct, and not reported for more than 80 years.
