Neil Huybregts has suggested that he would be interested in helping establish a wiki-style website describing indigenous plants, after looking at Wikipedia and finding that the entry for Kangaroo Grass only talked about its grazing uses.
The site could be hosted on the IFFA website. It could start with a straight list of species, with a page per species, which would be relatively easy to set up, then adding other pages summarizing the taxonomy, like pages for families etc. Is there any text in the public domain that we could use as a starting point, or which could be donated for the purpose? By its nature the resulting text probably could not be owned or copyrighted by anyone. What do you think? Post your ideas here.
Indigenous plant list
I have just completed descriptions for "all" the indigenous plants of the Shire of Yarra Ranges. I am involved in a project for the Shire to assist residents, and anyone else, to know about their local plants and assist with landscaping when they apply for planning permits. Ultimately this project will be uploaded onto the Shire's website, hopefully by the end of this year. Each plant is written as a stand alone fact sheet in simple language. This may be of interest to members. I am currently trying to take photos of all plants - no mean feat in a shire this large. Any help with photos would be appreciated.
Great idea. Setting up a
Great idea. Setting up a wiki is fairly straight forward, or we could create a book (as we have for the history of IFFA and code of practice).
We could use any kind of open-source license that would allow free re-use of material (providing appropriate acknowledgment). I guess wikipedia could be used as a starting off point, or just start building from the ground up?
Edit: Have set up a wiki - just go to www.iffa.org.au/wikiWiki for plants
Charles Sturt Uni Herbarium