Botanical Resource Centre

Public resources | Computer identification tools | Australian National Herbarium

Public plant identification resources

The Botanical Resource Centre is jointly managed by the Australian National Botanic Gardens, the Friends of the Gardens and the Australian National Herbarium and is open daily. It is located next to the Friends' Lounge on the Main Path in the Gardens.

It houses the Public Reference Herbarium specimens which represent the native and naturalised plants of the A.C.T., the Southern Tablelands, Australian Alps and the South Coast. This self-help collection is available for use by students, plant surveyors and people who just want to know more about plants. The plants are mounted in plastic sleeves in loose-leafed books to make them more robust for public use.

This facility also has microscopes, access to an extensive library of botanical books and two computers with interactive identification tools to some major plant groups.

Computer identification tools

The following interactive computer keys can be used on the computersin the Botanical Resource Centre:

Families of Flowering Plants - key to the families
Euclid - key to the eucalypts of Australia
Wattle - key to the genus Acacia
Australian Orchid Genera - key to the genera of Australian orchids
The Pea Key - interactive website to identify Australia's pea flowers
Australian Tropical Rain Forest Trees and Shrubs - tropical rainforest plants

Trained Facilitators are available to introduce the public to the facilities and users are advised to seek their assistance before using the BRC for the first time.

Once you are familiar with the facilities, the BRC is open for use seven days a week, from 9:30am - 4:30pm.

All plants in the Reference Herbarium are duplicates of specimens in the Australian National Herbarium.