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Title: WORLDWIDE IDENTIFICATION OF LEGUME (FABACEAE) SEEDS USING EXPERT COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

Author
item Kirkbride, Joseph
item GUNN, C - RETIRED-BREVARD NC
item DALLWITZ, M - CANBERRA AUSTRALIA

Submitted to: Seed Science and Technology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/6/2003
Publication Date: 3/10/2004
Citation: Kirkbride, J.H., Gunn, C.R., Dallwitz, M.J. 2004. Worldwide identification of legume (fabaceae) seeds using expert computer technology. Seed Science and Technology. v. 32 pp.53-68.

Interpretive Summary: Seeds in the legume family that includes peas and beans are commercially important in many ways ranging from food and forage crops to noxious weeds. A reliable reference on the seeds of legumes has been published that allows legume seeds to be quickly and reliably identified to genus. The identification system includes an interactive key for the identification of seeds in the 683 legume genera. For each genus a full description and illustrations are presented. The characters and several character states are fully referenced with illustrations to clarify their meaning. This publication explains details of this reference for the user audience and analyzes the data presented. Results of this research will be used to allow the accurate identification of legume seeds. Such identifications are made by scientists throughout the world as well as by plant regulatory and seed trade officials in order to prevent the introduction of noxious legume weed seeds and verify the purity of seed lots.

Technical Abstract: Fabaceae (or Leguminosae) or legume family has 687 genera and more than 17,600 species. Fruit data (157 characters) were collected for 669 genera, seed data (127 characters) for 655 genera, and distributional data (six characters) for all genera. Our final data matrix had 105,033 items of fruit data, 83,185 items of seed data, and 4,122 items of distributional data. Approximately 1,360 images were attached to the genera, and 205 images to individual characters. The database in combination with the INTKEY software program will: 1) facilitate identification of legume seeds and fruits to genus through interaction between users and the database on microcomputers with characteristics of the users' choice; and 2) retrieval of information concerning seeds, fruits, and distribution of legume genera tailored according to the specific needs of users.