logo Calflora Plant List Definition Help
Updated February 15, 2021

As a Calflora contributor, you can use the Plant List Definition application to make your own plant lists for special purposes.

A plant list, defined by this application, is a simple list of plants, and is useful for searching (eg. with Observation Search or What Grows Here) and data entry (with the phone applications).

    On the other hand, a checklist or survey is a list of plants associated with a particular location. If you have a list of plants associated with a location, use Checklist / Survey Entry to enter it.

If you are a member of a group, then any plant lists associated with the group will also be available to you. If you define your own plant list, you can share it with any one of your groups.



Please contact Calflora support with any questions about using this application.

Adding Plants to a List
You can add plant names to a list either one at a time, or by pasting in a list.

When you add plants one at a time, you can put in any name you want -- no spelling correction is attempted. If you need to, you can put in the name of a cultivar such as

    Arctostaphylos 'Pacific Mist'.
You can even put in something like
    Rattus norvegicus
(hint: that is not really the name of a plant).

When you paste in a list of plants, it will only accept plants tracked by Calflora (current or past scientific names of plants that grow wild in California). The application will show you any plant names that were not accepted, so that you can adjust the spelling and try again.


Updating Scientific Plant Names
The scientific names of plants do change. If you have a plant list that is several years old, some of the plant names may have changed.

To find out, check Check nomenclature.

If a plant name on your list is no longer accepted, the suggested change will appear as follows:

To accept the suggestion -- to replace the old name with the new name -- press in the upper right. Click on and then press change:
Once you have made changes to your list, remember to press in the upper right.

If there is no currently accepted name for a plant on your list, the application will report it as follows:

Using a Plant List
Once you have selected a plant list, press the Illustrated Plant List link to see a version of the list with several photos of each plant.

Press the Observation Search link to search for those plants in a particular area of the state.

You can also use your plant lists in the Observer Pro phone application. Note that if you have a plant name on your list that is not currently accepted, Observer Pro will not be able to show a photo for it.

RELEASE NOTES

• January, 2020:   v. 2.00 released. This version can check the nomenclature of an existing plant list, and suggest changing to currently accepted plant names.

• January, 2017:   v. 1.44 released.

• December, 2012:   v. 0.50 released.