Western Australian Flora Statistics 2007

This page provides the user with a set of standard statistics on the size, diversity and endemism of the Western Australian vascular flora as at 1st June 2007.
Back to current floristics page.

Vascular Flora Statistics - June 2007

Analysis of the size of vascular plant divisions for various categories of name
Category Pteridophytes Gymnosperms Monocots Dicots Total
Total names A 138 34 3471 14826 18469
Non-current names B 33 10 926 3297 4266
Current names C 105 24 2545 11529 14203
Current taxa D 98 24 2402 10565 13089
Current species E 96 24 2243 9546 11909
Manuscript names F 0 0 35 404 439
Phrase names G 0 0 207 889 1096
Published species H 96 24 2001 8253 10374
Published alien species I 8 7 339 797 1151
Published native species J 88 17 1662 7456 9223

Data sourced on 1st June 2007. Compare with the 2008 figures or with the 2006 figures.

A - total number of vascular plant names in the database
B - number of synonymous, excluded or misapplied names (ie. plant names no longer in current use, at least in WA)
C - number of currently accepted plant names (ie. includes the species-level name when infra-species exist)
D - number of currently accepted taxa (ie. excludes the species-level name when infra-species of that taxon exist)
E - number of currently accepted species (ie. only the species-level names, excludes any infra-species names)
F - number of proposed but unpublished species (ie. informal names proposed on specimens or in manuscripts)
G - number of assigned but unpublished species (ie. informal names assigned to specimens for further analysis)
H - number of formally published species names (ie. formally published names described in botanical literature)
I - number of published naturalised alien species (ie. formally published names of weed species occurring in WA)
J - number of published species native to Western Australia (ie. formally published names of native WA species).

Compiled by Alex Chapman; last updated on 8 June 2007.

Did you notice?

There is, in general, a diminishing relationship between figures in subsequent rows of the table, as figures in each category are subtracted from the ones above.
    Eg. in each column: A - B = C.


Having trouble deciding ...

... the most appropriate data for your purpose? The highlighted rows are the recommended general figures if you need:

  • to cite the actual number of known vascular plant entities in WA D, or
  • a conservative estimate of the number of well-documented vascular plant species H.

'Green's Census'

For those familiar with 'Green's Census' - Green, J.W. (1985) Census of the vascular plants of Western Australia 2nd ed., WA Herbarium, Perth - and subsequent supplements, the following four PDF tables are presented in the style of Green's statistical summaries. They provide further details corresponding to row H in the above table. Data also sourced on 1st June 2007.