Weeds of Melbourne is reliant on a number of formal botanical authorities and databases, without which this exercise in bootstrapped botany would not be possible.
Identification and classification
Flora of Victoria, a vital digital resource maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria
Weeds of Australia, Biosecurity Queensland Edition, a dependable source for descriptions, photographs and differential identifications of pan-Australian weeds, though it does not cover species not known to be naturalised in QLD.
Flora of Australia, a new digital implementation although still a bit rough around the edges. Also the old pdfs of OOP volumes of the original dead tree edition, still available from ABRS for the time being.
Marilyn Bull’s Flora of Melbourne (despite having restricted its remit to indigenous flora)
Botanical records
Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) which includes digitised herbarium records and occurrence reports from the Australian Virtual Herbarium (AVH), the Victoria Biodiversity Atlas (VBA), and other sources.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), for worldwide occurrence data.
Margaret Brookes and Richard Barley, ‘Plants listed in nursery catalogues in Victoria: 1855-1889’, Ornamental Plant Collections Association, 1992.
Additional acknowledgements
Suggestions, corrections, colourful observations and notes on history and plant behaviour always received warmly from followers of the @weedsofmelbourne instagram channel.
Various assistance requested from and conferred by staff and affiliated scientists of the National Herbarium of Victoria. All errors in fact and judgment are the exclusive domain of the Weeds of Melbourne author.
John Dwyer has contributed an ongoing series of articles exploring the history of weed introductions to Australia in the journal of the Australian Garden History Society. Dwyer has also published a broad-based cultural survey, titled Weeds, Plants and People, which is predominantly about the preceding Eurasian context of a selection of weeds, although it does explore the details of the introduction of a few specific plants into Australia. Although not a direct inspiration for this project, his ongoing interest and work on the subject is acknowledged.