How to Use PlantNET

Limits to Data

While we aim to ensure that the information in our databases is validated on entry, maintained, updated and corrected, errors can still occur, so please use the data carefully, making sure that they are appropriate for your purposes. Contact the PlantNET team if you require assistance. Please remember to read the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust's Disclaimer of liability statement.

The most common significant errors will be the incorrect identification of specimens and incorrect geocodes (latitudes and longitudes), and together with missing data will be most apparent when inspecting the distribution maps generated from our specimen database. Other inconsistencies may occur due to the process of taxonomic change and may be apparent particularly in the descriptive information for recently redefined taxa. Remember, PlantNET provides you with access to the working databases used by the botanical scientists of the National Herbarium of New South Wales. These data are constantly being revised and improved as new information becomes available.

Changes to our core plant data can lead to some frustration for users. However, we believe that our current systems are a major improvement on the static nature of books and other publications. We are pleased to be able to provide current information for all PlantNET users.

The Convention on Biological Diversity noted the need to make biodiversity data available despite the presence of imperfections, rather than holding back information until more polished products were completed. We support this view and therefore make these datasets available in their present form as a reference service for users.