S.G. Aiken — grasses, legumes, saxifrages (saiken@mus-nature.ca) (1)
M.J. Dallwitz — data structures, computing (mike.dallwitz@netspeed.com.au) (2)
L.L. Consaul — grasses, Polygonaceae editorial board (lconsaul@mus-nature.ca) (1)
C.L. McJannet — saxifrages
L.J. Gillespie — saxifrages (lgillespie@mus-nature.ca) (1)
R.L. Boles — sedges (ruben.boles@ec.gc.ca} (3)
G.W. Argus — willows (argus@sympatico.ca) (1)
J.M. Gillet — legumes (1)
P.J. Scott — buttercups and mustards (pscott@plato.ucs.mun.ca) (4)
R. Elven — Rosaceae (reidar.elven@toyen.uio.no) (5)
M.C. LeBlanc — pteridophytes (mleblanc@mus-nature.ca) (1)
A.K. Brysting — Caryophyllaceae (brysting@toyen.uio.no) (5)
H. Solstad — Papaveraceae (Heidi.solstad@nhm.uio.no) (5)
(1) Research Services, Canadian Museum of Nature,
P.O. Box 3443, Station D, Ottawa K1P 6P4, Canada. Phone +1 613 364 4073.
(2) 13 Warrambool Close, Giralang ACT 2617, Australia.
(3) COSEWIC Secretariat, Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada,
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H3. Phone 1 829 953 3506
(4) Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland,
St. John's NF A1B 3X9, Canada. Phone +1 709 737 8362.
(5) Botanical Garden and Museum, University of Oslo,
Trondheimsveien 23B, N-0562 Oslo, Norway. Fax +47 22 85 18 35.
This project is working to produce the flora of the vascular plants of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in the DELTA electronic database format that will allow illustrated, interactive identification of the approximately 350 taxa of flowering plants on the Arctic Islands. Floristic data are being gathered by Susan Aiken (editor) and many contributors (L.L. Consaul, C.L. McJannet, L.J. Gillespie, R.L. Boles, G.W. Argus, J.M. Gillett, P.J. Scott, R. Elven, M.C. LeBlanc, A.K. Brysting, and H. Solstad). Design of database structures and procedures, and maintenance of the databases on the Web, are being done by M.J. Dallwitz. The Poaceae treatment was first released in 1995, that of the Saxifragaceae in 1997, the Salicaceae, Cyperaceae, and Fabaceae in 1999, and the Juncaceae, Liliaceae in 2000, and several small families in 2001.
The information recorded includes place of valid publication, synonymy (usually limited to names that have been associated with the Canadian Arctic), common names, vegetative and floral morphological characters (many more than present floras of the area), distribution (sometimes including information about the northernmost record of the taxon), and habitat. There are notes on ecology, indigenous knowledge, and economic uses, and other miscellaneous information. The database is illustrated with maps for each taxon, colour photographs and line drawings of characters useful for identification, and colour photographs and line drawings of the taxa and their habitats.
The geographical scope of this study includes the islands of the Northwest Territories east of 127°W and the islands of Nunavut north of 60°N in northern Hudson Bay (including Southampton Island, White and Caribou Islands, Coats Island, Bencas Island, Digges and Mansel islands) and Akpotok Island in Ungava Bay.
Cite this publication as: ‘S.G. Aiken, M.J. Dallwitz, L.L. Consaul, C.L. McJannet, L.J. Gillespie, R.L. Boles, G.W. Argus, J.M. Gillett, P.J. Scott, R. Elven, M.C. LeBlanc, A.K. Brysting and H. Solstad (1999 onwards). Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. Version: 29th April 2003. http://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/’. Dallwitz (1980) and Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993, 1995, 2000) should also be cited (see References).