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ABCD Schema - Task
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ABCD Schema - Task
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HISPID3: Herbarium
Information Standards and Protocols for Interchange of Data, Version
3, Editor
Barry J. Conn, © Council of Heads of Australian Herbaria
ABCD 1.49d: TDWG/CODATA Task Group on Access to Biological Collection Data, Proposed Draft Standard Schema for Access to Biological Collection Data, August 2004.
This document is based on the HISPID3 documentation published under
http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/HISCOM/HISPID/HISPID3/H3.html.
Mapping by
Walter G. Berendsohn, please send comments
to w.berendsohn@bgbm.org.
| FILE IDENTIFICATION FIELDS |
| FILE IDENTIFIER GROUP |
| ACCESSION INFORMATION Fields |
| ACCESSION IDENTIFIER GROUP |
| BASIS OF RECORD GROUP |
In the following, black text denotes citations from the HISPID 3 standard publication, while comments referring to ABCD are in red. Normally, for ABCD the compatibility is stated, followed by the xpath (rarely: an XML tag) of the respective element.
The full field name: The name of the discrete piece of information within the file or within each record.
The transfer identifier code: The standard codes used as file or field identifiers in the transfer file.
The following parts were sometimes omitted:
TDWG Short name: A short, meaningfulsounding singleword name for the field, proposed by TDWG.
The field description: A general elaboration of the field name.
Relevant standards: The existence of this type of data in any other published or proposed biological standards.
Domain/Range/Values: The type of data allowed in this field, the range of values, or individual allowable values, and capitalisation.
Comments: Any other remarks on the use or application of these data and its relationships to other data. Any conflicts or problems in the application of these data types.
Rules: Additional information to that provided in Comments explaining the rules applying to these data.
Notes: Additional comments to those provided in Comments and Rules.
This group of fields provides information about the file. These fields are required so that the receiving institution knows what to do with the incoming data.
ABCD: </Dataset>
Description: The HISPID Version used in the current HISPID transfer file.
ABCD: ABCD version provided by the namespace (xmlns) attribute in the root element Datasets
Description: The total number of records expressed as an integer.
Domain/Range/Values: Integer only.
ABCD: not covered
Description: The date of compilation of the current HISPID file.
ABCD compatible (needs format transformation): Metadata/RevisionData/Date_Modified
Description: The name in full of the institution sending the current HISPID file.
ABCD compatible: TechnicalContact/Organisation/Name (with preferred label)
Description: The full name of the contact person within the institution.
ABCD fully compatible: TechnicalContact/Person/PersonName
Description: The full postal address of the sending institution.
ABCD compatible (may need attribute evaluation): TechnicalContact/Addresses/Address (with preferred flag if more than one)
Description: The telephone number of the Contact Person.
ABCD compatible (needs element evaluation): TechnicalContact/TelephoneNumbers/TelephoneNumber/Number combined with device = phone.
Description: The facsimile number of the Contact person.
ABCD compatible (needs element evaluation): TechnicalContact/TelephoneNumbers/TelephoneNumber/Number combined with device = phone.
Description: The email address of the Contact person.
ABCD compatible (may need attribute evaluation): TechnicalContact/EmailAddresses/EmailAddress (with preferred flag if more than one)
Description: This field allows for the inclusion of data or standards that have not been included in this publication. The data is likely to be of particular interest to the sending and receiving institutions, who wish to use a HISPID type format for data fields which have not been described in this standard.
ABCD compatible: Units/Unit/UnitExtension
Description: A field to indicate how the records of the file should be processed.
ABCD: no equivalent element
Description: A field to indicate the nature of the records contained in the file.
Domain/Range/Values: Alphabetic; this field must consist of one of the values in the table below:
| Values in Field | Meaning |
| exchange | records in file to be added to receiving database as part of exchange of herbarium material |
| loan | electronic herbarium data associated with loan of herbarium material |
| repatriation | repatriation of electronic data (from duplicate material held at sending institution to receiving institution) to the database held at the latter institution. |
Comments: These key values may be used to automatically implement the procedures to be followed by the receiving institution. This field should be used in conjunction with the Description of File Contents and Other Comments field (refer below).
ABCD: no equivalent element, but may be accommodated by Metadata/Description/Title
Description: A brief description of the content of the current HISPID file.
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; free text.
Example 1: Description of records being transferred as part of an herbarium loan:
| content | "Herbarium loan 96/014, Myrtaceae data, from NSW to MO", |
Example 2: Description of transfer file containing corrections to the plant name (Record Identification Group of fields):
| content | "Redeterminations and other corrections to the plant name fields, from BRI to LAE", |
Comments: This field may be used in conjunction with the File Descriptor Flag (above).
ABCD fully compatible: Metadata/Description/Description
Description: The internet URL (Universal Resource Locator) where the records in this file can be found.
Relevant standards: Internet URL, RFC 1738 (refer URL http://www.w3.org/pub/WWW/Addressing/rfc1738.txt or URL http://www.w3.org/pub/WWW/Addressing/URL/Overview.html)
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; any valid internet URL.
Comments: This information can refer to either a fixed export file, to an on-line query, or can link to a specimen database gateway.
ABCD: no directly equivalent element, may be accommodated by Metadata/Description/DescriptionURI
All ABCD xpath statements given start with Datasets/Dataset/Units/Unit/
This group of fields identifies the data records of the transfer file, that is, it describes the accession-based (specimen-based) information being interchanged. It is essential that these fields match exactly for the various exchange options to work effectively.
The fields in this group include the Institution Code and Accession Identifier, as well as the Record defining field identifiers.
Description: The single character } indicating the end of a HISPID3 Record.
Comments: To be found at the end of each HISPID3 record indicating the end of the data of a record, prior to beginning the next record or the endfile identifier if it is the last record in the transfer file.
ABCD: Tag <Unit>
TDWG Short name: HERBARIUM
Description: The standard code for the Institution to which the plant record refers.
Relevant standards: Index Herbariorum, International Directory for Botanic Gardens, ABIS, ITF, TLR
Domain/Range/Values: The code must consist of an entry of 17 uppercase letters (AZ), no embedded spaces. This field must be filled.
Comments: ..... If an institution's herbarium does not have an official code, then a temporary one should be assigned. However, it is essential that the institution receiving the transfer file is aware of the code being used. This information should be included in the Description of File Contents and other Comments field (refer above).
ABCD fully compatible: SourceInstitutionID
TDWG Short name: UNIQUEID, ACCESSIONID
Description: The unique identifier of the record, often called 'Accession Number', used internally by the institution to record each accession.
Relevant standards: ABIS, ITF, TLR
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; the Accession Identifier field may consist of any characters in the ASCII character set, no embedded spaces.
1. The Accession Identifier should be a unique set of characters that identifies each accession in the institution's own record system.
2. The same value of the Accession Identifier should not be used again for a separate, unrelated specimen in that institution.
Comments: Institutions differ widely in the way they
accession and record herbarium specimens with one result that numbering systems
(sometimes multiple) have been applied in fundamentally different ways. In some
institutions this number refers to a unique specimen accession number, in others
the specimen parts are accessioned individually and each part (eg. multiple
sheets) has its own accession number, but supplementary material such as spirit
and fruit may carry the number of the first sheet. The application of different
specimen/accession number systems is a source of potential confusion where the
specimen number and accession number may or may not be the same thing. However,
only the Accession Identifier is used in HISPID3. This single number will either
identify the single herbarium material or the group of material (when several
identifiers are used for different elements of an accession).
Unlike herbaria, many botanic gardens include punctuation within
their Accession Identifier, eg. 82BG2431. It is vital for an
institution to be consistent on whether the punctuation is included in the
HISPID3 transfer format.
ABCD: compatible: use concatenation of of SourceID and UnitID when coming from ABCD, insert accid into UnitID and (repeated) insid into SourceID when coming from HISPID.
This group consists of a single field which indicates the basis of the record being interchanged.
TDWG Short name: RECSOURCE, NATOBJECT
Description: A code indication of the type of item to which the record refers.
Relevant standards: ABIS
Domain/Range/Values: Alphabetic; as defined below:
| Values in Field | Meaning |
| Collection | Plant specimen |
| Electronic | Electronic record only, specimen no longer available |
| Literature | Reference |
| Observation | Observation, including photograph of plant, but not of specimen |
| Photograph | Photograph of specimen |
Comments: The default should be 'Collection' for a
specimenbased record. In the absence of any other value, a
specimenbased record is assumed.
The values 'Observation' and 'Literature' may be
used when the presence of a taxon is solely based on an observation or a
published reference to an herbarium specimen held in another institution
(respectively). The value 'Electronic' is used when the presence of a
taxon is solely based on an electronic record of an herbarium specimen which is
no longer available.
ABCD: RecordBasis equivalent, but with different controlled vocabulary
If not stated otherwise, all ABCD xpath statements given start with Datasets/Dataset/Units/Unit/Identifications/Identification/IdentificationResult/TaxonIdentified/
Description: The relevant suprafamilial group name of the taxon referred to in the record.
Relevant standards: ABIS (supra generic category), ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid suprafamilial group name, with first letter in uppercase.
Comments: This field allows for material being sent for identification, particularly when even the family may not be known.
ABCD compatible: HigherTaxa/HigherTaxon/HigherTaxonName
for classification of the name; but note that a higher taxon as the only identification of a unit should be held by
ScientificName/FullNameString
TDWG Short name: FAMILY
Description: The family name appropriate to the Genus name field, entered in full.
Relevant standards: ABIS (supra generic category), ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid plant family name, with capitalisation of the first letter only. If the name of the plant family is unknown, then this field may contain the value UNKNOWN (in uppercase). In this case, the remaining name fields should not be filled.
Comments: There is no universally accepted classification of plant genera into families, and several systems are in use in herbaria. Individual herbaria may choose to store two (or more) family fields to reflect different classification systems.
If institutions store family names or standard nomenclature in an abbreviated or encoded form, these must be expanded for transfer.
ABCD compatible (element evaluation): HigherTaxa/HigherTaxon/HigherTaxonName with HigherTaxonRank set to "familia"
Note: again, this is for the classification of the name; if the family name is the only identification of a unit it should be stated in
ScientificName/FullNameString
Description: A field to indicate the rank of the suprageneric group name of the plant.
Relevant standards: ABIS (supra generic category)
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid suprageneric group rank, below the rank of family and above the rank of genus, capitalisation of the first letter only.
Comments: See comments on conventions and necessity of this type of information under Family Name and Suprafamilial Group Name fields.
This field must contain the full name of the rank of the
suprageneric group, eg. 'subfamily'.
ABCD fully compatible: HigherTaxa/HigherTaxon/HigherTaxonRank
Description: The suprageneric group name of the plant, entered in full.
Relevant standards: ABIS (supra generic category)
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid suprageneric group name, below the rank of family, capitalisation of the first letter only.
Comments: See comments on conventions and necessity of this type of information under Family Name and Suprafamilial Group Name fields.
If the name of the genus of the plant is unknown, then this field does provide a higher level of identification than does the Family Name field alone.
ABCD fully compatible: HigherTaxa/HigherTaxon/HigherTaxonRank
Note: again, this is for the classification of the name; if the suprageneric group name is the only identification of a unit it should be stated in ScientificName/FullNameString
Description: A field to indicate whether the plant name refers to a hybrid, graft chimaera or intergrade, without reference to rank.
Relevant standards: ITF, MFN, Bisby (1994).
Domain/Range/Values: If the accession is a hybrid, graft chimaera or intergrade, then the Hybrid field must consist of one of the characters in the table below:
| Values in Field | Nature of name in Genus Name field |
| x | A Latin collective name for a hybrid |
| G | A non-Latin collective name for a hybrid |
| H | A hybrid formula for a hybrid |
| + | A graft hybrid or graft chimaera |
| | An intergrade of non-hybrid nature |
Comments:
1. The rules associated with these values are outlined under Genus Name field.
2. For interchange and data storage purposes, the value in this field for a hybrid is a lowercase 'x' not a multiplication sign (as specified in the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature), since the multiplication sign does not occur in the ASCII character set.
3. If an 'x' is placed in this field, then the plant name must be validly published under the ICBN.
Notes: ITF includes the letter 'U' in the 'Infraspecific Hybrid Flag' (refer ITF2) to indicate a Cultivar group name. However, HISPID3 only uses the Cultivar Group Name field (refer below) to transfer these data.
ABCD compatible: ScientificName/NameAtomised/Botanical/HybridFlag (but differing recommendation for content)
TDWG Short name: GENUS
Description: The name of the genus of a plant or ,if part of a hybrid formula or intergrade, then the name of the first 'parent' of that formula or intergrade, entered in full.
Relevant standards: ABIS, ITF, MFN, Bisby (1994).
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid genus name, capitalisation of the first letter only.
ABCD compatible: ScientificName/NameAtomised/Botanical/GenusOrMonomial (may include higher taxon name when the only result of an identification)
TDWG Short name: GENUS
Description: The second name of a hybrid formula or intergrade between two plant genera, entered in full.
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid genus name, capitalisation of the first letter only.
ABCD: hybrid formulas are accommodated by ScientificName/FullNameString and not presently further atomised
Description: The subgeneric group name of the plant, preceded by its rank, entered in full.
Relevant standards: ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid subgeneric group name, capitalisation of the first letter only.
Comments:
1. The subgeneric group name must be a single word.
2. The first letter must be in uppercase (AZ), the rest of the word in lowercase letters (az).
3. One or two hyphens are permitted in the word; no characters other than the letters outlined above are permitted.
This field must contain a validly published subgeneric group name under the ICBN.
This field must also contain one of the following abbreviations
of the rank of the Subgeneric Group name:
| Abbreviation | Full subgeneric group name |
| subgen. | Subgenus |
| sect. | Section |
| subsect. | Subsection |
| ser. | Series |
| subser. | Subseries |
If the name of the genus of the plant is unknown, then this field must not be filled. In this case, the remaining name fields should also be unfilled.
If the species name of the plant is unknown, then (if filled) this field does provide a higher level of identification than does the Genus Name field alone.
ABCD incompatible: ScientificName/NameAtomised/Botanical/FirstEpithet is used for the subgeneric "group name", but the rank must be stated in element ScientificName/NameAtomised/Botanical/Rank and the second epithet must be empty.
Description: This qualifier permits the Species Epithet field to be used for normal species names, as well as names of aggregate (refer Comments 1, below) or segregate species.
Relevant standards: ITF; Bisby (1994).
Domain/Range/Values:
1. If the Species Epithet field is not filled, then this field must not be filled.
2. If the Hybrid Flag is filled and the value in that field refers to an interspecific hybrid, then this field must not be filled.
Otherwise:
3. This field must consist of one of the values in the table below, which refers to the following situations in Species Epithet field:
Content of field Nature of Name in Species Epithet field
| agg. | An aggregate species |
| s. lat. | aggregate species (sensu lato) |
| s. str. | segregate species (sensu stricto) |
ABCD compatible: ScientificName/NameAddendum (not as restrictive as HISPID)
TDWG Short name: SPEPITHET
Description: The species epithet of the plant or ,if part of a hybrid formula or intergrade, then the name of the first 'parent' of that formula or intergrade, entered in full.
Relevant standards: ABIS, ITF, TLR, MFN, Bisby (1994).
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid species name, all lowercase, no embedded spaces.
ABCD compatible: ScientificName/NameAtomised/Botanical/FirstEpithet (may include the epithet of an infrageneric group name)
TDWG Short name: SPEPITHET
Description: The second specific epithet of a hybrid formula or intergrade between two plant species, entered in full.
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid species name, all lowercase, no embedded spaces (refer Species Epithet field, above).
Comments: Refer discussion under HYBRIDS, GRAFTS, CHIMAERA AND INTERGRADES and Species Epithet field, above.
Notes: The authority of the species names are not given
when the name is a hybrid formula or intergrade.
ABCD: hybrid formulas are accommodated by
ScientificName/FullNameString and not presently further atomised
TDWG Short name: SPAUTHOR
Description: The author citation of the species (as given in Genus Name and Species Epithet fields, above), in standard abbreviated form
Relevant standards: TLR, MFN, Brummitt & Powell (1992), Bisby (1994).
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid author abbreviation, initials and first letter of surname in uppercase, and other characters as described below:
1. The full name of a species (as transferred in the Species Epithet field) must include this field.
2. This field is not filled for the full name of a species aggregate (as transferred in the Species Qualifier and Species Epithet fields).
3. Alphabetic letters (A-Z, a-z), fullstops (periods), pairs of brackets, apostrophes, hyphens, ampersands (&) and spaces are all valid entries for this field.
4. For the citation of joint authors, it is recommended that the ampersand (&) is used between the last two names, not 'et' or 'and'. If more than two authors, then a comma and space (, ) are used to separate all authors except for the last two.
5. Names in languages other than the English languages should be transliterated into the roman alphabet. However, if institutions are able to receive and send other alphabetic characters (eg. if using UNICODE), then these may be included in the transfer file.
6. Parenthetical author or authors in the recommended form enclosed in round brackets at the beginning of the field.
ABCD: ScientificName/NameAtomised/Botanical/AuthorTeamParenthesis
+ ScientificName/NameAtomised/Botanical/AuthorTeam
The authors here given refer to the entire name, i.e. the infrageneric group
name, species name, or the name of a taxon of infraspecific rank.
TDWG Short name: INFRARANK
Description: A field to indicate the lowest infraspecific rank for the name in the Infraspecific Epithet field. The contents of this field are confined to the rank of the infraspecific name of non-collective, and non-cultivar group infraspecific taxa. It also indicates the lowest infraspecific rank for the name of the first 'parent' of a hybrid formula or intergrade.
Relevant standards: ITF (in part), MFN, Bisby (1994).
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; if the Infraspecific Epithet field is filled and the plant is not a Collective hybrid and is not a cultivar, then this field must be one of the values in the table below:
| Values in field | Rank of Name in Infraspecific Epithet field (Non-hybrid names) |
| subsp. | Subspecies |
| var. | Variety |
| subvar. | Subvariety |
| f. | Form |
| subf. | Subform |
Comments: If the Infraspecific Epithet field is not filled, then this field must not be filled.
Notes: The contents of this field represent the lowest infraspecific rank for this name.
ITF excludes the infraspecific rank of hybrids from this field.
ABCD fully compatible: ScientificName/NameAtomised/Botanical/Rank (includes some additional ranks like f.spec. and the ranks of infrageneric group names.
TDWG Short name: INFRARANK
Description: A field to indicate the lowest infraspecific rank for the name in the Infraspecific Epithet field of the second 'parent' of a hybrid formula or intergrade. The contents of this field are confined to the rank of the infraspecific name of non-collective, and non-cultivar group infraspecific taxa.
ABCD: hybrid formulas are accommodated by ScientificName/FullNameString and not presently further atomised
TDWG Short name: INFRANAME
Description: The epithet of the lowest infraspecific rank of the name, entered in full.
Relevant standards: ABIS, ITF, TLR, MFN, Bisby (1994).
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid infraspecific taxon epithet, all lower case.
Guidelines:
Under the rules of the ICBN, every trinomial below the level of species is unique. Hence, Rhododendron arboreum subsp. delavayi var. peramoemum can be known uniquely as Rhododendron arboreum var. peramoemum. Therefore the name can consist of the genus, the species and the lowest infraspecific taxon name, qualified by its rank.
ABCD fully compatible: ScientificName/NameAtomised/Botanical/SecondEpithet
TDWG Short name: INFRANAME
Description: The epithet of the lowest infraspecific rank of the name of the second 'parent' in a hybrid formula or intergrade, entered in full.
ABCD: hybrid formulas are accommodated by ScientificName/FullNameString and not presently further atomised
TDWG Short name: INFRAUTHOR
Description: The author citation of the lowest infraspecific epithet, in standard abbreviated form.
Relevant standards: ITF; Bisby (1994).
Domain/Range/Values: See under Species Author field, above.
ABCD: ScientificName/NameAtomised/Botanical/AuthorTeamParenthesis
+ ScientificName/NameAtomised/Botanical/AuthorTeam
The authors here given refer to the entire name, i.e. the infrageneric group
name, species name, or the name of a taxon of infraspecific rank.
Description: An additional field to indicate the rank of the second lowest infraspecific name (as given in the Second Infraspecific Epithet field), which is at a higher level to that of the Infraspecific Epithet field. This field is used when a 'full' taxonomic name is required (refer Comments and Notes, below). This field is also used when a 'full' taxonomic name is required for the first 'parent' of a hybrid formula or intergrade.
Relevant standards: ITF; Bisby (1994).
Domain/Range/Values: See under Infraspecific Rank Flag, above. Note: these additional fields are for non-hybrid infraspecific taxa, not for hybrids, Collective names or cultivars.
Comments: This field has been included for those institutions who wish to transfer and/or receive a complete ('full') taxonomic name (as defined in Notes, below) in a form which is more easily inserted into a database than the contents of the Full Name field (p. 47). When more than one infraspecific name is being transferred, the following fields refer to the lowest level infraspecific name: Infraspecific Rank Flag, Infraspecific Epithet, and Infraspecific Author; whereas the Second Infraspecific Rank Flag, Second Infraspecific Epithet, and Second Infraspecific Author all refer to the second lowest level of infraspecific name (eg. var. and subsp., respectively). If institutions wish to transfer more than two levels of infraspecific names in this format, then the third lowest level has the number 3 included in the Transfer Code identifier (eg. isp3rk, isp3, isp3au), and so on, as appropriate.
Notes: The 'full' scientific name includes the genus and species names, together with all infraspecific names and ranks (where relevant) and all appropriate authorities. Such 'full' names are extremely useful, especially if the complete taxonomic name of the taxon is required.
ABCD: not covered, but "complete names" can be written into the ScientificName/FullNameString.
Description: An additional field to indicate the rank of the second lowest infraspecific name of the second 'parent' of a hybrid formula or intergrade (as given in the Second Hybrid of the Second Infraspecific Epithet field), which is at a higher level to that of the Second Hybrid Infraspecific Epithet field. This field is used when a 'full' taxonomic name is required.
Relevant standards: ITF; Bisby (1994).
Domain/Range/Values: Refer Second Infraspecific Rank Flag, above.
Comments: Refer Second Infraspecific Rank Flag, above.
ABCD: not covered, but "complete names" can be written into the ScientificName/FullNameString.
Description: An additional field for the epithet of the second lowest infraspecific rank of the name of the plant, when a full taxonomic name is required (refer Comments under Second Infraspecific Rank Flag field, above).
Relevant standards: ITF; Bisby (1994).
Domain/Range/Values: See under Infraspecific Epithet field, above. Note: these additional fields are for non-hybrid infraspecific taxa, not for hybrids, collective names or cultivars.
Comments: Refer Comments under Second Infraspecific Rank Flag field, above.
ABCD: not covered, but "complete names" can be written into the ScientificName/FullNameString.
Description: An additional field for the epithet of the second lowest infraspecific rank of the name of the second 'parent' of a hybrid formula or intergrade, when a full taxonomic name is required.
Relevant standards: ITF; Bisby (1994).
Domain/Range/Values: See under Infraspecific Epithet field, above.
Comments: Refer Comments under Second Infraspecific Rank Flag field, above.
ABCD: not covered, but "complete names" can be written into the ScientificName/FullNameString.
Description: An additional field for the author citation of the second lowest infraspecific epithet, in standard abbreviated form.
Relevant standards: ITF; Bisby (1994).
Comments: Refer under Infraspecific Author and Second Infraspecific Rank Flag fields, above. Note: these additional fields are for non-hybrid infraspecific taxa, not for hybrids, collective names or cultivars.
Notes: The authority of the infraspecific names are not given when the name is a hybrid formula or intergrade.
ABCD: not covered, but "complete names" can be written into the ScientificName/FullNameString.
Description: A free text field to allow for the inclusion of vernacular (common) plant names.
Domain/Range/Values: Vernacular name followed by language of each name in round brackets ( ).
Comments: If more than one vernacular name, then each name (and language group) is separated by a comma and a space.
ABCD fully compatible: InformalNameString
Description: The cultivar group name of a plant.
Relevant standards: ITF; Trehane (1995)
ABCD fully compatible: ScientificName/NameAtomised/Botanical/CultivarGroupName
Description: The cultivar name of the plant represented by this record.
Relevant standards: ITF; Trehane (1995)
ABCD fully compatible: ScientificName/NameAtomised/Botanical/CultivarName
Description: The trade name of an accession, where the taxon has a registered trade name or other similar trade designation.
Relevant standards: ITF; Trehane (1995)
ABCD compatible: ScientificName/NameAtomised/Botanical/TradeDesignationNames/TradeDesignationName (ABCD allows multiple values)
Description: The full name of the plant, including full author citation, hybrid name, hybrid formula, collective name, cultivar name (as appropriate).
Relevant standards: ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Free text field. All previous rules, as described under the above name fields, apply in this field.
Comments: This field allows the full taxonomic name (including author citation), horticultural names, trade names and patents. Where there is more than one infraspecific rank (eg. quadrinomials or pentanomials), the reduction of this plant name to a trinomial (with only the lowest infraspecific rank cited) obscures much of the infraspecific hierarchy (refer discussion under RECORD IDENTIFICATION GROUP above).
ABCD fully compatible: ScientificName/FullScientificNameString
Description: Any comments about the name of the plant are transferred in this field.
Domain/Range/Values: Free text field.
ABCD fully compatible: NameComments
If not stated otherwise, all ABCD xpath statements given start with Datasets/Dataset/Units/Unit/SpecimenUnit/NomenclaturalTypeDesignations\NomenclaturalTypeDesignation\
This group of fields conains three fields, Type Qualifier, Type Status and Basionym, which covers the typification of the name of the taxon as directly related to the accession record.
Description: This field provides standard terms to qualify the identification of the type of the name of the record when doubts exist.
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; as listed in the following table:
| Values in Field |
| Possibly |
| Probably |
| ? |
| Not |
Comments: This field is used in conjunction with Type Status (below). If the Type Status field is not filled, then this field must not be used.
ABCD compatible: DoubtfulFlag (free text)
TDWG Short name: TYPESTATUS
Description: A code indicating the type status of the record.
Relevant standards: TLR
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; standard abbreviation, as listed in the following table:
Values in Field Meaning of Abbreviation
| EPI | epitype |
| HOLO | holotype |
| ISO | isotype |
| ISOLECTO | isolectotype |
| ISONEO | isoneotype |
| ISOPARA | isoparatype |
| ISOPARALECTO | isoparalectotype |
| ISOSYN | isosyntype |
| KLEPTO | kleptotype |
| LECTO | lectotype |
| NEO | neotype |
| PARA | paratype |
| PARALECTO | paralectotype |
| SYN | syntype |
| TOPO | topotype |
| TYPE | Unknown type material |
Comments: This field is not to be filled if the record is not one of these kinds of type.
Although topotypes have no taxonomic or nomenclatural status, the category has been included for those who may wish to interchange this information.
ABCD compatible: TypeStatus (no controlled vocabulary)
Description: The plant name (frequently the basionym) of which this specimen is a type, not necessarily the accepted name for the taxon.
Relevant standards: TLR
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; a valid plant name, including relevant rank identifiers (such as subsp., var.,) as required, conventional capitalisation of name and author.
Comments: Although a specimen may be the type of more than one basionym, this field must hold the most recent known name. When a specimen is the type of more than one basionym, then the following additional fields refer to the second most recent basionym, together with its type status: Type Status of Second Most Recent Basionym and Second Most Recent Basionym fields (Transfer codes: tsta2 and basnam2, respectively). If more earlier basionyms are to be transferred, then the third most recent values are interchanged in the : Type Status of Third Most Recent Basionym and Third Most Recent Basionym fields (Transfer codes: tsta3 and basnam3, respectively), and so on, as appropriate. The type qualifier field may be required to provide qualification to the identification of the types of the various earlier basionyms. These additional fields are briefly described below.
ABCD compatible: TypifiedName
Note: The ABCD Type designation is a repeatable element, so that the data items
dealing with SecondMostRecentBasionym etc. (see comments) are superfluous under
ABCD.
Description: This field provides standard terms to qualify the identification of the type of the name of the second most recent basionym of the record when doubts exist.
ABCD compatible: see note under Basionym (basnam)
ABCD compatible: see note under Basionym (basnam)
Description: The second most recent basionym of which this specimen is a type, not necessarily the accepted name for the taxon.
ABCD compatible: see note under Basionym (basnam)
Description: This field provides standard terms to qualify the identification of the type of the name of the third most recent basionym of the record when doubts exist.
ABCD compatible: see note under Basionym (basnam)
Description: A code indicating the type status of the third most recent basionym of the record.
ABCD compatible: see note under Basionym (basnam)
Description: The third most recent basionym of which this specimen is a type, not necessarily the accepted name for the taxon.
ABCD compatible: see note under Basionym (basnam)
This group of fields indicates the degree of confidence that can be placed in the identification of a record.
The following comments on 'Identification Qualifiers' are relevant to the HISPID3 fields Identification Qualifier and Rank Qualified Flag.
The degree of uncertainty of identification may be indicated by adding various terms, such as '?', 'cf.' and 'aff.', to the name of a plant. The qualifying term applies to the part of the name that immediately follows the qualifier, and they can be placed in front of any element of the name. In a HISPID3 transfer file, taxa qualified in this way are treated as positively identified only to the level one above the rank qualified, for example, a record of Cypripedium aff. candidum is treated not as a valid record of the threatened plant Cypripedium candidum but only as a record for the genus Cypripedium that requires further checking to confirm whether the plant is really C. candidum or another species.
With infraspecific taxa and cultivars, no distinction is made between whether the term (eg. 'aff.') is added before the rank of the qualified part of the name or after it. In other words, the Prunus maritima aff. var. gravesii and Prunus maritima var. aff. gravesii are regarded as referring to the same taxon.
Description: The level to which the identification of the record has been verified.
Relevant standards: ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Integer; the entry must be one of the values in the table below:
| Values in Field | Meaning |
| 0 (zero) | The name of the record has not been checked by any authority |
| 1 | The name of the record determined by comparison with other named plants |
| 2 | The name of the record determined by a taxonomist or by other competent persons using herbarium and/or library and/or documented living material |
| 3 | The name of the plant determined by taxonomist engaged in systematic revision of the group |
| 4 | The record is part of type gathering or propagated from type material by asexual methods |
Comments: If it is not known whether the name of the record has been verified by an authority, then this field must not be filled.
ABCD: not covered
Description: The name of the person or persons who verified the identification of the plant, as qualified in the Verification Level field (above). Their institutional affiliation may be cited, too.
Relevant standards: ABIS, ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; the full name of the verifier(s).
Comments: If it is not known whether the name of the record has been verified (that is, the Verification Level field has not been filled), then this field must not be filled.
1. The verifier's family name (surname; with initial letter uppercase) followed by comma and space (, ) then initials of given names (in uppercase and each followed by a full stop, without spaces). Titles should be omitted.
2. If two names are needed, the names (formatted as in point 1 above) are separated by a comma and a space. If several names are needed, then the first name (as formatted in point 1 above) may be followed by 'et al.'
3. The verifier's institution may also be cited (as a code) in round brackets.
Notes: If necessary, the first and or other given names should be spelt out when there is a known chance of confusion. For example, to distinguish between Wilson, Paul G. and Wilson, Peter G. (with a space after the given name; no punctuation, except as separator between two names - refer point 2 above).
ABCD compatible: Identifier/IdentifierPersonName/PersonName
Description: The date on which the name of the plant was verified.
Domain/Range/Values: Integer; year (4 digits) followed by month (2 digits) and the day (2 digits), without spaces between them.
| 1. | In this notation, leading zeroes must be included for months and days, ie. March is coded as '03' not '3' and the 6th day is coded as '06' not '6'. |
| Example: | |
| 19741008 | 8 October 1974 |
| 19120209 | 9 February 1912 |
| 2. | If the day of the month is not known, the last two digits should be omitted. |
| Example: | April 1881 would preferably be transferred as 188104. |
| 3. | If the day and the month are not known, the last four digits should be omitted and just the 4 digits of the year information interchanged. |
Guidelines: The HISPID3 transfers the year as a full 4-digit number to facilitate the use of the system in the next century, as well as to track verifications from the previous century.
ABCD compatible: IdentificationDate/ISODateTimeBegin (different format for DateTime)
Description: The date on which the name of the plant was verified when the date is not in a form which satisfies the international date data format (as required in Verification Date field, above).
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; free text.
Comments: This field will probably not be used very frequently, but it may be useful when the verification date on a determinavit slip is not completely legible. For example, the day and month may be decipherable, but not the year. Therefore, the interpreted information can be transferred, even though not complete.
ABCD fully compatible: IdentificationDate/DateText
Description: Citation of literature used for identification.
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; free text field; cite each author, journal or book title, followed by volume, year and pages (as relevant); each component separated by comma and space.
Comments: Where multiple references are used, the most useful reference should be mentioned first, and each reference separated by semicolons ';'.
ABCD compatible: IdentificationReferences/IdentificationReference (repeatable element instead of list separated by semicolons)
Description: Chronological listing of previous identifications, stating plant name, verifier, date, and reference.
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; free text field.
Comments: This field would be a concatenation of information from previous Family Name, Genus Names, Species Epithet, Species Author, Infraspecific Epithet, Infraspecific Author, Verifier's Name and Verification Date fields for this record.
Some institutions may choose to keep:
ABCD fully compatible: DataSets/Dataset/Units/Unit/Identification/IdentificationHistory
Description: A field to indicate the nature of the taxonomic verification
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; the entry must be one of the values in the table below:
| Values in Field | Meaning |
| conf. | confirmavit |
| cit. | citavit |
| det. | determinavit |
| scrips. | scripsit |
| vid. | vidit |
ABCD compatible: Identifier/IdentifierRole (no controlled vocabulary).
Description: The rank of the lowest name/epithet of the taxon qualified by the entry in Identification Qualifier field (see below).
Relevant standards: ITF
Domain/Range/Values: If the Identification Qualifier field is filled, then the entry in this field must be one of the values in the table below:
| Values in Field | Rank qualified |
| B | Below Family |
| F | Family |
| G | Genus |
| S | Species |
| I | first Infraspecific Epithet |
| J | second Infraspecific Epithet |
| C | Cultivar |
Comments: In each of these cases, the entry in the field that is qualified (eg. Species, Cultivar) must be filled.
If the Identification Qualifier Field is not filled, then this field must not be filled. That is, this field should only be used for plants not confidently and/or fully determined.
ABCD compatible: IdentificationResult/TaxonIdentified/ScientificName/IdentificationQualifier/@insertionpoint [the attribute insertionpoint defines the name element in front of which the qualifier should be inserted (1 = before entire name, 2= before first epithet, 3 = before second epithet])
Description: A standard term to qualify the identification of the taxon when doubts have arisen while comparing the plant and the plant- description; refer introductory note under CULTIVATED PLANT NAME (above) and previous field.
Relevant standards: ITF
Domain/Range/Values: If the identification does not require qualification, then this field must not be filled.
If there is any doubt about the identification of the plant record, then this field must contain one of the following:
| Conventional Notation | Meaning |
| aff. | Akin to or bordering |
| cf. | Compare with |
| Incorrect | Incorrect |
| forsan | Perhaps |
| near | Close to |
| ? | Questionable |
The above meanings are taken from Stearn, W.T. (1972). 'Botanical Latin' (David & Charles: Newton Abbot).
ABCD compatible: IdentificationResult/TaxonIdentified/ScientificName/IdentificationQualifier (no controlled vocabulary)
Description: A description of any further qualifications to the identity of the name of the record.
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; free text.
ABCD fully compatible: IdentificationNotes
This group of fields covers all the descriptive and coded spatial data that describes the geographic position that a plant was collected from, including supporting data such as altitude, depth (particularly for aquatic plants), and degree of precision in citing the locality details.
Where relevant, all of the standard HISPID3 fields in this group, the HABITAT GROUP, and the COLLECTION GROUP refer to the original wild source collection information. That is, the information recorded in all of these fields (eg. Collection Date, Primary Collector's Name, Country of Origin, Habitat, Locality, Collection Notes, Primary Subdivision of Country of Origin, Secondary Subdivision of Country of Origin, Specific Geographic Unit) refers to the original wild source collection.
If the current accession was taken from a secondary source (eg. cultivated material, of known or unknown wild source), then the relevant field identifiers would all be prefaced by the word 'Subsequent' and the relevant Transfer Codes would be prefaced by a lowercase 's'. For example, if an herbarium collection was taken from a cultivated collection growing in an Australian botanic garden which had been originally grown from seeds collected in the 'wild' from South Africa, then the Country field value would be 'South Africa' (with Transfer code: cou), whereas the Subsequent Country field (Transfer code: scou) would be 'Australia'. Likewise, the field which contains the information about the collector's name of the current accession which was taken from cultivated material would be known as Subsequent Collector's Name and the Transfer code would be scnam. The same 'Domain/Range/Values' apply as for the relevant 'primary' data fields.
Note: these 'subsequent fields have not be further described in HISPID3, but they should be applied when required.
ABCD: the data of the original or subsequent collection and collection site may be accommodated by the creation of a separate unit with the respective collection data, which may be related to the present one by means of a UnitAssociation.
The geocode information of the 'Place of Origin' data are held
in a hierarchy of 4 levels. These are:
| 1. | a. | Political country (written in full), strictly following the ISO system; |
| b. | Political country (codified), according to the ISO system; | |
| 2. | Basic Recording Unit of the World Geographical Scheme; | |
| 3. | A defined subdivision of the ISO unit; | |
| a. | Primary subdivision of Country of Origin; | |
| b. | Secondary subdivison of Country of Origin; | |
| 4. | The locality; | |
| a. | Locality in text format; | |
| b. | Special Geographical Unit. | |
The information relates to the place where the plant was
collected, not to the full distributional range of the
taxon.
The spatial data interchange standard followed by HISPID3 is based on the Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS). The use of this standard for data transfer is expected to become common place. It has been accepted as a USA Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) and as an Australian standard by Standards Australia Committee IT/4. The Australia, New Zealand Land Information Council (ANZLIC) has supported this choice by sponsorship of AUSDEC (Australian Spatial Data Exchange Centre) whose purpose is to faciliate the introduction and adoption of SDTS in Australia. AUSLIG (Australian Surveying and Land Information Group) have defined a profile subset of SDTS which is applicable to their own data type. Full text of the Australian SDTS standard is available from AUSDEC or from Standards Australia.
The interchange of the horizontal components of spatial data (eg. Latitudes/Longitudes, Grids) in HISPID3 must follow:
Note: MGA94 and WGS84 (World Geodetic System 1984 - as modified in 1994)(the reference frame used by GPS) are in agreement to within approximately 1 metre. For specific details of requirements for map grid references in HISPID3 refer Spatial Grid fields (below).
The interchange of the vertical components of spatial data (eg. Altitude, Depth) in HISPID3 must follow:
TDWG Short name: ISOCOUNTRY (?), BOTCOUNTRY, CONTINENT(?), REGION, ISOREGION, BASICRECU
Description: The name of the country or major region where the plant specimen was collected, entered in full.
Relevant standards: ABIS, ITF, TLR, WGSUB, ISO, Hollis & Brummitt (1992)
ABCD fully compatible: GatheringSite/Country/CountryName (language may be specified in ABCD)
Description: The 2 letter code for the representation of the name of the country where the plant was collected, using the codes assigned by the International Standards Organization (ISO).
Domain/Range/Values: The code must consist of 2 uppercase letters (AZ).
Comments:
1. This field can only contain a valid entry as defined by the International Standards Organization (ISO Standard 3166).
2. Two other entries are permitted in addition to those defined
by ISO:
| Values in Field | Meaning |
| XX | Country unknown |
| XY | Country not applicable |
Notes: The 'XX' code should be used when no 'Country of Origin' information is provided. The 'XY' code should be used for non-specific collection localities, eg. Africa, South East Asia.
ABCD compatible: GatheringSite/Country/ISO3166Code (2-, 3-, or 4-letter code)
Description: World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions by S. Hollis and R.K. Brummitt. - Plant Taxonomic Database Standards No. 2, Version 1.0 (1992).
Domain/Range/Values: The contents of this field must be a valid entry from the above publication.
Comments:
1. This code contains up to 5 characters when taken to the complete Level 4 Geographical Scheme.
2. Every code is unique, so that the Level 1, 2 and 3 codes must also be recognised if the complete Level 4 code is not provided.
ABCD compatible: GatheringSite/NamedAreas/NamedArea/AreaCode (with AreaCodeStandard set to the appropriate reference)
Description: The primary recording unit which is the highest order subdivision recognised by the Country of Origin.
Relevant standards: ITF; Hollis & Brummitt (1992) Complete 4-level Geographical scheme (refer Table 4 in Hollis & Brummitt, 1992).
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; in full or standard abbreviation accepted by or agreeing with the Hollis & Brummitt (1992) standard full Complete 4-level Geographical area.
Comments:
1. The entry in the field should preferably be a valid entry as defined by Table 4 (Hollis & Brummitt 1992).
2. If the entry is not part of the Hollis & Brummitt (1992) standard, then it must be equivalent to the entries in this latter standard. For example, this field is expected to contain State, Province, and other comparable geographical regions.
3. The abbreviations used for this field may be based on the official (frequently political) abbreviations used within the Country of Origin, rather than those of Hollis & Brummitt (1992) or the primary recording unit may be transferred in full.
ABCD compatible: GatheringSite/NamedAreas/NamedArea/Name
Description: The secondary recording unit which is the second highest-order subdivision of Country of Origin field.
TDWG Short name: BASICRECU (?), LOCALPOLU
Relevant standards: ABIS, ITF, TLR, WGSUB
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; written in full or any valid regional code or abbreviation (and then in uppercase) as used by the relevant country or region
Comments: This field contains the district or region from which the specimen was collected, usually a subdivision of State or Province.
ABCD compatible: GatheringSite/NamedAreas/NamedArea/Name
Description: The special geographic recording unit describes specific conservation areas and other nature reserves of Country of Origin field.
Relevant Standards: ABIS, ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; written in full.
Comments: The field consists of the name of a defined conservation area, such as national or state parks, forest reserves, nature reserves, conservation or heritage parks.
ABCD compatible: GatheringSite/NamedAreas/NamedArea/Name
TDWG Short name: LOCALITY, STANLOC (?)
Description: The locality where the plant was collected within the country and subdivisions assigned in the previous three fields.
Relevant standards: ABIS, ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; free text, plain language description of the locality, as on the specimen label.
Comments: Where the locality covers more than one country, eg. 'Himalayas', and the Country Of Origin is unknown, an entry in the Locality field may be used in conjunction with the value 'XX' (in ISO code for Country of Origin field) and UNKNOWN (in the Country of Origin field).
ABCD compatible: GatheringSite/AreaDetail
TDWG Short name: ELEVATIONL
Description: The altitude of the collection locality or if the collection has been made over an altitudinal range, then the minimum altitude of the collection locality (cf. Maximum Altitude field), in metres above or below sea level (cf. Depth field).
Relevant standards: SDTS, ITRF, AHD71, ABIS, ITF
ABCD compatible: GatheringSite/Altitude/MeasurementAtomised/MeasurementLowerValue (plus measurement unit set to m)
TDWG Short name: ELEVLACCUR
Description: The estimated accuracy of the altitude or, when a range of altitudes given, then the estimated accuracy of the minimum altitude, in metres.
Relevant standards: SDTS, ITRF, ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Real; in metres. If degree of accuracy is unknown, then this field should not be filled.
Comments: Refer to Comments: of the Altitude field.
The two fields Accuracy of Altitude and Accuracy of Maximum Altitude (refer below) are given to record the accuracy of the altitude geocodes when a collection is made over an altitudinal range. The Accuracy of Altitude field refers to the accuracy of the value recorded for the lower Altitude field, and Accuracy of Maximum Altitude applies to the value in Maximum Altitude field. If the collection altitude only refers to one value, then only Altitude field and the Accuracy of Altitude should be filled.
Examples: If a collection was made from several plants growing on a mountain side, then Altitude field refers to the lowest altitude, and Maximum Altitude field to the highest altitude. The collector may have a very accurate altitude reading for the lowest position, but only a coarse approximation for the upper range. Therefore the accuracy value in the Accuracy of Altitude field would be different from that recorded in the Accuracy of Maximum Altitude field. By filling out the two Altitude fields, the data receiver knows that the specimens were collected over a spectrum of plant material.
| Altitude | 100 | Material collected from several plants with an accurate |
| Accuracy of Altitude | 5 | lower altitudinal reading, but with the upper altitudinal |
| Maximum Altitude | 250 | limit anywhere between 225 and 275 metres. |
| Accuracy of Maximum Altitude | 25 |
Another example is when the collection was from only one plant source, for which there is an inaccurate altitude reading.
| Altitude | 1000 | This plant was collected at an altitude anywhere |
| Accuracy of Altitude | 100 | between 900 and 1100 metres. |
Note: if the Accuracy of Altitude field is omitted, then it should be assumed that the level of accuracy is not known.
ABCD compatible: GatheringSite/Altitude/MeasurementAtomised/MeasurementAccuracy (plus measurement unit set to m)
TDWG Short name: ELEVATIONH
Description: The maximum altitude when the collection is cited as having been collected over an altitudinal range, in metres above or below sea level (cf. Depth field).
Relevant standards: SDTS, ITRF, AHD71, ABIS, ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Real; any geographically reasonable altitude in metres.
Comments: Altitudes in feet should be converted to metres before data are interchange. Negative values indicate terrestrial altitudes below sea level (depressions), not aquatic environments or caves (refer Depth field below). A negative altitude must be preceded by a minus sign, without a space. The plus sign for positive altitudes should be omitted.
ABCD compatible: GatheringSite/Altitude/MeasurementAtomised/MeasurementUpperValue (plus measurement unit set to m)
TDWG Short name: ELEVHACCUR
Description: The estimated accuracy of the maximum altitude when the collection is cited as being taken from within an altitudinal range, in metres.
Relevant standards: SDTS, ITRF, ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Real; in metres. If degree of accuracy is unknown, then this field should not be filled.
Comments: Refer to Comments of the Altitude field and Accuracy of Altitude field (above).
Note: If the Accuracy of Altitude and/or the Accuracy of Maximum Altitude fields are omitted, then it should be assumed that the level of accuracy is not known.
ABCD: no equivalent element
Description: Flag indicating the source of the altitude and precision calculations.
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid entry as listed in the following table:
Values in Field
collector
compiler
automatically generated.
Comments: The altitudes and altitude precisions provided by the plant collector are usually from GPS readings, maps on-site, extracted from the field book or from the herbarium label. Those provided by compilers other than the collector, are based on the locality stated in the field book or on the herbarium label. Automatically generated altitudes and altitude precisions are produced by various computer programs (eg. GIS, DEM).
ABCD: no equivalent element
Description: This field indicates how the altitude was derived.
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid entry as listed in the following table:
Values in Field Meaning
| Altimeter | |
| DEM | Digital Elevation Model |
| GPS | Global Positioning System |
| Field Estimate | |
| Map | |
| Unknown |
Comments: Although this field may be coded in institutional databases, the full word or phrase should be used when interchanging data.
ABCD compatible: GatheringSite/Altitude/MeasurementAtomised/MeasurementMethod
Description: The depth of the collection locality beneath the water surface or below the ground surface, in metres.
Relevant standards: SDTS, ITRF, AHD, ABIS, ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Real, any geographically reasonable depth, in metres.
Comments: Depth in feet and fathoms must be converted to metres before transfer.
Depth below ground surface would be used to indicate the depth of a collection made from within a terrestrial cave.
As with the altitude fields (namely Altitude and Maximum Altitude fields), a duplicate field may be necessary to indicate a range of depths, or the accuracy of measurement; refer Maximum Depth and Accuracy of Maximum Depth (below).
ABCD compatible: GatheringSite/Depth/MeasurementAtomised/MeasurementLowerValue (plus measurement unit set to m)
Description: The accuracy of the depth estimation, or when a range of depths are given, then the accuracy of the minimum depth estimation, in metres.
Relevant standards: SDTS, ITRF
Domain/Range/Values: Real; in metres. If degree of accuracy is unknown, then this field should not be filled.
Comments: If the Accuracy of Depth field is omitted, then it should be assumed that the level of accuracy is not known.
ABCD compatible: GatheringSite/Depth/MeasurementAtomised/MeasurementAccuracy
Description: The maximum depth when the collection is cited as being taken from a range of depths, in metres beneath the water surface or below the ground surface.
Relevant standards: SDTS, ITRF, AHD, ABIS, ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Real; any geographically reasonable depth in metres.
Comments: Depth in feet and fathoms should be converted to metres before transfer.
ABCD compatible: GatheringSite/Depth/MeasurementAtomised/MeasurementUpperValue (plus measurement unit set to m)
Description: The accuracy of the maximum depth estimation when the collection is cited as being taken from a range of depths, in metres.
Relevant standards: SDTS, ITRF
Domain/Range/Values: Real; in metres. If degree of accuracy is unknown, then this field should not be filled.
Comments: If the Accuracy of Depth and/or the Accuracy of Maximum Depth fields are omitted, then it should be assumed that the level of accuracy is not known
ABCD: no equivalent element
TDWG Short name: LATDEGH, LATDEGH
Description: The degrees of latitude of the collection locality, as quoted from the herbarium label or derived.
Relevant standards: ABIS, ITF, AUSLIG Master Name File, Gazetteers
Domain/Range/Values: Integer; within the range 0 90, any valid and biogeographically meaningful latitude in degrees.
Comments:
1. If the latitude is not known, then this and the following latitude fields must be left unfilled.
3. If this field is filled, then the last latitude field (Latitude, Direction) must consist of one of the letters 'N' or 'S' (for North or South).
4. The geocode information should be interchanged as latitude and longitude in degrees, minutes, seconds and direction. Decimal degrees must be converted to degrees, minutes and seconds before the data are interchanged.
5. Grid references should be converted to degrees, minutes, seconds and direction before data are interchanged.
Notes: The ABIS standard indicates a single 7character field, the first two of which are degrees, the second two minutes, the third two seconds and last one direction. This standard is not followed in HISPID3.
To indicate a range of latitudes and longitudes, a duplicate set of latitude and longitude fields will be required.
When this field is selected, then the Longitude fields must be used, not the Spatial Grid fields.
ABCD: covered by GatheringSite/SiteCoordinateSets/SiteCoordinates/CoordinatesLatLon/LatitudeDecimal
TDWG Short name: LATMINH, LATMINL
Description: The minutes of latitude of the collection locality, as quoted from the label or derived.
Relevant standards: ABIS, ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Integer; 0 59, any valid and biogeographically meaningful latitude in minutes.
Comments: See Comment under Latitude, Degrees.
| 1. | If the latitude degrees (Latitude, Degrees field) is not known, then this and the following latitude fields must be left unfilled. |
| 2. | If the latitude minutes (Latitude, Minutes field) is not known, then this and latitude seconds (Latitude, Seconds Field) must be left unfilled. |
ABCD: covered by GatheringSite/SiteCoordinateSets/SiteCoordinates/CoordinatesLatLon/LatitudeDecimal
TDWG Short name: LATSECH, LATSECL
Description: The seconds of latitude of the collection locality, as quoted from the label or derived.
Relevant standards: ABIS, ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Integer; 0 59, any valid and biogeographically meaningful latitude in seconds.
Comments: See Comment under Latitude, Degrees.
If the value for this field is unknown, then this field must be left unfilled.
ABCD: covered by GatheringSite/SiteCoordinateSets/SiteCoordinates/CoordinatesLatLon/LatitudeDecimal
TDWG Short name: LATDIRHIGH, LATDIRLOW
Description: The abbreviated direction of latitude of the collection locality, relative to the equator, as quoted from the label or derived.
Relevant standards: ABIS, ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; N or S.
Comments: See Comment under Latitude, Degrees.
If Latitude, Degrees field is filled, then this field must consist of one of the letters 'N' or 'S' (for North or South).
ABCD: covered by GatheringSite/SiteCoordinateSets/SiteCoordinates/CoordinatesLatLon/LatitudeDecimal
TDWG Short name: LONGDEGH, LONGDEGL
Description: The degrees of longitude of the collection locality, as quoted from the label or derived.
Relevant standards: ABIS, ITF, AUSLIG Master Name File, Gazetteers
Domain/Range/Values: Integer; 0 180, any valid and biogeographically meaningful longitude in degrees.
ABCD: covered by GatheringSite/SiteCoordinateSets/SiteCoordinates/CoordinatesLatLon/LongitudeDecimal
TDWG Short name: LONGMINH, LONGMINL
Description: The minutes of longitude of the collection locality, as quoted from the label or derived.
ABCD: covered by GatheringSite/SiteCoordinateSets/SiteCoordinates/CoordinatesLatLon/LongitudeDecimal
TDWG Short name: LONGSECH, LONGSECH
Description: The seconds of longitude of the collection, as quoted from the label or derived.
ABCD: covered by GatheringSite/SiteCoordinateSets/SiteCoordinates/CoordinatesLatLon/LongitudeDecimal
TDWG Short name: LONGDIRHIGH, LONGDIRLOW
Description: The abbreviated direction of longitude of the collection locality, relative to Greenwich, as quoted from the label or derived.
Relevant standards: ABIS, ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; E or W.
ABCD: covered by GatheringSite/SiteCoordinateSets/SiteCoordinates/CoordinatesLatLon/LongitudeDecimal
Description: The projection type of the Map Grid system which is used to determine the position of the locality from which the plant specimen was collected.
Relevant standards: The default system is normally expected to be ITRF or derivative standards (eg. MGA94, GDA94).
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha, internationally accepted codes (as used in SDTS); the default system for HISPID3 is normally expected to be the Universal Transverse Mercator Grid System (UTM). Wherever possible, the Eastings and Northings should be converted to UTM or a derivative of it. For example, the MGA (Map Grid of Australia) is a derivative of UTM and is derived from the projection of latitudes and longitudes on the Australian Geodetic Datum (AGD) and Geocentric Datum of Australia (GDA).
Comments: In general, it is recommended that grid references be converted to latitudes and longitudes for interchange (refer previous latitude and longitude fields).
ABCD: if not UTM, covered by GatheringSite/SiteCoordinateSets/SiteCoordinates/CoordinatesGrid/GridCellSystem,
otherwise
covered by GatheringSite/SiteCoordinateSets/SiteCoordinates/CoordinatesUTM/**
Description: The Map Grid Easting reference of the locality from which the plant specimen was collected.
Relevant standards: ITRF or derivative standards (eg. MGA94, GDA94).
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; any valid grid reference, in metres. The Easting must consists of the following two elements:
| Hemisphere Code values in Field | Meaning |
| N | Northern Hemisphere Indicator |
| S | Southern Hemisphere Indicator |
Note: This single letter code must preface the Easting.
Note: The complete Easting must always be cited as a six-digit integer or to the level of accuracy recorded by truncation from the right.
An example of a complete Grid Easting reference would be S347000. An example of an Easting to the nearest kilometre for the same locality would be S347.
Comments: In general, it is recommended that grid references be converted to latitudes and longitudes for interchange (refer previous latitude and longitude fields). When this field is selectred for transfer then Spatial Grid, Northing must also be used, not the Latitude and Longitude fields.
Note: Grid Zone designation codes must not be used.
ABCD: if not UTM, covered by GatheringSite/SiteCoordinateSets/SiteCoordinates/CoordinatesGrid/GridCellCode,
otherwise
covered by GatheringSite/SiteCoordinateSets/SiteCoordinates/CoordinatesUTM/UTMEastWest
Description: The Map Grid Northing reference of the locality from which the plant specimen was collected.
Relevant standards: ITRF or derivative standards (eg. MGA94, GDA94).
Domain/Range/Values: Integer; any valid grid reference, in metres. The Northing must consists of the following two elements:
| Hemisphere Code values in Field | Meaning |
| N | Northern Hemisphere Indicator |
| S | Southern Hemisphere Indicator |
Note: This single letter code must preface the Northing.
Note: The complete Northing must always be cited as a seven-digit integer or to the level of accuracy recorded by truncation from the right.
An example of a complete Grid Northing reference would be S5739000. An example of Grid Northing to the nearest kilometre for the same locality would be S5739.
Comments: In general, it is recommended that grid references be converted to latitudes and longitudes for interchange (refer previous latitude and longitude fields). When this field is selectred for transfer then Spatial Grid, Easting must also be used, not the Latitude and Longitude fields.
Note: Grid Zone designation codes must not be used.
ABCD: if not UTM, covered by GatheringSite/SiteCoordinateSets/SiteCoordinates/CoordinatesGrid/GridCellCode,
otherwise
covered by GatheringSite/SiteCoordinateSets/SiteCoordinates/CoordinatesUTM/UTMNorthSouth
TDWG Short name: LATACCUR, LONGACCUR
Description: The precision of the latitude and longitude of the record.
Relevant standards: SDTS, ABIS, ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Real; in metres.
Comments: If the latitude and longitude are not known, or the accuracy is in doubt, then this field should be left unfilled and hence, not interchanged.
ABCD fully compatible: GatheringSite/SiteCoordinateSets/SiteCoordinates/CoordinatesLatLon/CoordinateErrorDistanceInMeters
Description: Flag indicating the source of the geocode and precision calculations.
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any value as listed in the following table:
Values in Field
collector
compiler
generalised arbitrary point
automatically generated.
Comments: The geocodes provided by the plant 'collector' are usually from GPS readings, maps onsite, extracted from field books or from the herbarium label. Those provided by the database 'compiler' are derived from the locality information provided by the collector. Computer-generated geocodes are either derived from a nearest named place ('generalised arbitrary point') or from a stated locality.
ABCD compatible: GatheringSite/SiteCoordinateSets/SiteCoordinates/CoordinatesLatLon/CoordinateErrorMethod (no controlled vocabulary)
Description: The nearest named place to the locality of the collection, 1:100 000 topographic map series.
Relevant standards: ABIS, AUSLIG Master Name File
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid place name on 1:100 000 topographic map series, conventional capitalisation of the first letter of place names.
Comments: Uncertainty with the application of this field to historical material, reduces its usefulness. However individual institutions may choose to use it as part of their core data and so make it available for interchange.
ABCD compatible: GatheringSite/NearNamedPlaces/NamedPlaceRelation/NearNamedPlace
This group of fields describes the physical and environmental characteristics of the locality in which the plant was collected as opposed to the characteristics of the plant itself.
TDWG Short name: HABITAT
Description: Description of the habitat of the accession, including the geology and soil type in which the plant grows, as well as the associated species of the community from which this accession was collected.
Relevant standards: ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; free text, any meaningful habitat descriptions.
Comments: This information is usually provided by the original collector.
This is an aggregate field, containing information that could be divided among the following fields. In fact, many herbaria have entries for these segregate fields in their field note books.
Since there are no universally accepted schemes for the classification of soils, vegetation, landforms and substrates that modern collectors can be expected to follow, the information in this field is regarded as free text. Furthermore, to translate a collector's historical descriptions into modern schemes is prone to error and misinterpretation.
Institutions with entirely or partially codified habitat data will have to expand the codes prior to interchange.
Institutions with habitat data (as defined here) stored in discrete fields must combine these fields prior to interchange if they are to use this field in the transfer format.
ABCD fully compatible: GatheringSite/BiotopeData/BiotopeText
Description: A description of the topography of the habitat from which the specimen was collected.
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; free text.
Comments: Refer Comments under Habitat.
Information in this field includes landform, situation, etc.
ABCD: no direct correspondance, covered by GatheringSite/AreaDetail and (if measured) GatheringSite/Slope
Description: The abbreviated aspect or outlook of the site from which the plant was collected
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid directional or aspect abbreviation.
| Values in Field | Meaning |
| N | North |
| S | South |
| E | East |
| W | West |
| also | NE, SE, NW, SW, NNE, ENE, ESE, SSE, NNW, WNW, WSW, SSW. |
| also | Open Used to refer to a plain or ridge crest |
| Closed Used to refer to a valley or ravine |
Comments: Refer Comments under Habitat.
ABCD compatible: GatheringSite/Aspect/Ordination
Description: The substrate or parent rock material in the habitat from which the specimen was collected.
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; free text.
Comments: Refer Comments under Habitat.
This field should not include descriptions of soil type.
ABCD: GatheringSite/BiotopeData/BiotopeName (+Classification, if a formal classification is used)
TDWG Short name: SOILS
Description: Description of the surface soil type from which the specimen was collected.
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; free text.
Comments: Refer Comments under Habitat.
In many cases it is difficult to separate soil and substrate information from a habitat description.
ABCD: GatheringSite/BiotopeData/BiotopeName (+Classification, if a formal classification is used)
TDWG Short name: VEGETATION
Description: Description of the vegetation from which the specimen was collected.
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; free text.
Comments: Refer Comments under Habitat.
The contents of this field are sometime inseparable from the contents of the next field, Associated Species.
ABCD fully compatible: GatheringSite/Synecology/Comment
Description: A list of associated species found in the same habitat as the collected specimen.
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; free text, scientific names (with standard Capitalisation) or non-scientific names.
Comments: In most herbaria, this field is combined with the previous field as part of the vegetation description; with historical material it is sometimes difficult to separate these two fields.
Refer Comments under Habitat and Vegetation.
ABCD compatible: GatheringSite/Synecology/AssociatedTaxon/TaxonIdentified/ScientificName/FullScientificNameString or ../TaxonIdentified/InformalNameString)
If not stated otherwise, all ABCD xpath statements given start with Datasets/Dataset/Units/Unit/
This group of fields deals with all the descriptive and coded
information that describes the collector's names, field numbers, and dates of
collection.
It does not cover
descriptive information about the plant itself nor habitat information (refer
previous and following groups).
Where relevant, all of the standard HISPID3 fields in this group
refer to the original wild source collection information (refer LOCATION
GROUP, above for further details).
If the current accession was taken from a secondary source (eg. cultivated material, of known or unknown wild source), then the relevant field identifiers would all be prefaced by the word 'Subsequent' and the relevant Transfer Codes would be prefaced by a lowercase 's'. For example, the field which contains the information about the collector's name of the current accession which was taken from cultivated material would be known as Subsequent Collector's Name and the Transfer Code would be scnam. The same Domain/Range/Values and Comments apply for these 'Subsequent' fields as for the relevant 'primary' data fields.
ABCD: the data of the original or subsequent collection may be accommodated by the creation of a separate unit with the respective collection data, which may be related to the present one by means of a UnitAssociation.
TDWG Short name: COLLECTOR
Description: The name of the person or persons who made the collection from the wild on which this record is based, and whose collection number is cited in the next field (refer Collector's Identifier field).
Relevant standards: ABIS, ITF, TLR
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid collector's name, primary collector's family name (surname) followed by comma and space (, ) then initials (all in uppercase and each separated by fullstops). All initials and first letter of the collector's family name in uppercase. For example, Chambers, P.F. For exceptions to this format, refer Comments (below).
Comments: The collection number of the record (refer
Collector's Identifier) is regarded as being assigned by the primary
collector of the material (as cited in this field).
If more than one primary collector is associated with the
collection number(cf. Secondary Collector's Name field, below), then the
names of these collectors should be cited in this field, with the comma and
space used to separate these multiple collectors. For example, Tan, F.,
Jeffreys, R.S.
If necessary, the first and or other given names should be spelt
out when there is a known chance of confusion. For example, to distinguish
between Wilson, Paul G. and Wilson, Peter G. (with a space after the given name;
no punctuation, except as separator between two names, as described
above).
If only one person collected the material from the wild, as
represented by this record, then the person's name must be entered only
in this field.
Titles should be omitted.
If the family name (surname) consists of a preposition and a
substantive, as in many European names (eg. C.G.G.J. van Steenis), then the
preposition is in lowercase and the substantive has a Capital first letter. The
remaining letters are in lowercase. Names of this form should be transferred as
follows:
cnam "Steenis, C.G.G.J. van",
Other examples of similar form include: de la Salle,
d'Entrecasteaux, van Royen. However, it is important to note that many of these
names have been anglicised, particularly in America, such that both parts of the
family name are treated as the substantive. In such examples, these names are to
be transferred as follows:
cnam "De Nardi, J.C.",
The prefixes O', Mac' Mc' and M' (eg. MacDougal, McKenzie,
O'Donnell) should all be treated as part of the substantive and hence
transferred as part of the family name. For example:
cnam "McKenzie, V.",
Hyphenated given names should be tranferred as all uppercase,
with the first and last initial separated by a hyphen (without spaces), and only
the last initial terminated by a fullstop. For example:
cnam "Quirico, A-L.",
cnam "Peng, C-I.",
ABIS includes all collectors in one field in the format:
surname, comma, initials. This is not followed in the HISPID3
standard.
If the collector of the record is unknown, then this
field should contain the value 'Anonymous'.
Interpreted information should be enclosed in square brackets,
eg. Anonymous [? F. von Mueller]
The use of a personal herbarium is admissible here: eg.
Anonymous (Herb. J.M. Black).
ABCD compatible: GatheringAgents/GatheringAgent (with primarycollector attribute set, or only one)
TDWG Short name: COLLPREFIX, COLLNUMBER, COLLSUFFIX
Description: The sequential or other codified number given to the specimen at the time of collection, by the primary collector(s), usually as on specimen label.
Relevant standards: ABIS, ITF, TLR
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric.
1. The Collector's Identifier may consist of any
characters in the ASCII character subset.
2. If the Primary Collector's Name is unknown, then this
field would normally not be filled.
Comments:
If the Collector's Identifier is part of an institutional
series, then the institution's code should be included as part of the field
number.
Collector's initials should not be included as part of the field
number.
If a number or component is interpreted in any way, then the
interpreted part should be enclosed in brackets.
Care should be taken to avoid confusion with institutional
collection series and sheet numbers. Numbers assigned to the specimen after
collection should not be used.
If the collection number is not known, then this field should
contain the value 's.n.'
The ABIS standards include a former collection number in this
field but this creates problems if the specimen has also been assigned its own
field number.
ABCD compatible: CollectorsFieldNumber (no restrictions)
TDWG Short name: COLLTEAM
Description: Other persons responsible for the collection (from the wild) together with the primary collector of this record.
Relevant standards: ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid collector's name, secondary collector's family name (surname) followed by comma and space (, ) then initials (all in uppercase and each separated by fullstops)(refer Primary Collector's Name field for further details).
Comments: Refer Comments under Collector's Name.
Most commonly this field will not be filled, which implies a single collector; it should not be filled if the Primary Collector's Name(s) field is not filled.
If there are multiple secondary collectors, then the names of these collectors should be cited in this field, with the comma and space used to separate these multiple collectors. For example, Campbell, E.D., Lindley, S.A.
If necessary, the first and or other given names should be spelt out when there is a known chance of confusion. For example, to distinguish between Wilson, Paul G. and Wilson, Peter G. (with a space after the given name; no punctuation, except as separator between two names, as described above). Titles should be omitted.
ABCD compatible: GatheringAgents/GatheringAgent (with primarycollector attribute not set)
Description: Amateur or casual collector who collected specimen for primary collector.
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid collector's family
name (surname) followed by comma, then space and initials (refer Primary
Collector's Name(s) field).
ABCD: no equivalent element.
TDWG Short name: COLLDATE
Description: The date on which the material was collected, as represented by this record or, if a second collection date is provided (refer Second Collection Date field below), then this field contains the earlier collection date.
Relevant standards: ABIS, ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Integer; any chronologically acceptable date, year (4 digits) followed by month (2 digits) and then day (2 digits), without spaces between each.
1. In this notation, leading zeroes must be included for months and days, ie. January is coded as '01' not '1' and the 4th day is coded as '04' not '4'.
| Example: | 19851109 | 9 November 1985 |
| 19510203 | 3 February 1951 |
2. If the day of the month is not known, then the last two digits should be omitted.
Example: March 1901 would preferably be transferred as 190103.
3. If the day and month are not known, the last four digits should be omitted and just the 4 digit year information interchanged.
Note: The year is transferred as a full 4digit number to facilitate the use of the system in the next century, as well as to track verifications from the previous century.
ABCD compatible: GatheringAgents/GatheringDateTime/ISODateTimeBegin (different format)
TDWG Short name: COLLDATE2
Description: The most recent date on which the material was collected, as represented by this record, when a range of collection dates are provided (refer Collection Date field above).
Relevant Standards: ABIS, ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Integer; any chronologically acceptable date, year (4 digits) followed by month (2 digits) and then day (2 digits), without spaces between each.
1. In this notation, leading zeroes must be included for months and days, ie. January is coded as '01' not '1' and the 4th day is coded as '04' not '4'.
| Example: | 19660419 | 19 April 1966 |
| 19451202 | 2 December 1945 |
2. If the day of the month is not known, then the last two digits should be omitted.
Example: June 1911 would preferably be transferred as 191106.
3. If the day and month are not known, the last four digits should be omitted and just the 4 digit year information interchanged.
Notes: The year as a full 4digit number to facilitate the use of the system in the next century, as well as to track verifications from the previous century.
ABCD compatible: GatheringAgents/GatheringDateTime/ISODateTimeEnd (different format)
Description: A field which allows the description of imprecise collection dates which do not conform to the international 'Date' data standard.
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha-Integer; any chronologically acceptable date which can not be converted to the format of the previous collection date fields.
Comments: This field allows for the interchange of the following types of collection date information:
For example:
'Spring 1912', 'late 1800's', 'end of 19th Century'
ABCD fully compatible: GatheringAgents/GatheringDateTime/DateText
HISPID and ITF grouped these data into two fields (namely 'Kind of Collection & Additional Components Flag' and 'Voucher Flag') with several categories included in each. However, it may be preferable to consider separating each category into distinct fields for transfer. This would readily enable unique identifiers (such as institutional 'spirit' numbers and photographic numbers) to be transferred with each category.
Description: The kind of specimenassociated material represented by this record number, such as sheet, packets, spirit, slides etc., not propagating material.
Relevant standards: TLR
Domain/Range/Values:, Alphabetic; this field must consist of one of the values in the table below.
| Value of Field | Meaning |
| Alcohol | Alcohol or any other fluid preserved material |
| Bark | Bark sample |
| Boxed | Boxed specimen |
| Cytological | Cytological preparation |
| Fruit | Fruit, carpological |
| Illustration | Illustrations |
| Image | Electronic image |
| Other | Other |
| Packet | Specimen stored in Packet |
| Pollen | Pollen sample |
| Negatives, black & white and colour photographic prints (including Cibachrome) | |
| Reference | Reference herbarium |
| Seed | Seed collection |
| Sheet | Herbarium sheet |
| Slide | Microscope slides |
| Transparency | Transparencies, colour slides |
| Vertical | Vertically filed, |
| Wood | Wood sample |
Comments: The difficulty with this field for interchange is that this information may only describe the attributes of the collection in one institution (namely, the originating institution). It may not be an accurate description of the interchange material, so care is needed in using this field as part of the transfer file for exchange material.
Since a single collection may have more than one of the above attributes, the relevant individual descriptor codes should be transferred in alphabetical order, separated by a comma and a space. For example: if a collection consists of an herbarium sheet, alcohol-preserved material, and a colour photographic print, then this information would be transferred as Alcohol, Print, Sheet (note: each codes is singular, not plural).
ABCD compatible: SpecimenUnit/UnitPreparation/PreparationType (with language attribute, no controlled vocabulary)
Description: A flag to indicate if the specimen serves as a voucher for some special purpose.
Domain/Range/Values: Alphabetic; this field must consist of one of the values in the table below:
| Value of Field | Meaning |
| Anatomical | anatomical |
| Cytological | cytological |
| DNA | DNA Studies |
| Ecological | ecological |
| Flora | Flora project |
| Illustration | illustration |
| Indigenous | indigenous uses, ethnobotany |
| Living | living, including seed bank |
| Other | palynological |
| Photograph | photograph |
| Phytochemical | phytochemical, pharmacological |
| Unknown | voucher for unknown purpose |
| Zoological | zoological |
Comments: The presence of these flags does not necessarily imply the existence of supplementary material (eg. spirit, or slides) as described in the Kind of Collection & Additional Components Flag field (above), although some may have been prepared at some stage.
Since a single collection may be a voucher for more than one of the above categories, the relevant individual descriptor codes should be transferred in alphabetical order, separated by a comma and a space. For example: if a collection is a voucher for the current 'Flora of Australia' project and for an ecological survey, then this information would be transferred as Ecological, Flora (note: each code is singular, not plural).
ABCD: no equivalent element.
TDWG Short name: OBJECTS
Description: The number of herbarium sheets, packets, boxes, etc., that make up the specimen represented by this record.
Domain/Range/Values: Integer; any reasonable number of parts.
Comments: This field is most useful for the control of loan specimens that consist of multiple sheets or parts. It may not be so useful in other interchange files because this information may only describe the attributes of the collection in one institution (namely, the originating institution). It may not be an accurate description of the interchange material, so care is needed in using this field as part of the transfer file.
ABCD compatible: UnitMeasurement/MeasurementAtomised/MeasurementLowerValue (with MeasurementParameter set to "Number of Parts").
Description: A code indicating the presence of living material for cultivation, collected at the time of collection of the specimen on which the record is based.
Domain/Range/Values: Alphabetic; this field must consist of one of the values in the table below:
| Values in Field | Meaning |
| Cutting | cuttings |
| Division | division (of clumps etc.) |
| Plant | plants (whole) |
| Seed | seeds |
Comments: This field applies to the type of material gathered and not to the source of material.
If this field is not filled then it can be assumed that either no propagating material was collected or that the existence of propagating material was not recorded.
The presence of a propagating material code does not necessarily imply that live material is still in existence in cultivation.
As with the Kind Of Collection & Additional
Components field, if more than one type of material was collected for
cultivation, then the relevant individual descriptor codes should be transferred
in alphabetical order, separated by a comma and a space. For example: the
information for a collection which consisted of cuttings and seeds would be
transferred as Cutting, Seed (Note: each code is singular, not plural).
ABCD: The relationship to another
(living) specimen can be indicated by a UnitAssemblage, if the unit is present
in the same data source.
Description: A code to indicate the provenance of the accession of living material represented by the herbarium voucher.
Domain/Range/Values: Alphabetic; this field must consist of one of the values in the table below:
| Values in Field | Meaning |
| Cult. ex Wild | Propagule(s) from a wild source plant in cultivation |
| Cult. non-wild | Accession not of wild source |
| Unknown | Insufficient data to determine which of the above categories apply |
| Wild | Accession of wild source |
Comments: The terms outlined above are defined as follows:
| Cult. ex Wild |
Accessions derived by propagation directly from an original wild source plant. The method of propagation must be recorded in the Propagation History field. If the propagation is not directly from the original wild source plant, a complete history of the intermediate propagation steps must be known, otherwise the accession should be placed in the following category. |
| Cult. non-Wild |
Accessions derived from cultivated plants where the immediate source plant does not have a propagation history that can be traced in detail to a wild plant. This category normally includes all cultivars. |
| Unknown | Accessions where there is insufficient data or knowledge to know which of the three above categories applies. |
| Wild | Accessions which originate from material collected in the wild. The accession has not been propagated further, except in the case of plants that may have been grown on from the original stock. The accession may have come directly from the wild, or from a botanic garden or gene bank acting as a distribution centre. Accessions in this category will usually have accompanying collection data, but the category also includes accessions which are known to be of direct wild origin but which do not have such additional data. |
ABCD compatible: BotanicalGardenUnit/ProvenanceCategory (no restrictions defined).
Description: A code to indicate the nature of the production of the living plant material vouched by the herbarium material, for use in association with the previous field, Provenance Type Flag.
Relevant standards: ITF
Domain/Range/Values: One or two alphabetic letters, uppercase, as designated below.
The entry must be one of the following values:
| Values in Field | Meaning |
| I | Individual wild plant(s) |
| S | Seed or plant arising from seed (excluding apomixis) |
| SA | From open pollination (from the wild) |
| SB | From controlled pollination |
| SC | From plants that are isolated and definitely self-pollinated |
| V | Plant material derived asexually |
| VA | From vegetative reproduction (including vegetative apomixis) |
| VB | From apomictic cloning (agamospermy) |
| U | Propagation history uncertain or no information |
Comments
| 1. | The second character is optional to provide more detailed information to be recorded. It is recommended that both characters are used wherever possible. |
| 2. | The value 'I' refers to complete individuals (or ramets) that have been removed from the wild, or to accessions which are growing naturally within the area of the establishment to which the record system applies. For example, this allows for individuals or groups of individual growing naturally (ie. not deliberately introduced) in reserve areas to receive full accession status. |
| 3. | Seed set by apomixis should be coded 'VB' rather than by any of the 'S' codes. |
| 4. | Most wild-collected seed will be the result of open pollination, and even taxa which are fully self-compatible will normally show a small amount of outbreeding. Only if it is absolutely certain that wild-collected seed was set as the result of selfing (eg. cleistogamy, controlled selfing) should the entry be set to 'SC'. Occasionally wild-collected seed will be the result of controlled experimental pollination, where the entry should be set to 'SB' (or 'SC' if selfed), but the majority of wild seed should be coded 'SA'. |
| 5. | Where material has been derived from cuttings, divisions, or other vegetative propagules (including material for micropropagation) of wild plants, the entry should be set to 'VA', and not 'I'. Such vegetative propagules may potentially differ slightly from the wild individual by somatic variation. |
| 6. | If the accession is of wild provenance (Provenance Type = Wild), then Propagation History cannot be 'U'. |
| 7. | If Propagation History is 'I' (individual wild plants), Provenance Type must be Wild. |
ABCD compatible: BotanicalGardenUnit/PropagationHistoryCode (no restrictions defined).
Description: A code to indicate the type of donor from which the accession was obtained.
Relevant standards: ITF
Domain/Range/Values: A single uppercase alphabetic letter, as designated below:
1. The entry must consist of one of the following characters:
| Values in Field | Meaning |
| B | Botanic Garden or Arboretum |
| E | Expedition |
| G | Gene Bank |
| H | Horticultural Association or Garden Club |
| I | Individual |
| M | Municipal Department |
| N | Nursery or other commercial establishment |
| O | Other |
| R | Other research, field or experimental station |
| S | Staff of institution to which record system applies |
| V | University Department |
| U | Unknown or not applicable |
2. If more than one individual descriptor code is applicable to this record, then this information should be transferred in alphabetical order, without spaces or punctuation. For example: the information for a collection which was collected on an expedition by a University Department would be transferred as EV (also refer Comments below).
Comments: The ITF2 transfer format recommends that 'if more than one entry applies (eg. a plant collected by the botanic garden staff on an expedition), the highest entry in the table should be used. The ITF2 standard lists the above table in the following order: E G B R S V H M N I O U.
The purpose of this field is to allow the inclusion of information about the contents of the Donor Field. If the value for Donor Type Flag is O, then the Donor field description (see below) should be worded so as to indicate the type of donor.
ABCD compatible: BotanicalGardenUnit/DonorCategory (no restrictions defined).
Description: The person, institution or business from which the accession was obtained.
Relevant standards: ITF, Index Herbariorum
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; free text, use institutional code wherever possible.
Comments: Plant material may come to an institution from many sources and in various ways. The information under these headings cannot be coded or fully standardised. The following guidelines should be used wherever possible:
| 1. | Accessions obtained directly from the wild, usually received from the collector. The name of the collector (surname, comma, space, initials with full stops, and standard capitalisation) should be given first, followed by the name of the country or area to which the expedition was made; or if the expedition has its own title, eg. Sino-British Expedition to China, this should be followed by the name of the country or area. Abbreviations or truncations can be used as necessary. |
| 2. | Accessions obtained from other institutions, using standard Index Herbariorum codes, or in full if institution does not have such a code. |
| 3. | Accessions obtained from private individuals. The minimum information should be the person's name (surname, comma, space, initials with full stops, and standard capitalisation) and country. More detail can be added, such as town and province, if necessary to identify collector. |
| 4. | Accessions obtained from horticultural or specialist plant societies. The name of the society (truncated as necessary) followed by the name of the country in which the society is based. Avoid abbreviations where the meaning is not clear. |
| 5. | Accessions obtained from gene banks, urban parks, garden centres or commercial suppliers. The name of institution (truncated as necessary) followed by the name of the country in which the institution is based. |
ABCD equivalent: SpecimenUnit/Acquisition/AcquisitonSourceText
Description: Used when a living accession is transferred from one herbarium, garden or gene bank (or other institution that maintains a record system) to another, this is the unique identifier from the previous institution's record system.
Relevant standards: ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; the Donor's Accession Identifier may consist of any characters in the ASCII characters. It must be prefaced by the institutional code of the donating institution.
Comments: If the plant was originally collected by or for the donating institution from the wild, or came from a source that did not have a record system, then this field should not be filled.
Otherwise, the Donor's Accession Identifier should be a unique set of characters that identifies each accession in the donor's record system. Or in the case of multiple accessions of the same taxon from one collection site or multiple plants derived from a single seed sowing, a single value for the Donor's Accession Identifier field is permissible.
Notes: This field is not the Collector's identifier for the accession; those data are held under the Collector's Identifier field. It is the donor's record system identifier. This identifier is often attached to the sheet in the home institution and is not always present on donated or exchanged replicates.
ABCD equivalent: SpecimenUnit/SpecimenUnitHistory/PreviousUnits/PreviousUnit/*ID
This group of fields covers information about the plant itself, generally those characters that will not be immediately obvious from the preserved specimen.
TDWG Short name: NOTES
Description: This field includes descriptive information about this plant record, including habit, shape and colour of vegetative and reproductive parts of the plant.
Relevant standards: ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; free text.
Comments: This information is usually provided by the collector.
As far as possible, this information should be transcribed verbatim from the herbarium label.
Refer Comments under Locality.
Notes: This is an aggregate field, containing information that could be divided among the following fields: Habit, Life form, Phenology. In fact, many herbaria have entries for these segregate fields in their field notebooks. Note: Information about flower colour is not interchanged as a separate field.
The Comments about encoding data under Habitat also apply here. Institutions that encode and compartmentalise the information relevant to this field will need to expand and combine it into this single Collection Note field prior to interchange, if they wish to include this field in the transfer file.
TDWG Short name: FREQUENCY
Description: A description of the local abundance of the taxon represented by the record, without any perceived conservation status implied or provided, as recorded by the collector.
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; free text.
Comments: Due to the lack of agreed standards for terms covering abundance, the difficulty of interpreting historical material, and the fact that statements of abundance are usually embedded in other descriptive text, it seems preferable to combine abundance into a more general notes field (eg. Collection Notes). However, since ITF2 maintains this information as distinct from the Collection Notes field, this information is also included as a distinct field in HISPID3. However, ITF2 includes frequency assessment data in the Conservation Status (Threat) field. Although the latter field is also available in HISPID3, it is recommended that the current Frequency field, together with the three Plant Occurrence and Status Scheme fields are used to transfer information describing frequency and perceived conservation. status.
ABCD equivalent: UnitMeasurementOrFacts/UnitMeasurement/MeasurementAtomised/MeasurementLowerValue (with IsDescriptor set to "True" and ParameterMeasured set to "Frequency"
TDWG Short name: FREQUENCY
Description: A description of the local abundance, hence perceived conservation status of the taxon represented by the specimen of this record in the above habitat, as recorded by the collector.
Relevant standards: ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; free text.
Comments: Due to the lack of agreed standards for terms covering abundance, the difficulty of interpreting historical material, and the fact that statements of abundance are usually embedded in other descriptive text, it seems preferable to combine abundance into a more general notes field (eg. Collection Notes). However, since ITF2 maintains this information as distinct from the Collection Notes field, this field is also included as a distinct field in HISPID3.
ABCD: no equivalent element
Description: This field records whether the plant is a native of the collection habitat or whether it is a naturalised introduction.
Relevant standards: ITF
Domain/Range/Values: To be decided.
Comments: It is expected that this field will have values similar to the following:
Values in Field
Natural
Naturalised
Unknown
Guidelines: World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge (WCMC) are working on this standard, soon to be in press.
ABCD: no equivalent element
Description: This field records whether the plant occurs as a cultivated specimen or not, in the collection habitat.
Relevant standards: ITF
Domain/Range/Values: To be decided.
Comments: This field records whether the plant is established or not established (hence, only maintained as a cultivated plant), in the collection habitat. It is expected that this field will have values similar to the following:
Values in Field
Cultivated
Not cultivated
Unknown
Guidelines: World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge (WCMC) are working on this standard, soon to be in press.
ABCD: no equivalent element
Relevant standards: ITF
Domain/Range/Values: To be decided.
Comments: It is expected that this field will have values similar to the following:
Values in Field
Human
Non-human
Unknown
Guidelines: World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge (WCMC) are working on this standard, soon to be in press.
ABCD: no equivalent element
TDWG Short name: PLTDESCR
Description: A description of the habit or life form of the specimen on which the record is based.
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; free text, any valid description of a plant habit.
Comments: Since there are no universally accepted schemes for the classification of habit that modern collectors can be expected to follow, the information in this field is regarded as free text. Furthermore, to interpolate a collector's historical descriptions into modern schemes is prone to error and misinterpretation.
ABCD equivalent: UnitMeasurementOrFacts/UnitMeasurement/MeasurementAtomised/MeasurementLowerValue (with IsDescriptor set to "True" and ParameterMeasured set to "Habit"
Description: The phenological state of the specimen represented by this record.
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; a value as listed in table below:
Values in Field
HIGHER PLANTS
'FLOWERS' (Pre-fertilisation)
| bisexual flowers |
| buds |
| female cones |
| female flowers |
| flowers |
| male/female cones |
| male cones |
| male flowers |
'FRUITS' (Post-fertilisation)
| fruit |
| fruiting cones |
CRYPTOGAMS
| gametophyte |
| sporophyte |
| spore-bearing bodies |
GENERAL TERMS
| fertile |
| sterile |
| leafless |
Comments: If more than one individual descriptor applicable to this record, then this information should be transferred in alphabetical order, with each descriptor separated by a comma and a space (, ) For example: the information for a flowering, leafless collection would be transferred as:
phe "flowers, leafless",
ABCD equivalent: UnitMeasurementOrFacts/UnitMeasurement/MeasurementAtomised/MeasurementLowerValue (with IsDescriptor set to "True" and ParameterMeasured set to "Plant Phenology"
Description: A single character indication of the presence of additional data available on the specimen and not represented in this record.
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; Y or N:
| Values in Field | Meaning |
| N | No additional data present |
| Y | Additional data present |
Comments: The existence on the specimen label of extremely detailed field notes or botanists' annotations and comments may be flagged in this field.
ABCD: no equivalent element
Description: Any additional information to be transferred pertaining to the accession, but not catered for in the preceding fields.
Relevant standards: ITF
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; free text.
TDWG Short name: REPLICATES
Description: Number of replicate specimens represented by this record or collection.
Domain/Range/Values: Integer.
Comments: A count of the replicate specimens indicated on the field label, either explicitly or implicitly through the distribution list. This information is probably not necessary for interchange, especially if the Replicates Destination field is transferred (see below).
ABCD: no equivalent element
Description: The initial destination(s) of replicate specimens, using Index Herbariorum codes.
Relevant standards: Index Herbariorum
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid Index Herbariorum code (in uppercase), or name written in full if no code available, separated by comma and space.
Comments: The destinations in this field are the initial, not the ultimate, destination. There is no reliable way of checking if and where donated specimens may have been redirected.
This group of fields contains information pertaining to specimen loan transactions. In a normalised database this group of fields fits very comfortably into a separate linked table. Some institutions maintain this information in a separate database.
To reduce duplication of data entry effort and to facilitate monitoring of specimens on loan, specimen data should be exchanged with the specimens going on loan.
Description: The unique institutional loan number applied with the loan sequence number to uniquely identify a specimen on loan.
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; with or without other special characters.
Comments: This can be a simple sequential number series or an encoded arrangement involving the year and the loan number within the year. Institutions that store a loan number as two separate fields will need to combine the fields prior to interchange.
Used in association with the next field, Loan Sequence Number.
Description: The sequence of a specimen within a given loan, assigned with the Loan Identification to uniquely identify a specimen on loan.
Domain/Range/Values: Integer; values starting at 1 and sequential.
Comments: Used in association with the previous field, Loan Identification.
ABCD fully compatible: HerbariumUnit/LoanSequenceNo
Description: Institution to which the loan is being sent.
Relevant standards: Index Herbariorum
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid Index Herbariorum code (in uppercase), or written in full if no code available.
ABCD fully compatible: HerbariumUnit/LoanDestination
Description: Name of botanist for whom the loan is destined.
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid botanist's name, with the botanist's family name (surname) first, then comma and space, followed by initials (in uppercase and each separated by fullstops), first letter of surname capitalised.
ABCD fully compatible: HerbariumUnit/LoanForBotanist
Description: The means by which the loan is being despatched from the home institution.
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha.
| surface mail |
| airmail |
| airfreight |
| road |
| rail |
| courier |
| safe hand |
| insured/registered |
ABCD compatible: HerbariumUnit/LoanDespatchMethod (no controlled vocabulary)
Description: The date the loan is prepared and/or sent
Domain/Range/Values: Integer; year (4 digits) followed by month (2 digits) and then day (2 digits), without spaces between each. That is, YYYYMMDD. For example, the 8th June 1975 would be transferred in the form 19750608 (refer Collection Date for further details).
ABCD compatible: HerbariumUnit/LoanDate (format difference)
Description: The date on which the loan is due to be returned to the home institution.
Domain/Range/Values: Integer; year (4 digits) followed by month (2 digits) and then day (2 digits), without spaces between each. That is, YYYYMMDD. For example, the 4th February 1996 would be transferred in the form 19960204 (refer Collection Date for further details).
ABCD compatible: HerbariumUnit/LoanReturnDate (format difference)
The fields in this group record housekeeping details of data entry and modification and can be largely automated and transparent to the user.
It is possible and perhaps desirable to keep an inhouse audit trail of all modifications to the record and not just the last modification.
This group is important in the management of new data and data corrections between institutions interchanging information. They provide a useful means of tracing the sources of interpreted information and errors. They can also be used to avoid the duplication of data entry.
TDWG Short name: CREATEBY
Description: Name or signon code of the person who created or entered the initial data for this record.
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; any valid operator name or code.
Comments: The use of an unique code here can serve as a link to more detailed biographical data.
ABCD no direct equivalent on unit-level, should be included in IPRStatements
TDWG Short name: CREATEDATE
Description: Date of data creation or the initial entry of this record in database.
Domain/Range/Values: Integer; year (4 digits) followed by month (2 digits) and then day (2 digits), without spaces between each. That is, YYYYMMDD. For example, the 22nd July 1987 would be transferred in the form 19870722 (refer Collection Date for further details).
ABCD no direct equivalent on unit-level, should be included in IPRStatements
TDWG Short name: CREATEINST
Description: The institution where this record was created or initially entered.
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; any valid Index Herbariorum code.
Comments: Although this field is described here, this information is often equivalent to the contents of the record identifier field Institution Code. In these instances, this field need not be transferred. However, if the electronic record was originally created at a third institution, then the code of this third institution should be included here as it will be different to the entry in the Institution Code field.
ABCD compatible: SourceInstitutionID
TDWG Short name: UPDATEBY
Description: Name or signon code of the last person to modify or update data for this record.
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; any valid operator name or code.
Comments: The use of an unique code here can serve as a link to more detailed biographical data.
ABCD fully compatible: LastEditor
TDWG Short name: UPDATEDATE
Description: Date of the last modification or update of this record.
Domain/Range/Values: Integer; year (4 digits) followed by month (2 digits) and then day (2 digits), without spaces between each. That is, YYYYMMDD. For example, the 14th October 1995 would be transferred in the form 19951014 (refer Collection Date for further details).
ABCD compatible: DateLastEdited (format difference)
TDWG Short name: UPDATEINST
Description: The institution where this record was last modified or updated.
Domain/Range/Values: Alpha; uppercase, any valid Index Herbariorum code.
Comments: Although this information is described here, the contents of this field are equivalent to Institution Code.
This information would be very useful when institutions come to share data and sort out multiple modifications to the same specimen information.
ABCD: no equivalent on unit-level
Transfer code: }
Description: The single character } indicating the end of a HISPID3 Record.
Domain/Range/Values: Must contain the symbol '}' only.
Comments: To be found at the end of each HISPID3 record indicating the end of the data of a record, prior to beginning the next record or the 'endfile' identifier if it is the last record in the transfer file.
ABCD: </Unit>
Description: The end of the transfer file has the file identifier 'endfile' only.
Domain/Range/Values: Must contain the transfer code 'endfile' only (all in lowercase).
Comments: To be found at the very end of a HISPID3 file indicating the end of the file.
ABCD: </Dataset>
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