A PHOTOGRAPHIC REGISTER OF TYPE SPECIMENS

Summary In a project organised by the Association pour l'Etude Taxonomique de la Flore d'Afrique Tropicale a register of type specimens of Ranunculaceae from tropical and southern Africa has been produced by assembling photographs of relevant specimens from 30 herbaria. Each photograph is documented by two names, that of the taxon under which the specimen is filed in the herbarium holding it and (where known) that of which the specimen is the type. Additional data can be read from the photographs themselves when necessary. In herbaria where types are already clearly distinguished the method proved relatively quick and involved minimal effort by curators, and the end product was found to answer most of the problems faced by botanists wishing to locate types. No follow‐up attempt to systematically go through herbaria recording type in this way is at present envisaged, but those working on plants of tropical and southern Africa are invited to submit any photographs of type specimens from this area to the AETFAT Library in Brussels where a photographic type register will be built up slowly.