The IAWA List of Microscopic Features for Hardwood Identification was adapted to DELTA (DEscription Language for TAxonomy), a package of computer programs for generating taxonomic descriptions and interactive species identification. The quality of our natural language descriptions generated by DELTA are suitable to prepare a first-draft manuscript. In specific taxon descriptions, minor changes to wording and syntax are more easily accomplished with a word processor, but all taxon changes to format, syntax, and wording are best accomplished with DELTA. As the user becomes more familiar with DELTA, the descriptions become more refined and fewer changes are necessary. The highly sophisticated interactive identification (INTKEY) program is flexible and versatile with many options to meet the needs of wood anatomists engaged in wood identification.
We studied the microscopic wood anatomy of 8 genera and 30 species in the tribe Caesalpinieae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae, with a focus on the identification and comparative anatomy of these genera. Characters suitable for reliable identification include intervessel pit size, fibre wall thickness, septate fibres, storied structure, ray type, ray width, and silica bodies. A table of diagnostic characters, generic descriptions, and photomicrographs provide tools for identification and descriptive information for comparative and phylogenetic studies.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.