The Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Tropics (SEPASAT), based at Kew in UK, is charged with the task of identifying plants within that zone which have not already been commercially developed on a large scale but which have been reported to have potential use, e.g. for food, energy, chemicals, erosion control.
The organization published its first newsletter in September 1983. In it contributions were invited on experience in the use of plants in the arid and semi-arid tropics or on species to fulfil particular requirements.
Issue No. 3 of December 1984 announced that an output programme for the SEPASAT data held on computer is now in operation. The programme has been written in anticipation of the types of question that SEPASAT is likely to be asked. Thus it can provide a list of all the useful plants in a particular geographical area; or all the plants in the dry tropics that were found reported to have been used e.g. for sand dune stabilization (or famine foods or thatching or any of 600 or so other uses); or the data held on the plants in a particular plant family, genus or a single species. If a plant has previously been known by other scientific names (synonyms), which have been recorded, then the programme will automatically lead the enquirer from an old name to the name under which the plant is now known.
The maximum information that can be held on the computer for an individual species is as follows:
Scientific name, family and synonyms.
Life form (herb, shrub, tree, other).
Whether deciduous, evergreen, succulent, a bulb or bearing a rhizome.
Whether terrestrial, an epiphyte (ie: supporting itself on other plants), a parasite
(living in or on another living organism) or a saprophyte (obtaining nutrients from
dead or decaying tissue).
Whether unarmed or bearing thorns, prickles, stings or being viscid (sticky).
Life span (annual, biennial, perennial).
Habit (prostrate, erect, climber).
Toxic (Yes or No).
Relative economic and social importance (‘Preference’), graded 0 (lowest) to 5 (highest)
Environmental requirements (broad, non-numeric categories for pH (ie: acidity and
alkalinity), salinity, moisture and frost tolerance, rainfall requirement in mm).
Altitude (height above mean sea level in metres).
Uses. There are over 600 numerical use codes covering all possible plant uses (human food, animal food, timber and fuel, domestic uses, land use (ie: from erosion control to landscaping), fibre, pesticides, traditional medicines and general chemicals).
Distribution. Country and, where appropriate, State.
In most cases the information recorded is far from complete but for nearly every species there is at least a partial geographical distribution, an indication of the form of the plant (herb, tree, shrub, climber etc.), a reported use and (in the filing cabinets) a literature reference. Fuller details of the system are available in SEPASAT Newsletter No.3.
Requests for the Newsletter or for further information, and contributions on experience in use of plants in the arid and semi-arid tropics, should be addressed to:-
Dr. G.E. Wickens
SEPASAT
Royal Botanic Gardens
Kew, Richmond
Surrey TW9 3AE
UK.
