Introduction
The Database of Vascular Plants of Canada (VASCAN) is a comprehensive list of all vascular plants reported in Canada, Greenland and Saint Pierre and Miquelon, containing information related to each taxon, such as its distribution, taxonomy, synonyms and vernacular names, and a source for most of these elements. VASCAN is literature-based, though recent additions are sometimes specimen-based.
We designed VASCAN to be as open as possible. As such, users can download the entire database or a subset through the checklist builder as Darwin Core Archives or flat text files. Users can also report and view issues with the data and interface in our open issue tracker.
Name search
Enter a scentific name or a vernacular name and the database will give you suggestions of corresponding names starting with the name you have entered. A search on “arte” will return “Artemisia”, but not “Two-parted sedge”.
For each scientific name, several pieces of information are provided:
- Status of the species (accepted or synonym)
- Vernacular names, in French and English, with status of the vernacular name (accepted or synonym)
- Synonyms
- Distribution at the province level, with distribution status:
- Native: Taxon present as a result of natural processes only, without human agency.
- Introduced: Taxon established (naturalized) in a region outside of its original range, as a result of human activity, either deliberate or accidental. Taxa are considered introduced in Canada when they became established after European colonization.
- Ephemeral: Taxon not established permanently in the region, but recurring in the wild on a near-annual basis, usually from cultivation (e.g. wheat, tomato, etc.).
- Excluded: Taxon reported from the region, but not established or erroneously determined.
- Extirpated: Taxon native to the region, but currently considered eradicated. This status is only given after active search, and is usually determined by a conservation agency.
- Doubtful: Taxon reported from the region by a source, but information not yet validated.
- Absent: Taxon not reported from the region.
- Classification
- Habit (tree, shrub, herb or vine)
Checklist builder
Interested to know which trees are native in Newfoundland, which genera are introduced in all of the prairies or which Salix species occur in British Columbia, but not in the rest of Canada? You can find out with the checklist builder, which allows you to combine a set of selection criteria (taxonomic group, habit, distribution, status or a combination of these) and display criteria (ranks to include, sort preference) to create your own customized checklist.
Once the result answers your needs you can download the checklist as a simple tab delimited text file or as a standardized Darwin Core archive. The latter also includes the vernacular names and synonyms.
The data are there to be used, which is why they are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA), allowing you to build upon our work. You can also download the full database as a Darwin Core archive.
API
Search
The VASCAN Search API accepts GET and POST requests. The path contains an explicit version and the search resource accepts a parameter q. The value for q can be a scientific name, a vernacular name or a VASCAN taxon identifier (e.g., 861). It may be a single value for GET requests or multiple values (maximum 200) for POST requests, each separated by line breaks, \n. Scientific or vernacular names may optionally be preceded by your local identifier and a pipe, |. GET requests for JSON-based URIs may have an additional callback parameter for JSONP responses.
http://data.canadensys.net/vascan/api/0.1/search.json
OR
http://data.canadensys.net/vascan/api/0.1/search.xml
Parameter
Scientific name, vernacular name, or VASCAN taxon identifier.
e.g. ?q=Crataegus dodgei
e.g. ?q=1004232|lowbush blueberry
e.g. ?q=5031
Response
{
apiVersion: "0.1",
lastUpdatedDate: "YYYY-MM-DD",
results: [
{
searchedTerm: "Crataegus dodgei",
numMatches: 1,
matches: [
{
taxonID: 8673,
scientificName: "Crataegus dodgei Ashe",
scientificNameAuthorship: "Ashe",
canonicalName: "Crataegus dodgei",
taxonRank: "species",
taxonomicAssertions: [
{
acceptedNameUsage: "Crataegus dodgei Ashe",
acceptedNameUsageID: 8673,
nameAccordingTo: "FNA Editorial Committee. in prep. Flora of North America north of Mexico...etc",
nameAccordingToID: "",
taxonomicStatus: "accepted",
parentNameUsageID: 2408,
higherClassification: "Equisetopsida;Magnoliidae;Rosanae;Rosales;Rosaceae;Spiraeoideae;Pyreae;Crataegus;Crataegus sect. Coccineae;Crataegus ser. Rotundifoliae"
}
],
vernacularNames: [
{
vernacularName: "aubépine de Dodge",
language: "fr",
source: "McMurray, S. & A. Lehela. 1999. Ontario Plant List - Digital Version 1.0...etc",
preferredName: true
},
{
vernacularName: "Dodge's hawthorn",
language: "en",
source: "",
preferredName: true
},
{
vernacularName: "aubépine jaunâtre",
language: "fr",
source: "Cuerrier, A. Proposition de nom français. (pers. comm.)",
preferredName: false
},
{
vernacularName: "yellowish hawthorn",
language: "en",
source: "Anions, M., Director of Science, NatureServe Canada (pers. comm.)",
preferredName: false
},
{
vernacularName: "yellowish Dodge's hawthorn",
language: "en",
source: "FNA Editorial Committee. in prep. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Volume 17...etc",
preferredName: false
}
],
distribution: [
{
locationID: "ISO 3166-2:CA-ON",
locality: "ON",
establishmentMeans: "native",
occurrenceStatus: "native"
},
{
locationID: "ISO 3166-2:CA-QC",
locality: "QC",
establishmentMeans: "native",
occurrenceStatus: "native"
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
OpenRefine
Use OpenRefine to reconcile your scientific or vernacular names against VASCAN.
http://data.canadensys.net/vascan/refine/0.1/reconcile
R Project
Use Taxize to reconcile your scientific or vernacular names against VASCAN.
https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/taxize/index.html
People
Luc Brouillet, Université de Montréal Biodiversity Centre, Marie-Victorin Herbarium (MT) - Coordination and design, compilation of taxonomic and distribution data
F. Coursol, Montréal Botanical Garden - Compilation of taxonomic and distribution data
Susan Meades, Northern Ontario Plant Database - Compilation of taxonomic data
Marc Favreau, Translation Bureau (retired) - Compilation of French vernacular names
Marilyn Anions, Botanist - Compilation of English vernacular names