The key will take a few minutes to come up and requires a Java capable browser. You may need to download and install the latest java plug-in.
The key will appear automatically, but it might take several minutes to show up on your screen.
When the Miami Tree Puzzle starts, you can scroll down to see four separate boxes:
In the upper left, you will see a list of plant characteristics. In the upper right, the possible states of a plant characteristic will appear AFTER you choose a character by clicking on it. In the lower right, a list of species having a character state will appear AFTER you choose a character state by clicking on it. In the lower left box a record of your character state choices will be kept.
You can change a choice by highlighting it in the lower left box and clicking on "Remove Selection".
You can also restart your session by clicking on "Remove All" in the lower left box.
As you select more character states, the list of species in the lower right box will dwindle until you are left with a single species.
Most of the characters and character states used in the Miami Tree Puzzle have standard botanical definitions. One exception is the character called "leaf-blade unit." Leaf-blade unit may be a traditionally defined "leaf" of a simple leaf, a leaflet of compound leaf, or a cladode including leaf segments of palms. This new character definition is intended to help beginning botanists avoid confusion between simple and compound leaves.
If you want to see a full description of any species, just click on it in the lower right box and a window will open that displays all the character states for the selected species. Always use the "CLOSE" at the upper right of this window to close it. (Using the "BACK" button at the top of your screen will cause the program to stop working.) To the left of the four puzzle boxes you will see buttons for Characters and Species. You can see a list of character states by clicking on Characters; click on the tree species name under Species to see an illustrative photograph of that tree.
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Copyright © 2005 Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, 10901 Old Cutler Road,
Coral Gables, FL 33156 USA Phone: (305) 667-1651 Fax: (305) 661-8953
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