Symbols, Abbreviations and Contractions
| ± | more or less |
| > | greater than |
| < | less than |
| abbr. | abbreviation |
| ACT | Australian Capital Territory |
| adj. | adjective |
| approx. | approximately |
| auctt. non | (auctorum non) preceeds the authority of a plant name when the name has been misapplied by other authors. Can be loosely translated as ‘of some authors but not of ...’ |
| C | central |
| c. | approximately (circa) |
| cf. | compare to (confer) |
| cm | centimetre |
| cv. | cultivar |
| diam. | diameter |
| dim. | diminutive |
| E | east, eastern |
| ed./eds | editor(s) |
| e.g. | for example (exempli gratia) |
| et al. | and others (et alii), and of others (et aliorum) |
| Fig. | Figure |
| flor. | floral |
| i.e. | that is (id est) |
| Is. | Island(s) |
| km | kilometre |
| L. | Linnaeus (in authorities for plant names) |
| L.S. | longitudinal section |
| Ma | million years ago |
| m | metre |
| mm | millimetre |
| N | north/northern |
| n. | noun |
| NCal | New Caledonia |
| NE | north-east |
| NG | New Guinea |
| NSW | New South Wales |
| NT | Northern Territory |
| NW | north-west |
| NZ | New Zealand |
| p./pp. | page/pages |
| Pl. | Plate |
| plac. | placentation |
| plur. | plural |
| PNG | Papua New Guinea |
| Qld | Queensland |
| q.v. | which see (quod vide) |
| RH | right-hand |
| S | south/southern |
| SA | South Australia |
| SE | south-east |
| sens. lat./s.l. | in a broad (taxonomic) sense (sensu lato) |
| sens. strict./s.s. | in a narrow (taxonomic) sense (sensu stricto) |
| sing. | singular |
| s.l. | (see sens. lat.) |
| sp. | species, singular |
| spp. | species, plural |
| ssp. | subspecies, singular |
| subsp. | subspecies, singular |
| subspp. | subspecies, plural |
| SW | south-west |
| syn. | synonym |
| Tas. | Tasmania |
| T.S. | transverse section |
| var. | variety |
| Vic. | Victoria |
| USA | United States of America |
| W | west/western |
| WA | Western Australia |