Photographic and textual keys are complementary

When ever I get stuck with photographic keys in efi site, textual keys comes to my rescue. similarly when I am stuck with textual keys, photographic keys comes to my rescue.
Deciphering textual keys becomes easier if we also we have photographic keys and vice-versa.
Some members may be more comfortable with photographic keys and others with textual ones and vice-versa.
Thus, photographic and textual keys are complementary.
We, at efi site, are trying to have both either directly or through links.
It is always good to have both.

Well said, …

Same with me also … but I am not yet ready for perfect match through keys. Still learning!
Yes very true.

But what I have also learnt from the beginning, if you working on plants of a particular area, try to locate locate a local, make preliminary identification using its keys and text, then locate a more comprehensive recent flora (say Flora of India) to confirm or clear doubts, compare also with comprehensive Floras of adjoining regions (say eFlora of Pakistan eFlora of China).
About which database to follow, I am not very sure, because most of the time major databases have different taxonomic and nomenclatural treatment. We have to decide on one and follow it consistently.

What you said is exactly …, 

I am also thinking both keys have equal importance and my self learning the same way, many times without photograph I can’t move with the text and when I have seen the image only will fix the meaning of the terms in keys….

 

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