The Plant List
Encyclopedia
The Plant List is a list of botanical name
s of species of plants, available on the world wide web
. It was created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
and the Missouri Botanical Garden
. It is intended to be comprehensive, that is, deal with all known names of species.
names of species
rank of which 298,900 are accepted species names, belonging to 620 plant families and 16,167 plant genera
..
The Plant List accepts approximately 300,000 unique species, with 480,000 synonyms for those species, meaning that many had been 'rediscovered' and renamed several times by botanists. The Plant List has determined that another 260,000 names are 'unresolved', meaning that botanists have so far been unable to determine whether they are a separate species or a duplication of the 300,000 unique species.
naturalist
Charles Darwin
, who in the 1880s started a plant list entitled Index Kewensis
that contained 400,000 names of species with an average of 6,000 species being added to it every year since it was first published.
Botanical name
A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar and/or Group epithets must conform to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants...
s of species of plants, available on the world wide web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
. It was created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...
and the Missouri Botanical Garden
Missouri Botanical Garden
The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder Henry Shaw, a botanist and philanthropist.-History:...
. It is intended to be comprehensive, that is, deal with all known names of species.
Findings
The Plant List has 1,040,426 scientific plantPlant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
names of species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
rank of which 298,900 are accepted species names, belonging to 620 plant families and 16,167 plant genera
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
..
The Plant List accepts approximately 300,000 unique species, with 480,000 synonyms for those species, meaning that many had been 'rediscovered' and renamed several times by botanists. The Plant List has determined that another 260,000 names are 'unresolved', meaning that botanists have so far been unable to determine whether they are a separate species or a duplication of the 300,000 unique species.
Public attention
The Plant List has attracted public attention, one source even going so far as to claim "The Plant List attempts to identify every plant known to science." The Plant List is also linked to EnglishEnglish people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
, who in the 1880s started a plant list entitled Index Kewensis
Index Kewensis
The Index Kewensis , maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is a publication that aims to register all botanical names for seed plants at the rank of species and genera...
that contained 400,000 names of species with an average of 6,000 species being added to it every year since it was first published.
See also
- Australian Plant Name IndexAustralian Plant Name IndexThe Australian Plant Name Index is an online database of all published names of Australian vascular plants. It covers all names, whether current names, synonyms or invalid names...
- International Plant Names Index
- WikispeciesWikispeciesWikispecies is a wiki-based online project supported by the Wikimedia Foundation. Its aim is to create a comprehensive free content catalogue of all species and is directed at scientists, rather than at the general public...