Databases available from the BSBI

1) Visit the BSBI Database online to search for species names, chromosome numbers and literature.

2) Visit the Vice County Census Catalogue web database to find out which species is recorded in each county.

3) Download the latest BSBI checklists of the British & Irish Flora here:

(1) BSBI 2007 list. Excel file, 922kb, showing Latin name, Authority, English name and a running integer to allow you to sort the list taxonomically.

(2) List 2007. Text file, 534kb. The same list, but with the following details:-

1. accepted Latin names
2. authorities (Brummit abbreviations)
3. common name
4. BRC number (where available)
5. Kent numbers (family, genus, species, subspecies)
6. status, native or alien (to be revised in future versions)
7. name type, A1/2/3/AC.

Notice: the third supplement (by Clive Stace) to D.H. Kent’s List is now available from Summerfield Books, price, £2.50 including post. It covers the additions and emendments to the flora of the British Isles that have come to notice since August 2000, when the previous supplement was issued.

Herbaria at Home project

Britain’s first Virtual Herbarium is the Herbaria at Home project, run by Tom Humphrey and Leander Wolstenholme. the idea is to photograph herbarium sheets and then ask visitors to the web site to database the details. It is a process that slashes the cost of digitization by 90% and makes the collections infinitely more useful, as expert knowledge is contributed in the identification and computerisation stages.

The BSBI’s Database Committee supports the Herbaria at Home project (HatH) in its work. We are funding a programme of digitization, and are hosting the site on the BSBI’s server. Our aim is to work through many of the smaller and more vulnerable collections in schools, provincial museums and other institutions in Britain & Ireland.

The first such project completed was Launceston Museum in Cornwall.

To find out more, visit the HatH website.

Read a recent article in The Economist on this project.

Visit the ShropshireBotany website to find out about other users.

See how favourably HatH compares with Australia’s Virtual Herbarium.