News published 15 December 2025

BGCI Launches Major Taxonomic Backbone Update for PlantSearch

BGCI is pleased to announce the launch of a significant new update to PlantSearch, strengthening its role as the world’s most comprehensive resource on living plant collections. This new release introduces an improved taxonomic backbone, enhanced name-matching processes, and a fully transparent revision-tracking system—making PlantSearch more accurate, more reliable, and more valuable for conservationists, horticulturists and researchers worldwide.

Standardised Taxonomic Backbone

PlantSearch uses static reference copies from three globally recognised nomenclatural databases to standardise names across collections:

• World Flora Online (WFO) – primary reference for taxonomy
• World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP)
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI)

When a garden uploads its collection data, PlantSearch automatically matches each taxon name to these external sources. The matching hierarchy prioritises WFO, then WCVP, and finally IPNI.

Six-Monthly Taxonomic Revisions: Transparent and Traceable

Following the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) recommendation, from December 2025 onward, BGCI has formally adopted WFO as the principal taxonomic reference for PlantSearch. Every six months, after WFO releases its updates, PlantSearch automatically refreshes linked taxonomic information and generates a Revision Report for each garden. This ensures that taxon name and status changes resulting from updates in WFO are accurately reflected in PlantSearch. This first update is from June 2025. BGCI will update the PlantSearch backbone again in January 2026 following WFO’s next update, and every six months subsequently.

Dedicated revision area for gardens

A dedicated Revision area within My Garden area in PlantSearch allows users to:

• View all taxon changes generated by each WFO update.
• Track modifications to names, authorship, status, and reference IDs.
• Understand the full revision history of every individual taxon.
• Download detailed change reports in CSV or Excel format.
• Each field in the download includes both previous and new information, and a clear “changed” indicator.
• Clear Identification of Name, Status, and Reference Changes.

The update provides detailed insights into how names evolve over time. Examples include:

• Changes to the taxon name due to updated author citations
• Changes to both name and taxonomic status when a name becomes a synonym and is linked to its accepted taxon
• Changes in taxonomic status only, reflecting new consensus from WFO.

Users can also apply accepted names directly using a new “Switch to accepted name” function. The system clarifies how different types of taxa are processed:

• Exact or automatically assigned matches are listed immediately.
• Cultivar epithets are maintained but excluded from name-matching.
• Ambiguous or unmatched names are flagged for user review, ensuring data quality is maintained.

Synonyms now listed in search results

Following the taxonomic decisions made by WFO’s Taxonomic Expert Networks (TENs), searches in PlantSearch will now return all synonym names associated with an accepted name. As a PlantSearch user, you will also be able to see how many gardens hold a particular taxon—whether they list it under the accepted name or a synonym. If you are linked to a garden listed in GardenSearch, you will additionally be able to view which gardens hold each taxon and under which name.

A Global Collaborative Effort

This upgrade reflects the contributions of thousands of gardens that provide data to PlantSearch. BGCI extends sincere thanks to:

• PlantSearch system architect Keith Damiani.
• The WFO and WCVP teams.
• The many garden staff who participated in testing and feedback.

This enhancement strengthens PlantSearch as a cornerstone global resource for plant conservation, research, and horticultural knowledge.

Any queries please contact gardensearch@bgci.org. If you have feedback regarding nomenclatural corrections or classification, please send them to taxwg@worldfloraonline.org.