The Flora Europaea is a 5-volume encyclopedia of plants, published between 1964 and 1993 by Cambridge University Press. The aim was to describe all the national Floras of Europe in a single, authoritative publication to help readers identify any wild or widely cultivated plant in Europe to the subspecies level. It also provides information on geographical distribution, habitat preference, and chromosome number, where known.

Flora Europaea
Flora Europaea vol 2 front cover
Authoreds. T. G. Tutin,
V. H. Heywood,
N. A. Burges,
D. H. Valentine,
S. M. Walters,
D. A. Webb
PublisherCambridge University Press
Publication date
6 December 2001
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typeHardback (5 vols) + CD
Pages2392
ISBN978-0-521-80570-4

The Flora was released in CD form in 2001, and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh have made an index to the plant names available online.

History

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The idea of a pan-European Flora was first mooted at the 8th International Congress of Botany in Paris in 1954.[1] In 1957, Britain's Science and Engineering Research Council provided grants to fund a secretariat of three people,[2] and Volume 1 was published in 1964. More volumes were issued in the following years, culminating in 1980 with the monocots of Volume 5. The royalties were put into a trust fund administered by the Linnean Society, which allowed funding for Dr John Akeroyd to continue work on the project.[3] A revised Volume 1 was launched at the Linnean Society on 11 March 1993.

Volumes

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Volume 1 : Lycopodiaceae to Platanaceae

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Published 1964

Volume 2: Rosaceae to Umbelliferae

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ISBN 0-521-06662-X
ISBN 978-0-521-06662-4
Published : 1 Dec 1968 (486 pages)

Volume 3: Diapensiaceae to Myoporaceae

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ISBN 0-521-08489-X
ISBN 978-0-521-08489-5
Published : 28 Dec 1972 (399 pages)

Volume 4: Plantaginaceae to Compositae (and Rubiaceae)

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ISBN 0-521-08717-1
ISBN 978-0-521-08717-9
Published: 5 Aug 1976 (534 pages)

Volume 5: Alismataceae to Orchidaceae

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ISBN 0-521-20108-X
ISBN 978-0-521-20108-7
Published: 3 April 1980 (476 pages)

Volume 1 Revised: Lycopodiaceae to Platanaceae

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ISBN 0-521-41007-X
ISBN 978-0-521-41007-6
Published: 22 April 1993 (629 pages)

5 Volume Set and CD-ROM Pack

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ISBN 0-521-80570-8
ISBN 978-0-521-80570-4
Published: 6 Dec 2001 (2392 pages)

Editors

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The editors named on every edition are :

Tom Tutin (1908–1987) – Professor of Botany at University of Leicester
Vernon Heywood (b. 1927) – Chief Scientist, Plant Conservation, IUCN and professor emeritus at University of Reading
Alan Burges (1911–2002) – Professor of Botany at University of Liverpool
David Valentine (1912–1987) – Professor of Botany at Durham University until 1966, then at University of Manchester

For the Revised Edition of Volume 1 only :

David Moore (1933–2013) – Professor Emeritus at University of Reading

For the CD set only :

Max Walters (1920–2005) – Director, Cambridge University Botanic Garden
David Webb (1912–1994) – Professor of Botany at Trinity College, Dublin

Regional advisers

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A panel of regional advisers was formed, in order to ensure full coverage of the whole of Europe. Several of the advisers were also authors in their respective taxonomic specialities. For each country the representatives were:

See also

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Geographical Codes

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The geographical distribution is indicated by a series of two letter codes.

Two Letter Code Geographical Region
Al Albania
Au Austria with Liechtenstein
Az Açores (Azores)
Be Belgium
Bl Islas Baleares (Balearic Islands)
Br Great Britain, including Orkney, Zetland and Isle of Man; excluding Channel Islands and Northern Ireland
Bu Bulgaria
Co Corse (Corsica)
Cr Kriti (Creta) (Crete) with Karpathos, Kasos and Gavdhos
Cz Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic and Slovak Republic)
Da Denmark
Fa Færöer (Faroe Islands)
Fe Finland (Fennia), including Ahvenanmaa (Åland)
Ga France (Gallia), with the Channel Islands (Îles Normandes) and Monaco; excluding Corse (Corsica)
Ge Germany
Gr Greece, excluding those islands included under Kriti (Crete) (supra) and those outside Europe as defined for Flora Europaea
Hb Ireland (Hibernia); both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
He Switzerland (Helvetia)
Ho Netherlands (Hollandia)
Hs Spain (Hispania) with Gibraltar and Andorra; excluding Islas Baleares (Balearic Islands)
Hu Hungary
Is Iceland (Islandia)
It Italy, including the Arcipelago Toscano; excluding Sardegna and Sicilia
Ju Jugoslavia (Yugoslavia)
Lu Portugal (Lusitania)
No Norway
Po Poland
Rm Romania
Rs Territories of the former U.S.S.R.
Rs(N) Northern Division: Arctic Europe, Karelo-Lapland, Dvina-Pecora
Rs(B) Baltic Division: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Kaliningradskaja Oblast'
Rs(C) Central Division: Ladoga-Ilmen, Upper Volga, Volga-Kama, Upper Dnepr, Volga-Don, Ural
Rs(W) South-western Division: Moldavia, Middle Dnepr, Black Sea, Upper Dnestr
Rs(K) Krym (Crimea)
Rs(E) South-eastern Division: Lower Don, Lower Volga Region, Transvolga
Sa Sardegna (Sardinia)
Sb Svalbard, comprising Spitsbergen, Björnöya (Bear Island) and Jan Mayen
Si Sicilia, with Pantelleria, Isole Pelagie, Isole Lipari and Ustica; also the Malta archipelago
Su Sweden (Suecia), including Öland and Gotland
Tu Turkey (European part), including Gökçeada (Imroz)

References

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  1. ^ Newbould, Palmer (4 November 2002). Obituary: Alan Burges. London: Independent.
  2. ^ "The House of Lords enquiry:- Systematic Biology in the UK - transcript of committee Tuesday 5 February 2002". The Systematics Association. Archived from the original on 2018-02-26. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  3. ^ "E+M About". Euro+Med Plantbase. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
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