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.
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 The idea of a pan-European Flora was first mooted at the 8th International Congress of Botany in Paris in 1954. In 1957, Britain's Science and Engineering Research Council provided grants to fund a secretariat of three people, 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. A revised Volume 1 was launched at the Linnean Society on 11 March 1993.
Volumes
Volume 1 : Lycopodiaceae to Platanaceae Published 1964
Volume 2: Rosaceae to Umbelliferae
Published : 1 Dec 1968 (486 pages)
Volume 3: Diapensiaceae to Myoporaceae
Published : 28 Dec 1972 (399 pages)
Volume 4: Plantaginaceae to Compositae (and Rubiaceae)
Published: 5 Aug 1976 (534 pages)
Volume 5: Alismataceae to Orchidaceae
Published: 3 April 1980 (476 pages)
Volume 1 Revised: Psilotaceae to Platanaceae
Published: 22 April 1993 (629 pages)
5 Volume Set and CD-ROM Pack
Published: 6 Dec 2001 (2392 pages)
Editors The editors named on every edition are :
Tom Tutin (1908–1987) – Professor of Botany at University of Leicester Vernon Heywood (1927–2022) – Chief Scientist, Plant Conservation, IUCN and professor 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 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 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: Albania - F. Markgraf Austria - E. Janchen, K. H. Rechinger Belgium - A. Lawalrée Bulgaria - N. Stojanov Czechoslovakia - J. Dostál Denmark - T. W. Bōcher Finland - J. Jalas France - H. Gaussen, P. JovetGermany - H. Merxmüller, W. Rothmaler Greece - K. H. Rechinger Hungary - R. Soó, S. Jávorka Iceland - I. Óskarsson Italy - R. E. G. Pichi-Sermolli Jugoslavia - E. Mayer Netherlands - S. J. Van Ooststroom Norway - R. NordhagenPoland - B. Pawlowski Portugal - A. R. Pinto da Silva Romania - A. Borza, E. I. Nyárády Spain - E. Guinea, Oriol de Bolòs Sweden - N. Hylander Switzerland - E. Landolt Turkey - P. H. Davis U.S.S.R. - B. K. Schischkin, Andrey A. Fedorov
See also Species Plantarum – the first attempt at an encyclopedia of plants
Geographical Codes 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
External links Flora Europaea front matter at Cambridge U P Flora Europaea — online edition (database) Atlas Florae Europaea Helsinki-based group creating maps to complement the Flora Europaea