The ''Flora Europaea'' is a 5-volume encyclopedia of plants, published between 1964 and 1993 by

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

. The aim was to describe all the national

Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

s of Europe in a single, authoritative publication to help readers identify any wild or widely cultivated plant in Europe to the

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

level. It also provides information on geographical distribution,

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

preference, and

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...

number, where known. The ''Flora'' was released in CD form in 2001, and the

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

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 The Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) and its predecessor the Science Research Council (SRC) were the UK agencies in charge of publicly funded scientific and engineering research activities, including astronomy, biotechnology and bi ...

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

monocot Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, (Lilianae ''sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are grass and grass-like flowering plants (angiosperms), the seeds of which typically contain only one Embryo#Plant embryos, embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. Th ...

s of Volume 5. The royalties were put into a trust fund administered by the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

, 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: Lycopodiaceae 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 Thomas Gaskell Tutin, FRS (21 April 1908 – 7 October 1987) was Professor of Botany at the University of Leicester and co-author of ''Flora of the British Isles'' and ''Flora Europaea''. Earlier life Tutin was born on 21 April 1908 in Kew, Surre ...

(1908–1987) – Professor of Botany at

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_lab ...

: Vernon Heywood (b. 1927) – Chief Scientist, Plant Conservation, IUCN and professor emeritus at

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

: Alan Burges (1911–2002) – Professor of Botany at

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

: David Valentine (1912–1987) – Professor of Botany at

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

until 1966, then at

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

For the Revised Edition of Volume 1 only : : David Moore (1933–2013) – Professor Emeritus at

For the CD set only : :

Max Walters Stuart Max Walters (born Oughtibridge, Sheffield, Yorkshire 23 May 1920 – died Grantchester, Cambridgeshire 11 December 2005) was a British botanist and academic. As a conscientious objector in the Second World War, he worked as a hospital o ...

(1920–2005) – Director,

Cambridge University Botanic Garden The Cambridge University Botanic Garden is a botanical garden located in Cambridge, England, associated with the university Department of Plant Sciences (formerly Botany School). It lies between Trumpington Road to the west, Bateman Street to ...

: David Webb (1912–1994) – Professor of Botany at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

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:

Geographical Codes

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

References

{{reflist

External links

Flora Europaea front matter at Cambridge U P

Helsinki-based group creating maps to complement the ''Flora Europaea'' Europaea . Biological databases . Databases in the United Kingdom Online botany databases British online encyclopedias 1964 non-fiction books 1968 non-fiction books 1972 non-fiction books 1976 non-fiction books 1980 non-fiction books 1993 non-fiction books 2001 non-fiction books