International Association for Plant Taxonomy
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The International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) is an organization established to promote an understanding of
plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...
biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
, facilitate international communication of research between
botanists This is a list of botanists who have Wikipedia articles, in alphabetical order by surname. The List of botanists by author abbreviation is mostly a list of plant taxonomists because an author receives a standard abbreviation only when that auth ...
, and oversee matters of uniformity and stability in plant names. The IAPT was founded on July 18, 1950, at the Seventh
International Botanical Congress International Botanical Congress (IBC) is an international meeting of botanists in all scientific fields, authorized by the International Association of Botanical and Mycological Societies (IABMS) and held every six years, with the location rotat ...
in
Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. The IAPT headquarters is located in
Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...
,
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
. Its president, since 2017, is Patrick S. Herendeen of the
Chicago Botanic Garden The Chicago Botanic Garden is a living plant museum situated on nine islands in the Cook County Forest Preserves. It features 27 display gardens in four natural habitats: McDonald Woods, Dixon Prairie, Skokie River Corridor, and Lakes and Shore ...
; vice-president is Gonzalo Nieto Feliner of the Real Jardín Botánico, Madrid; and secretary-general is Karol Marhold of the Plant Science and Biodiversity Centre,
Slovak Academy of Sciences The Slovak Academy of Sciences ( sk, Slovenská akadémia vied, or SAV) is the main scientific and research institution in Slovakia fostering basic and strategic basic research. It was founded in 1942, closed after World War II, and then reestab ...
, Bratislava. Both the taxonomic journal ''Taxon'' and the series ''Regnum Vegetabile'' are published by the IAPT. The latter series includes the ''
International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all those "trad ...
'', ''Index Nominum Genericorum'', and ''Index Herbariorum''.


Purpose

The IAPT's primary purpose is the promotion and understanding of biodiversity—the discovery, naming,
classification Classification is a process related to categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and understood. Classification is the grouping of related facts into classes. It may also refer to: Business, organizat ...
, and
systematics Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic tre ...
of plants—for both living and
fossil plants Paleobotany, which is also spelled as palaeobotany, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant remains from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments (paleogeogr ...
. Additionally, it promotes the study and
conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...
of plant biodiversity, and works to raise awareness of the general public to this issue. The organization also facilitates international cooperation among botanists working in the fields of plant systematics,
taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
, and
nomenclature Nomenclature (, ) is a system of names or terms, or the rules for forming these terms in a particular field of arts or sciences. The principles of naming vary from the relatively informal naming conventions, conventions of everyday speech to the i ...
. This is accomplished in part through sponsorship of meetings and publication of resources, such as reference publications and journals. The IAPT also seeks to achieve uniformity and stability in plant names. It accomplishes this through the ''
International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all those "trad ...
'', previously known as the ''International Code of Botanical Nomenclature'', and through the oversight of the International Bureau for Plant Taxonomy and Nomenclature.


Publications and online resources

The association's official journal is ''Taxon'', the only medium for the publication of both proposals to conserve or reject namesIAPT Strategic Plan
" (PDF). 2004. ''Taxon'' 53 (1): 2.
and proposals to amend the ''
International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all those "trad ...
.''


''Regnum Vegetabile''

''Regnum Vegetabile'' is a series of books on topics of interest to plant taxonomists. Many of the volumes are literature surveys or monographs in the area of plant systematics. There are several volumes of general use: *''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (vol. 159, 2018, ''ICN''), a set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal names that are given to plants. The current edition is known as the "Shenzhen Code", as it was drafted in 2017 at the Eighteenth International Botanical Congress in Shenzhen, China. *''International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants'', 8th edition (vol. 151, 2010), a companion to the ''ICN'' that sets forth rules regarding the names of plant
cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...
s. *''Index Nominum Genericorum'' (vols. 100-102 & 113), an index of all published
generic Generic or generics may refer to: In business * Generic term, a common name used for a range or class of similar things not protected by trademark * Generic brand, a brand for a product that does not have an associated brand or trademark, other ...
names covered by the ''ICN'', including the place of publication and information about the type species. The index is prepared in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution. An electronic version is available online. *''Index Herbariorum'', the first six editions (vol. 15, 31, 86, 92, 93, 106, 109, 114, 117, 120), a directory and guide to the
herbaria A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...
of the world, including contact information, abbreviation codes, and important collections located in each herbarium. Nowadays, the ''Index Herbariorum'' is an online database, managed by The New York Botanical Garden, and available for on-line searching. *''International Directory of Botanical Gardens'' (updated as vol. 95, 1977), a directory to
botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
s and
arboreta An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...
around the world. The series includes many additional volumes of interest to specialists in specific subdisciplines of botany, in addition to the ones listed above.


Databases

In addition to electronic versions of its print publications, the IAPT maintains the "Names in Current Use", a database of scientific names of extant botanical genera.


Awards

The IAPT established two Engler Medals in honour of
Adolf Engler Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 1930) was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on plant taxonomy and phytogeography, such as ''Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' (''The Natural Plant Families''), edited with ...
in 1986: the Engler Medal in Gold awarded every six years for outstanding lifetime contributions to plant taxonomy and presented since 1987 at each International Botanical Congress (IBC), and the Engler Medal in Silver (medal sensu lato) awarded from 1987 to 2001 for a monograph or other work in systematic botany and presented from 1990 to 2002 at various meetings, congresses, symposia, etc. In 2002 the latter medal was divided into three awards for outstanding publications in these areas: the Engler Medal in Silver (medal sensu stricto) awarded for monographic or floristic plant systematics; the Stafleu Medal awarded for historical, bibliographic, and/or nomenclatural aspects of plant systematics; and the Stebbins Medal awarded for phylogenetic plant systematics and/or plant evolution. The medals honor
Adolf Engler Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 1930) was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on plant taxonomy and phytogeography, such as ''Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' (''The Natural Plant Families''), edited with ...
(24 March 1844–10 October 1930),
Frans Antonie Stafleu Frans Antonie Stafleu (8 September 1921 – 16 December 1997) was a Dutch systematic botanist, former Chair of the Institute of Systematic Botany at the University of Utrecht, and author of ''Taxonomic Literature: A Selective Guide to Botanical ...
(8 September 1921–16 December 1997), and
George Ledyard Stebbins, Jr. George Ledyard Stebbins Jr. (January 6, 1906 – January 19, 2000) was an American botanist and geneticist who is widely regarded as one of the leading evolutionary biologists of the 20th century. Stebbins received his Ph.D. in botany from Ha ...
(6 January 1906–19 January 2000).


References


External links

* *
Index Nominum Genericorum
' *
Index Herbariorum
' {{Authority control Botanical nomenclature Plant taxonomy Botanical societies International scientific organizations Organizations established in 1950