XVI International Botanical Congess

The 2nd ed. of the Mansfeld-Verzeichnis has become a standard reference for information on agricultural and horticultural crops. A new edition covering about 6,000 species of cultivated plants, is being prepared in English. Based on the manuscripts for the 3rd ed., an Internet-searchable database is under development, containing information on the following topics: taxonomy (accepted name, synonyms), folk names in various languages, distribution (wild distribution, area of cultivation), uses, history, references. Initially tools for the import of text manuscripts into the database had to be developed. For the future, an on-line system for editing will be developed. The work is part of the BIG project, which is funded by the German BMBF.