XVI International Botanical Congess

The second edition 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 third edition, an Internet-searchable database is under development, containing information on the following topics: taxonomy (accepted name, synonyms), fold names in various languages, distribution (wide distribution, area of cultivation), uses, history, references. Initially tools for the conversion and import of text manuscripts into the database had to be developed. For the future, an on-line system for editing and updating the database will be developed. The work is part of the Federal Information System Genetic Resources (BIG) project, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Technology (BMBF).