XVI International Botanical Congess

A stable and consistent system for the scientific naming of plants - and animals - is essential for clear and effective communication in biology, and nowhere more so than in floristic (and faunistic) studies. The current principles and procedures of biological nomenclature, although with their roots in the middle of the last century, are the product of the past 100 years. As we enter a new century and as electronic information-processing becomes the norm, it is time to seek new procedures that, while maintaining stability in the application of existing names, will allow a reduction in the enormous time and effort currently expended on nomenclatural investigation, particularly through the need to evaluate the literature of the last 250 years. This will help free much needed taxonomic expertise and thereby facilitate the enormous task of taxonomic inventorying that is essential for the understanding and maintenance of the world's biodiversity.