Snapshots of the taxonomy

The World Flora Online (WFO) Plant List is the most comprehensive and authoritative list of vascular plants (flowering plants, conifers, ferns and their allies) and bryophytes (mosses, hornworts and liverworts). It is maintained by the global taxonomic community as a free and open-access resource. The latest versions of the citable static list is generated on June 21st and December 21st of each year from the dynamic WFO Taxonomic Backbone.

The WFO Plant List provides the accepted scientific name for all taxa (families, genera, species, etc.), with links to all synonyms by which that taxon has been known, and the position of each in the classification. However, a name marked as unplaced is not in the classification. It may be awaiting assessment by taxonomic experts and/​or the arrival of additional evidence. Deprecated records are names that are in our database, but should not be used. 

The latest version is shown on this homepage by default, but users can also step back in time to see how plant names were handled in earlier versions by using the handle below the version indication or by going to the Snapshot Archive Tab.

Further information on the WFO Plant List, and its precursor The Plant List.