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It is time to synthesize the knowledge that has been generated through more than 260 years of botanical exploration, taxonomic and, more recently, phylogenetic research throughout the world. The adoption of an updated Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) in 2011 provided the essential impetus for the development of the World Flora Online (WFO) project. The project represents an international, coordinated effort by the botanical community to achieve GSPC Target 1, an electronic Flora of all plants. It will be a first-ever unique and authoritative global source of information on the world's plant diversity, compiled, curated, moderated and updated by an expert and specialist-based community (Taxonomic Expert Networks-"TENs"covering a taxonomic group such as family or order) and actively managed by those who have compiled and contributed the data it includes. Full credit and acknowledgement will be given to the original sources, allowing users to refer back to the primary data. A strength of the project is that it is led and endorsed by a global consortium of more than 40 leading botanical institutions worldwide. A first milestone for producing the World Flora Online is to be accomplished by the end of 2020, but the WFO Consortium is committed to continuing the WFO programme beyond 2020 when it will develop its full impact as the authoritative source of information on the world's plant biodiversity.

Jurinea (Asteraceae: Cardueae) is a large Eurasian genus of about 180 species with centres of diversity in Central and Southwest Asia and the eastern Mediterranean. The genus includes many species with adaptations to xero-and chasmophytic habitats and comprises numerous endemics, especially in the Caucasus. Generic delimitations between Jurinea and closely related genera have been difficult to assess, as have the phylogenetic relationships with the genera Himalaiella, Jurinella and Lipschitziella, each of which has been suggested as congeneric with Jurinea. A molecular phylogenetic investigation at both the specific and the generic level to establish the generic delimitation of Jurinea and to evaluate the intergeneric relationships of the genus with other members of the Cardueae was hitherto lacking. In this study, we reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships between Jurinea and several closely related genera based on a representative taxon sampling using DNA sequence data of nuclear (ITS, ETS) and plastid DNA regions (trnK/matK, trnL-F). We also evaluate the infrageneric classification of Jurinea. Our results indicate that Jurinea is polyphyletic in its current circumscription, as the species J. gedrosiaca and J. cartilaginea are placed within the subtribe Centaureineae of the Cardueae. The rest of Jurinea is monophyletic and split into two major clades corresponding to the western and eastern range of the distribution area of the genus. The sister clade of Jurinea is composed of Himalaiella and Lipschitziella. Jurinella, which was segregated from Jurinea based on achene morphology, is congeneric with Jurinea. Like in other speciose Eurasian genera, the currently recognised sections do not reflect natural groups, whereas most clades found through molecular phylogenetic inference correlate with geographic patterns. A clade that exclusively comprises Caucasian endemics, including the narrow endemics of J. sect. Neobellae, was found. This clade represents an interesting study group for possible radiation events of Jurinea in the Caucasus.

The crisis facing the conservation of biodiversity is reflected in a parallel crisis in alpha taxonomy. On one hand, there is an acute need from government and non-government organisations for large-scale and relatively stable species inventories on which to build major biodiversity information systems. On the other, molecular information will have an increasingly important impact on the evidential basis for delimiting species and is likely to result in greater scientific debate and controversy on their circumscription. This paper argues that alpha-taxonomy built on the Internet (alpha e-taxonomy) can provide a key component of the solution. Two main themes are considered: (1) the potential of e-taxonomic revisions for engaging both the specialist taxonomic community and a wider public in gathering taxonomic knowledge and deepening understanding of it, and (2) why alpha-species will continue to play an essential role in the conventional definition of species and what kinds of methodological development this implies for descriptive species taxonomy. The challenges and requirements for sustaining etaxonomic revisions in the long-term are discussed, with particular reference to models being developed by five initiatives with botanical exemplar websites: CATE (Creating a Taxonomic E-Science), Solanaceae Source, GrassBase and EDIT (European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy) exemplar groups and scratchpads. These projects give a clear indication of the crucially important role of the national and regional taxonomic organisations and their networks in providing both leadership and a fruitful and beneficial human and technical environment for taxonomists, both amateur and professional, to contribute their expertise towards a collective global enterprise.

A new genus of Compositae, Shangwua, is described to accomodate all species formerly placed in Saussurea sect. Jacea. This genus is distinct from the other genera of tribe Cardueae in its unique combination of states of characters including involucral bracts, receptacle, paleae, anther, style, achene and pappus. Phylogenetic analyses based on molecular data suggest that this new genus belongs to the Xeranthemum group, a lineage of the Carduinae that diversified early, with only distant relationships to Saussurea and related genera. The genus Shangwua consists of three species occurring in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and Himalayas.

For Hieracium (s. str.), a novel, coherent classification policy on a Euro-Mediterranean scale is proposed, the implementation of which results in a substantial amount of nomenclatural changes.

BackgroundReliable taxonomy underpins communication in all of biology, not least nature conservation and sustainable use of ecosystem resources. The flexibility of taxonomic interpretations, however, presents a serious challenge for end-users of taxonomic concepts. Users need standardised and continuously harmonised taxonomic reference systems, as well as high-quality and complete taxonomic data sets, but these are generally lacking for non-specialists. The solution is in dynamic, expertly curated web-based taxonomic tools.The Pan-European Species-directories Infrastructure (PESI) worked to solve this key issue by providing a taxonomic e-infrastructure for Europe. It strengthened the relevant social (expertise) and information (standards, data and technical) capacities of five major community networks on taxonomic indexing in Europe, which is essential for proper biodiversity assessment and monitoring activities. The key objectives of PESI were: 1) standardisation in taxonomic reference systems, 2) enhancement of the quality and completeness of taxonomic data sets and 3) creation of integrated access to taxonomic information.New informationThis paper describes the results of PESI and its future prospects, including the involvement in major European biodiversity informatics initiatives and programs.