Table 1.
Comparison of three current comprehensive online lists of vascular plants: Leipzig Catalogue of Vascular Plants (LCVP), World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP) and WorldPlants.
| LCVP | WCVP | WorldPlants | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access | |||
| Website/portal | No (planned) | https://wcvp.science.kew.org/ | www.worldplants.de |
| Latest download* | 5 July 2020 | 16 March 2021 | No downloads |
| Full data download | https://idata.idiv.de/ddm/Data/ShowData/1806 | http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ | — |
| Also available via: | — | GBIF, Catalogue of Life p.p 35%, WCSP, POWO, WFO | GBIF, Catalogue of Life p.p. 60% |
| Data management format | lcvplants package database | ACCESS and SYBASE database | Text file |
| Update & review | |||
| Frequency | Constant updates planned, and a new version to be released every 2–3 years | Weekly via website | Website 2(−4) per month |
| Expert reviewed? | no | yes | no |
| Taxonomic references | Based on existing databases and an additional 4,500 publications | References to all taxonomic decisions and geographic distributions are captured and attached to individual records. A total of 9,464 references are used. | No direct links to taxonomic works except for protologues. Cross-checks against generic revisions and single taxonomic papers planned. No full list of the references used is published. |
| Vascular Plant totals** | |||
| Total names | 1,315,562 | 1,383,297 | Not available |
| Accepted names (species) | 351,180 | 342,953 | 352,048 |
| Synonyms | 846,279 | 925,561 | Not available |
| Doubtful/unplaced/unresolved names | 63,072 | 50,986 | Not available |
| Families accepted | 564 | 452 | 525 |
| Genera accepted | 13,460 | 13,778 | 14,361 |
The Plant List (TPL 1.1) is not included in this comparison because it is no longer maintained (last updated in 2013, based on 2012 data).
*Dates checked on 16 April 2021.
**Record numbers in this section derive from the most up-to-date versions available at the time of Data Descriptor preparation: LCVP 5 July 2020; WCVP 16 April 2021; WorldPlants 14 March 2021.