Impact of information technology on future floras

Abstract

Some important facilities offered by the information technology to innovate the development of traditional floras are illustrated and discussed. These include: random access interactive tools for the identification of species, low cost, easy updating, virtually unlimited space for high resolution images and texts, on-line utilities, strong synergy between authors and users. It is argued that the combination of printed books with integrated digital utilities and data-sources is the most desirable structure for future floras.