The background to the BSBI Database at Leicester is described in BSBI News 59: 43-44 (1991). To date it contains the following information:

• List of vascular plants of the British Isles (as published by D.H. Kent, 1992), complete with synonymy, full bibliographic citations and 'Kent' numbers. 
•  Additional alien taxa listed in Stace, New Flora of the British Isles, ed. 2 (1997). 
  Vernacular names: English, Gaelic, Welsh and Irish.
• BRC numbers.
• Chromosome numbers of British & Irish plants, with full documentation, including localities and literature references.
• Literature relating to the British & Irish flora, taken from:

1. BSBI Abstracts parts 1-28 (relating to 1970-1997), with additional cross-referencing;
2. BSBI Publications 1949 -1987, since these were not covered in the relevant Abstracts.

•  Vice-comital census data: a complete listing of taxa in Stace's New Flora, ed. 2, together with a list of vice-counties in which each taxon occurs, and other data including a specified source for each record. (The data are being checked at present).

In the immediate future, further alien taxa, as listed in Clement & Foster, Alien plants of the British Isles (1994) and Ryves et al., Alien grasses of the British Isles (1996), are being added to the database. Other information likely to become available in the near future includes, for example, phytogeographical elements, first records of British plants, altitudinal limits and the location of published illustrations. The Database Advisory Committee would be delighted to consider offers of further data, and would be particularly interested in hearing from anyone with an interest in infra-specific taxa or the location of type specimens collected in the British Isles, or indeed any other aspect of the flora that would be worth incorporating.

The staff at Leicester will respond to any requests for specific information. Information can be supplied either on disk or on paper, as required, at the following prices:

Requests for information from the database should be sent to:

Dr R.J. Gornall,
BSBI Database,
Biology Dept.,
University of Leicester,
Leicester
LE1 7RH

In your initial enquiry it would be most helpful if you could explain what you want as carefully as possible so that we in turn can provide guidance on how to fill in the formal application form that will be forwarded to you along with an invoice. When the completed form and payment is received, the data will be released to you.