There are 60,000 names in use for grass species, but only 11,000 recognized species. So which name is the right one? Luckily, help is at hand from Kew herbarium scientist Derek Clayton, one of the world's authorities on grasses. Based on decades of accumulated knowledge, he has painstakingly assembled an exhaustive list of names. Applying strict rules of priority, Clayton established the accepted name for every one of the 11,000 species - a monumental task. Thanks to work carried out with colleagues Kehan Harman and Helen Williamson, this nomenclature database is available online.
The GrassPortal system will use the Kew nomenclature database as its backbone - the structure upon which all else is supported. Because, without a consistent and authoritative naming system, the biological, ecological and geographical data for each species will tangle into a confusing mess - something we are working very hard to avoid!
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