---

The Flora of Virginia Project was undertaken in 2001 to steer the creation of the first comprehensive reference work on the native and naturalized plants of Virginia. The Project has a fourfold mission:

To produce a comprehensive manual of the plants of Virginia.

To provide a tool for plant identification and study by professional and avocational users, from academia, government, industry, and the public.

To incorporate the latest genetics-based information on evolutionary relationships, along with the best traditional taxonomic approaches.

To increase appreciation of and interest in conservation of Virginia's diverse and unique botanical heritage.

The Flora of Virginia will describe more than 3,500 plant species in 200 families, accompanied by 1,400 captioned, scaled, and botanically accurate illustrations. Generating the entry for just one species takes four to eight hours' work. First, a family treatment is developed through herbarium and literature research. The authors decide which species are native and which have been introduced and are self-sustaining in the wild and so also warrant inclusion. They develop an identification key to the genera within the family and a similar key to the species within each genus. They then develop a description for each species, mining the literature to compile information on morphology, habitat, biological status, and range.

Introductory material will include essays on the natural history and vegetation of Virginia and a historical account of botanical exploration in the state, as well as a key to the vascular plant families represented here. A glossary and bibliography will likewise be provided.