State of the World's Plants 

For the first time, a baseline assessment of our current knowledge on the diversity of plants on earth, the global threats these plants currently face, and the policies in place and their effectiveness in dealing with these threats.

On the diversity of plants, we can report that there are now an estimated ~391,000 vascular plants known to science of which 369,000 are flowering plants. Around 2000 new vascular plant species are described each year. In 2015 these included a massive leguminous tree (Gilbertiodendron maximum), more than 90 species of Begonia, 13 new species from the onion family, and discovery of a close relative of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas). Most were found during fieldwork, some in herbarium specimens, while one of the largest carnivorous plants known (1.5m in height) a new insect-eating plant, Drosera magnifica was first discovered on Facebook. However, there are still large parts of the world where very little is known about the plants. Identification of these important plant areas is now critical. Similarly, we still only know a fraction of the genetic diversity of plants and whole-genome sequences are currently available for just 139 species of vascular plants.

In terms of uses of plants, at least 31,000 plant species have a documented use as medicines, food, materials and so on. A further 3,546 crop wild relatives are prioritised for collecting and preservation in genebanks. These plants, from a wide range of geographic and ecological locations, provide a pool of genetic variation that is of critical importance to global food security. More research effort is needed to build up these collections in global gene banks including Kew’s Millennium Seedbank.