Funk & Turland • Report of the Special Committee on Institutional Votes
1449Version of Record
TAXON 65 (6) • December 2016: 1449–1454
XIX I N T ER NAT I O NAL B OTAN I C AL CO N G R E SS
Institutional Votes at the XIX International Botanical Congress, Shenzhen, 2017: 
Report of the Special Committee on Institutional Votes
Vicki A. Funk1 (Secretary of the Special Committee) & Nicholas J. Turland2 (Rapporteur-général)
1	 United States National Herbarium, Department of Botany, NMNH, MRC-166, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, 
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012, U.S.A.
2	 Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 6–8, 14195 Berlin, Germany
Authors for correspondence: Vicki A. Funk, funkv@si.edu; Nicholas J. Turland, n.turland@bgbm.org
DOI https://doi.org/10.12705/656.33
Abstract The Special Committee on Institutional Votes was established at the XVIII International Botanical Congress (IBC), in Melbourne 
in	2011,	with	the	mandate	to	consider	the	procedure	by	which	institutional	votes	are	allocated	and	to	report	to	the	XIX	IBC	in	Shenzhen	
in	2017.	The	Special	Committee	contacted	institutions	worldwide	and	urged	them	to	update	their	entries	in	Index	Herbariorum	and	to	
request	institutional	votes	for	the	first	time	or	an	increase	in	allocated	votes.	The	Committee	sent	its	recommendations	for	changes	to	
the	list	of	institutional	votes	for	the	Melbourne	IBC	to	the	Bureau	of	Nomenclature,	which,	in	collaboration	with	the	Special	Commit-
tee,	revised	the	list	to	produce	the	new	list	for	the	Shenzhen	IBC.	This	new	list	was	sent	to	the	General	Committee	for	final	approval,	
as	required	by	the	International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants.	The	General	Committee	approved	the	list,	which	is	
now presented in this report.
Keywords Code;	International	Botanical	Congress;	Nomenclature;	Nomenclature	Section;	institutional	votes 
The International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and 
plants (ICN;	McNeill	&	al.,	2012)	was	last	amended	at	the	Nomen-
clature Section of the XVIII International Botanical Congress (IBC), 
held	in	Melbourne,	Australia,	in	July	2011,	and	will	next	be	amended	
at	the	XIX	IBC	in	Shenzhen,	China,	in	July	2017	(see	http://www.
ibc2017.cn/).	Decisions	at	the	Nomenclature	Section	of	an	IBC	are	
made	by	voting,	which	is	of	two	kinds:	personal	votes	and	institutional	
votes,	as	specified	in	Div. III.4(b)	of	the	ICN.	Whereas	an	individual	
member	of	the	Nomenclature	Section	has	one	personal	vote,	an	insti-
tution	may	have	up	to	seven	institutional	votes,	which	are	carried	by	
a delegate of that institution, i.e., a registered member of the Section, 
provided	that	no	person	carries	more	than	14	institutional	votes.	Lists	
of	institutions	with	their	allocated	votes	at	the	XVII	(Vienna,	2005)	
and	XVIII	(Melbourne,	2011)	IBCs	can	be	found	in	the	official	reports	
on	botanical	nomenclature	for	those	IBCs	(Flann	&	al.,	2015:	331–337;	
Flann	&	al.,	2014:	279–285).
At	the	Nomenclature	Section	of	the	Melbourne	IBC	a	Special	
Committee on Institutional Votes was established with the mandate 
“To	consider	the	procedure	by	which	institutional	votes	are	allocated”	
(Wilson,	2012;	see	also	Demissew	&	Funk,	2013,	which	contains	a	
brief	explanation	of	institutional	votes).	Sebsebe	Demissew	(ETH)	
agreed	to	serve	as	Convener	and	Vicki	Funk	(US)	as	Secretary	of	
the	Special	Committee.	Members	of	the	Committee,	principally	the	
Convener	and	Secretary,	took	advantage	of	botanical	meetings	in	vari-
ous	countries	to	discuss	institutional	votes	in	general	and	to	answer	
specific questions. Some of those meetings were held at botanical con-
gresses	and	others	at	places	visited,	e.g.:	7th	Global	Plants	Initiative	
(GPI)	meeting	(Panama	City,	Panama,	2014);	20th	AETFAT	Congress	
(Stellenbosch,	South	Africa,	2014);	11th	Latin	American	Botanical	
Congress	and	65th	Brazilian	National	Botanical	Congress	(Salvador,	
Brazil,	2014);	and	Botany	2014	(Boise,	Idaho,	U.S.A.,	2014).	Ideas	
from	these	informal	discussions	were	used	to	develop	a	plan	of	action.
In	 November	 and	 December	 2015	 the	 Special	 Committee	
attempted	to	notify	all	institutions	of	their	right	to	cast	institutional	
votes	at	the	Nomenclature	Section	of	the	XIX	IBC.	An	information	
packet	was	assembled	and	sent	as	a	PDF	file	to	all	correspondents	
from	the	institutions	listed	in	Index	Herbariorum	(IH;	Thiers,	continu-
ously	updated).	The	PDF	file	included	a	letter	explaining	the	process,	
a	short	form	to	fill	out	about	the	activity	of	the	institution,	a	list	of	
all	the	institutional	votes	allocated	at	the	two	previous	IBCs,	and	
instructions	on	updating	the	IH	file	for	an	institution.	Only	those	insti-
tutions	wishing	to	change	the	number	of	votes	they	were	allocated,	
or	wishing	to	ask	for	a	vote	or	votes	for	the	first	time,	needed	to	fill	
out the form. The same information was posted on the International 
Association	for	Plant	Taxonomy	(IAPT)	website	(http://www.iapt-
taxon.org),	and	all	members	of	the	IAPT	and	the	American	Society	
of	Plant	Taxonomists	(ASPT)	were	sent	an	e-mail	notifying	them	
of the location of the documents. The information was also posted 
on	the	biological	systematics	online	discussion	list	Taxacom	(http://
mailman.nhm.ku.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/taxacom).	The	cover	
letter	was	translated	into	Spanish	by	one	of	the	Committee	members	
and	distributed	to	the	Latin	American	institutions.	The	Committee	
also	made	a	special	effort	to	attract	Chinese	institutions,	but	only	a	
few	responses	were	received.
The	original	deadline	for	all	forms	to	be	returned	was	1	February	
2016,	but	it	was	extended	to	1	April.	When	the	forms	were	collated,	80	
responses	had	been	received,	of	which	54	were	from	institutions	that	
had	not	previously	been	allocated	any	votes.	Of	these,	four	did	not	
request	any	votes	(one	of	them	failing	to	provide	adequate	information	
or	contact	details)	and	50	requested	one	or	more	votes.	The	remain-
ing	26	responses	were	from	institutions	that	had	previously	been	
allocated	votes.	Of	these,	13	requested	an	increase	in	their	number	of	
votes	and	13	did	not.	There	then	followed	two	rounds	of	comments	
by	the	Committee	members,	and	in	the	end	agreement	was	found	on	
nearly	all	the	issues.	In	keeping	with	previous	IBCs,	every	institution	
requesting	a	vote	or	votes	for	the	first	time	was	allocated	at	least	one	
vote.	The	Committee	comprised	24	members	(see	below),	and	a	total	
of	12	members	(including	the	Convener	and	Secretary)	participated	
in the discussions.
The	results	of	the	discussions	were	sent	in	August	2016	to	the	
Bureau	of	Nomenclature,	which	reviewed	and	agreed	with	all	the	Com-
mittee’s	recommendations	except	for	suggesting	two	adjustments,	to	
Funk & Turland • Report of the Special Committee on Institutional Votes
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which the Committee agreed. The Bureau also proposed deletion from 
the	list	of	14	institutions	that	had	become	inactive	according	to	Index	
Herbariorum	(B.	Thiers,	pers.	comm.	to	N.	Turland,	August	2016)	or	
had been transferred to other institutions. The final list was then agreed 
upon	by	the	Committee.	That	list	along	with	a	preliminary	version	of	
this	report	was	sent	in	September	2016	to	the	General	Committee	(http://
www.iapt-taxon.org/pages/committee_general)	for	final	approval,	as	
required	by	Div.	III.4(b)(2)	of	the	ICN. A short discussion and some 
feedback to the Special Committee and the Bureau resulted in two 
adjustments	to	the	list.	The	General	Committee	then	voted	to	approve	
the list of institutional	votes	as	follows:	23	yes : 0	no : 2	abstain.
Members of the Special Committee on Institutional Votes
(See	Wilson,	2012,	and	http://www.iapt-taxon.org/pages/
sp_committee_inst)
Sebsebe	Demissew,	Convener	(Ethiopia);	Vicki	Funk,	Secre-
tary	(U.S.A.);	Members:	Patrick	Brownsey	(New	Zealand);	Christina	
Flann	(Netherlands);	Renée	Fortunato	(Argentina);	Kanchi	Gandhi	
(U.S.A.);	Melissa	Glen	(South	Africa);	Patrick	Herendeen	(U.S.A.);	
Pierre-André	Loizeau	(Switzerland);	David	Mabberley	(Australia);	
Valéry	Malécot	(France);	Karol	Marhold	(Slovakia);	John	McNeill	
(U.K.);	Robert	Magill	 (U.S.A.);	 James	Miller	 (U.S.A.);	 Jefferson	
Prado	 (Brazil);	 Willem	 Prud’homme	 van	 Reine	 (Netherlands);	
Lourdes	Rico-Arce	(U.K./Mexico);	Krishna	Shrestha	(Nepal);	Peter	
Stevens	(U.S.A.);	Kevin	Thiele	(Australia);	Carmen	Ulloa	(U.S.A./
Ecuador);	Zhu-Liang	Yang	(China);	Xian-Chun	Zhang	(China).
Members of the Bureau of Nomenclature for the XIX IBC, 
Shenzhen, 2017
(See	http://www.iapt-taxon.org/pages/bureau_of_nomenclature)
Sandra	Knapp,	President	of	the	Nomenclature	Section	(U.K.);	
De-Zhu	Li,	Vice-president	of	 the	Nomenclature	Section	(China);	
Nicholas	Turland,	Rapporteur-général	(Germany);	John	Wiersema,	
Vice-rapporteur	 (U.S.A.);	 Yun-Fei	 Deng,	 Recorder	 (China);	 Li	
Zhang,	Recorder	(China).	Note:	Additional	vice-presidents	are	to	
be appointed.
Revised list of institutional votes at the Nomenclature Section 
of the XIX IBC, Shenzhen, 2017
The	revised	list	of	institutional	votes	for	the	XIX	International	
Botanical	Congress	in	Shenzhen	is	given	below	in	the	following	for-
mat:	herbarium	code	(according	to	Index	Herbariorum);	allocated	
number	of	votes;	“ * ”	 indicating	 that	 the	 institution	exercised	 its	
institutional	vote(s)	at	the	Melbourne	IBC;	“new”	indicating	that	the	
institution	is	new	to	the	list	for	Shenzhen;	“ 1↑ ”	indicating	that	the	
allocated	votes	have	been	increased	by	one	vote	since	Melbourne.	
The “ + ”	symbol	is	used	between	herbarium	codes	when	two	or	more	
institutions	are	treated	together,	e.g.,	CAN + CANA + CANL + CANM	
are	treated	as	a	single	institution	with	five	votes.	The	total	number	of	
institutions	on	the	list	is	542;	the	total	number	of	institutional	votes	
that	could	potentially	be	exercised	is	926.
Herbarium	code Votes Note
AA 1
AAS 1
AAU 4
ABD 1
ACAD 1
ACOR 2 new
AD 4 *
AK 2
ALA 1
ALTA 1
AMH + AHMA 1
AMNH 1
ANK 2 *
ANSM 1
ANSP 1
APP 1 new
AQUI 1
ARIZ 1
ASH 1
ASSAM 2 *	1↑
ASU 1 *
ATCC 1
ATHU 2
Herbarium	code Votes Note
AVE 1
B 7 *
BA 3
BAA 1
BAB 1 *
BAF 2 *
BAFC 1
BAG 1
BAK 1
BAMU 2 new
BARC 1 *
BAS 1
BC 2
BCN 2
BEO 1
BERN 1
BG 2 *
BH 3 *
BHU 1 *
BHUPM 1
BI 1
BILAS 1
BIRM 1
Herbarium	code Votes Note
BISH 2
BKF 2 *
BLAT 1
BM 7 *
BNRH 1 *
BO 4
BOL 2 *
BOLO 1
BONN 1
BORD 1 new
BP 5
BPI 3 *
BR 6 *
BRA 1 *
BRG 1
BRI 4 *
BRIT 3
BRLU 2 new
BRNM 1 *
BRNU 1 *
BRVU 1
BRY 1
BSA 1 *
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TAXON 65 (6) • December 2016: 1449–1454
Herbarium	code Votes Note
BSI 1 *
BUCA + BUCM 2
BUF 1
BURD 1
C 7 *
CAF 1
CAHUP 1
CAI 2
CAIM 1
CAL 5 *
CAME 1
CAN + CANA + 	CANL + 	CANM 5 *
CANB 6 *
CANU 1 *
CAS 4
CAT 1 *
CAY 1
CBS 4 *
CCNU 1
CDBI 2
CFMR 1
CFSHB 1
CGE 1
CGG 1
CHAPA 1 *
CHEP 1 new
CHIS 1
CHR 3 *
CHRB 1 new
CICY 1
CIIDIR 1
CL 1 *
CLF 1
CM 2
CMMI 1
CNR 1 new
CNS 2 *
COI 3
COL 3 *
COLO 1
CONC 1 *
CONN 1
CORD 2 *
CR 1
CSH 1 new
Herbarium	code Votes Note
CTES 1 *
CUHK 1
CUP 1
CUZ 1 new
DACB 1
DAO + DAOM 6 *
DAR 1
DAV 1
DAVFP 1
DBN 1
DD 2
DNA 1 *
DNZ 1 new
DR 1 new
DU 1 new
DUKE 2
E 6 *
EA 3 *	1↑
EAP 1
EDTU 1 new
EGE 1 *
EIF 1 new
ENCB 3
ERE 3 *
ETH 2 *	1↑
F 5 *
FCAB 1 new
FCME 1 *
FCO 1
FCQ 1
FHI 1
FHO 1
FI + FT 4 *
FLAS 2
FNU 1
FR 1 *
FSU 1
FTG 2
FUS 1
G 7 *
GA 1
GAS 1 new
GAT 2
GAUBA 1 new
GB 4
Herbarium	code Votes Note
GC 1
GCU 1 new
GDA 1
GE	 1 new
GENT 1
GH 6 *
GI 1
GJO 1
GLM 1 new
GMUF 1
GNNU 1 new
GOET 2 1↑
GRA 1
GUADA 1
GUAM 1
GZU 2
H 7 *
HA 1 new
HAC 2 *
HAJB 3 *
HAJU 1 new
HAL 2
HAMAB 1 new
HAS 1
HAST 1
HB 1
HBG 3
HBI 1
HBNU 1 new
HCIO 1
HEID 1 new
HGAS 1
HGU 1 new
HIB 1
HIRO 2
HMAS 5
HN 2
HNM 1 new
HNNU 1
HNU 1
HNWP 2
HO 1 *
HSC 1
HSNU 1
HSS 1 new
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Herbarium	code Votes Note
HUA 1
HUB 2 *
HUJ 2
HUQ 1 new
HUT 1
HUTI 1 new
HWA 1
HZU 1
I 1
IAN 1
IB 1
IBGE 1
IBK 2
IBSC 4
IBUG 2
ICEL 1
ICN 1
ID 1
IEB 1 *
IFP 2
IJ 1
ILL 1 *
ILLS 1 *
IND 1 *
INH 1 new
INPA 1
IRAN 2 *
ISC 2
ISL 1 *
ISMAR 1 new
ISTE 2 *
ISTF 1 *
J 1
JACA 1
JBSD 1
JCT 1 *
JE 3 *
K 7 *
KANA 1
KANU 1 *
KATH 2 1↑
KB 3 new
KEP 1
KFBG 1 new
KLU 1
Herbarium	code Votes Note
KMG 1 *
KOR 1
KPABG 1 new
KPBG 1 *
KR 1
KRA 2
KRAM 3
KSC 1
KUH 2 *
KUN 5
KW 5 *
KWHU 1 new
KYO 2 *
L 7 *
LA 1
LAE 1
LATV 1
LAU 1
LBL 1
LD 6
LDS 1 *
LE 7 *
LECB 1
LG 2 *
LI 1
LIL 3
LISC 2 *
LISE 1
LISI 1
LISU 2
LIV 2
LJF 1 new
LJU 1
LMA 1 *
LMU 1 *
LOD 1
LP 1
LPB 1
LPS 1
LSU + LSUM 2
LTB 1 *
LTR 1
LUX 1
LW 1
LWG 2
Herbarium	code Votes Note
LWI 1 new
LYD 1 *
LZ 1
M 5 *
MA 4 *
MAF 1 *
MAG 1
MAK 2
MAL 1
MANCH 1
MARSSJ 1
MARY 1 *
MASS 1
MBM 1
MCNS 1 new
MEL 6 *
MELU 2 *
MEXU 5 *
MG 1
MGC 1
MH 2 *
MHA 2
MHU 1 *
MICH 4 *
MIL 1
MIN 2
MJG 1
MO 7 *
MONTU 1
MOR 1
MPU 2 *
MSB 1 *
MSC 2 *
MSK 1 *
MSM 1
MT 2 *
MU 1
MUB 1
MUCL 1
MVM 1
MW 3 *	1↑
MY 1
N 1
NA 1 *
NAI 1
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TAXON 65 (6) • December 2016: 1449–1454
Herbarium	code Votes Note
NAP 1
NAS 2
NBG 2 *
NCSC 1
NCU 2
NE 1 *
NEFI 1
NEU 1
NF 1
NH 1 *
NICH 2
NMW 1
NR	 1 new
NRRL 2
NS 1
NSK 1
NSW 6 *
NT 1
NTUF 1
NU 1 *
NWTC 1
NY 7 *
NYS 1
NZFRI 1 *
O 5
OAC 1
OKL 1
OLD 1
OS 2
OSC 1 *
OULU 1 *
OWU 1
OXF 1
P + PC 7 *	1↑
PAC 1
PACA 1
PAD 2 *
PAL 3 *
PAV 2
PDA 1
PDD 1 *
PE 7
PERTH 3 *
PERU 1
PG 1 new
Herbarium	code Votes Note
PH 2
PI 2
PMA 1 *
PNH 1
PO 1
PORT 1
POZ + POZG 2 *
PR + PRM 2 *
PRC 3 *
PRE 6 *
PREM 2
PRU 1 *
PTBG 1 *
PUC 1 *
PYU 1
QCA 1
QCNE 1 *
QFA 1
R 2
RAB 1
RAW 1
RB 6 *	1↑
REG 2
RHT 1
RIG 1
RM 1
RNG 2 *
RO 1
ROV 1 new
RSA 2
RUBL 1
S 6
SAN 1
SAP 1
SAPS 1 new
SAR 1
SARA 1
SASK 1
SAV 1 *
SBBG 1
SBT 1
SD 1
SEL 1 new
SEV 2
SFSU 1
Herbarium	code Votes Note
SGN 1 new
SGO 1
SHIN 1
SHM 1
SI 3
SING 3 *	1↑
SIU 1
SLO 2 *
SM 1
SNU 2
SOA 1
SOM 3
SP 4 *
SPF 2 *
SRGH 2 *
SS 1
STA 1
STU 2
SUVA 1
SVER 1
SWFC 1
SYD 1 *
SYS 1
SZ 1
TAA 2
TAES 1
TAI 1
TAIF 1
TAN 1
TARI 1
TASH 2
TAU 1
TBI 2
TCD 1 *
TELA 1
TENN 1
TEX 4 *
TFC 1
TI 4
TK 1
TL 1
TMI 1
TNS 5
TO 1
TRH 2
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Acknowledgements
We	warmly	thank	Barbara	M.	Thiers	(NY)	for	kindly	providing	
data	from	Index	Herbariorum.
Literature cited
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Herbarium	code Votes Note
TRIN 1
TRN 1
TRT 1 *
TRTC 1
TSB 2
TSH 1 new
TU 2 *
TUB 1
TUR 2 *
TUS 1
UAMH 1
UAMIZ 1
UB 1
UBA 1
UBC 2
UC 5 *
UCJ 1
UCR 1
UDW 1 *
UEC 2 *
UGDA 1 new
UKMB 1
ULT 1
Herbarium	code Votes Note
UME 2
UNL 1
UNM 1 *
UPA 2 *
UPS 4
URM 1
US 7 *
USF 1
USM 2
USMS 1 new
UT 1
UTC 1 *
UWO 1
UWSP 1
V 1
VAL 2
VEN 2 *
VLA 1
VPI 1
VT 1 *
W 3 *
WA 3
WELT 2 *	1↑
Herbarium	code Votes Note
WH 1
WIND 1 *
WIR 2 *	1↑
WIS 2
WRSL 1
WS 1
WSP 1
WSY 1 *
WTU 2
WU 5 *
WUK 2
WVA 1 *
XAL 2 *
XJA 1
XJBI 1
XJU 1
YA 1
YU 1
YUKU 1
Z + ZT 3
ZA 1
ZULU 1 *