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{{short description|International meeting of botanists in all scientific fields held every six years}}
[[File:1975 CPA 4471 uneven lighting.jpg|thumb|Postage stamp (USSR) for the 1975 congress]]
'''International Botanical Congress''' ('''IBC''') is an international meeting of [[Botany|botanist]]s in all scientific fields, authorized by the '''International Association of Botanical and Mycological Societies''' ('''IABMS''') and held every six years, with the location rotating between different continents. The current numbering system for the congresses starts from the year 1900; the XX IBC was in Madrid, Spain, July 2024. The XXI IBC is planned to be in Cape Town, South Africa, in July 2029.

The IBC has the power to alter the ICN (International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants), which was renamed from the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) at the XVIII IBC. Formally the power resides with the Plenary Session; in practice this approves the decisions of the Nomenclature Section. The Nomenclature Section meets before the actual Congress and deals with all proposals to modify the Code: this includes ratifying recommendations from sub-committees on [[conserved name|conservation]]. To reduce the risk of a hasty decision the Nomenclature Section adopts a 60% majority requirement for any change not already recommended by a committee.

== History ==
Prior to the first International Botanical Congress, local congresses concerned with natural sciences generally had grown to be very large, and a more specialized but also international meeting was considered desirable.<ref name=Stafleu>{{cite book|author=Stafleu, F.A. |year=1970 |title= XI International Botanical Congress, University of Washington, Seattle, U.S.A., August 24–September 2, 1969. Proceedings |chapter= A century of botanical congresses |publisher=XI International Botanical Congress, Inc. |location=NC
|editor= R.C. Starr |pages= 9–21}}</ref> The first annual IBC was held in 1864 in [[Brussels]], in conjunction with an international horticultural exhibit.<ref name=Stafleu/> At the second annual congress (held in [[Amsterdam]]), [[Karl Koch (botanist)|Karl Koch]] made a proposal to standardize botanical nomenclature, and the third congress (held in [[London]]) resolved that this matter would be dealt with by the next congress.

The fourth congress, which had as one of its principal purposes to establish laws of botanical nomenclature, was organized by la [[Société botanique de France]], and took place in [[Paris]] in August 1867.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/actesducongrsi1867inte#page/n9/mode/2up |title=Actes du Congrés international de botanique tenu a Paris en août 1867, sous les auspices de la Société botanique de France (1867)|author=Alphonse de Candolle |year=1867|publisher=Paris, G. Bailliére }}</ref> The laws adopted were based on those prepared by [[Alphonse de Candolle]]. Regular international botanical and/or horticultural congresses were held but made no further changes to nomenclature until the 1892 meeting in [[Genoa]],<ref name=Stafleu/> which made some small changes to the laws of nomenclature.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/attidelcongress00penzgoog|title=Atti del Congresso botanico internazionale di Genova 1892|last=International Botanical Congress|location=Genoa|date=February 11, 1893|publisher=Genova, Tip. del R. Istituto sordo-muti|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Subsequent meetings are as follows in the table below. The "Code" column shows whether a code of nomenclature was adopted.

{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=5 style="border-collapse: collapse; background:#f0f0f0;"
|- bgcolor=#dddddd;
! <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/ibc99/ibc/history.html |title=History of IBC |access-date=2006-08-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061011020629/http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/ibc99/ibc/history.html |archive-date=2006-10-11 }}</ref><ref name=Nico91>{{cite journal|last=Nicolson |first=D.H.|year=1991|title=A History of Botanical Nomenclature|journal=Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden|volume=78|issue=1|pages=33–56 |jstor=2399589 |doi=10.2307/2399589|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/35570 }}</ref> !! Year !! City !! Country !! Code !! Major actions concerning nomenclature
|-
| I || 1900 || [[Paris]] || {{FRA}} || || Decisions on nomenclature deferred.
|-
| II || 1905 || [[Vienna]] || {{AUT}} || Yes || First binding ''Rules of Nomenclature''; French became the official language of the meeting; requirement for Latin plant descriptions from 1908 onwards (not enforced); end of the [[Kew Rule]].
|-
| III || 1910 || [[Brussels]] || {{BEL}} || Yes || Separate starting dates for nomenclature of fungi established.
|-
| IV || 1926 || [[Ithaca, New York|Ithaca]] || {{USA}} || || Decisions on nomenclature deferred.
|-
| V || 1930 || [[Cambridge]] || {{UK}} || Yes || The [[Type (biology)|type]] method incorporated; Latin requirement deferred until 1932; "absolute homonym rule" accepted, or "once a later homonym always illegitimate (unless conserved)", which altered the status of many names, including many that had previously been [[conserved name|conserved]].<ref name=Rickett>{{cite journal|author1=Rickett, H.W. |author2=Stafleu, F.A. |year=1959|title=Nomina generica conservanda et rejicienda spermatophytorum|journal=Taxon|volume=8|issue=7|pages=213–243 |doi=10.2307/1217883|jstor=1217883 |url=http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/572525 }}</ref> The ''Cambridge Code'' was not published until 1935.<ref name=Nico91/> This code was accepted by previous proponents of the American Code, ending a period of schism.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Weatherby, C.A. |year=1949|title=Botanical Nomenclature Since 1867|journal=American Journal of Botany |volume=36 |issue=1|pages=5–7|jstor=2438113|doi=10.2307/2438113 |pmid=18124191}}</ref> 
|-
| VI || 1935 || [[Amsterdam]] || {{NED}} || || English became the official language of the Congress, replacing French. No formal Code was published.<ref name=Nico91/>
|-
| VII || 1950 || [[Stockholm]] || {{SWE}} || Yes || Adoption of the first [[International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants]];<ref name=Stafleu/> arbitrary dates defined for some foundational works; decision to hold future congresses every five years (except four years for the next one). For fossil plants, organ genera and form genera were introduced.
|-
| VIII || 1954 || [[Paris]] || {{FRA}} || Yes || Two additional principles added, II and III, dealing with types and with priority. Proposals to conserve or reject specific names were rejected, but a committee was established to find ways to improve the stability of names.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Stafleu, F.A. |year=1954 |title=Nomenclature at the Paris Congress |journal=Taxon |volume=3 |issue=8 |pages=217–225 |doi=10.2307/1216598 |jstor=1216598}}</ref>
|-
| IX || 1959 || [[Montreal]] || {{CAN}} || Yes || Presentation of a completely reworked list of conserved and rejected names necessitated by changes made at the 1930 congress,<ref name=Rickett/> but the list for species was not accepted.{{refn|group=nb|"The proposals concerning the question of possible ''nomina specifica conservanda c.q. rejicienda'' did not result in any legislative action but were followed by an attempt to assess first the real scope of the problem before changing the rules. This may seem a minor step forward. In fact I believe it is the first real progress that has been made towards solving this difficult problem.<ref name=1959Code>{{citation |author1=Lanjouw, J. |author2=Baehni, C. |author3=Robyns, W. |author4=Ross, R. |author5=Rousseau, J. |author6=Schopf, J.M. |author7=Schulze, G.M. |author8=Smith, A.C. |author9=Vilmorin, R.d. |author10=Stafleu, F.A. |year=1961 |title=Code International de la Nomenclature Botanique/International Code of Botanical Nomenclature/Internationaler Code der botanischen Nomenklatur |publisher=International Bureau for Plant Taxonomy and Nomenclature of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy |location=Utrecht |display-authors=etal}}</ref> Preface by J. Lanjouw}} Decision that rules of priority do not apply above the rank of family.<ref name=Edinburgh/> Starting point for family names to be [[Antoine Laurent de Jussieu]]'s ''Genera Plantarum'' 1789.<ref name=1959Code/> Choice among French, English, and German official codes of English as the standard in case of discrepancy.{{refn|group=nb|"As before, the Nomenclature Section decided that the Code should be published in English, French and German languages. The three texts are all official, but, should there be any inconsistency between the versions, it is agree to regard the English one arbitrarily as correct."<ref name=1959Code/> Preface by J. Lanjouw}}
|-
| X || 1964 || [[Edinburgh]] || {{UK}} || Yes || No major changes to the code.<ref name=Edinburgh>{{cite journal |author=Stafleu, F.A. |year=1964 |title=Nomenclature at Edinburgh |journal=Taxon |volume=13 |issue=8 |pages=273–282 |doi=10.2307/1216194 |jstor=1216194}}</ref>
|-
| XI || 1969 || [[Seattle]] || {{USA}} || Yes || Established the [[International Association of Bryologists]].
|-
| XII || 1975 || [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]] || {{USSR}} || Yes || Official versions of the code in English, French, and German (the English version to take precedence in case of discrepancy); rejection of species names allowed in a few special cases; organ-genera for fossil plants are eliminated, replaced by [[form classification|form-genera]].
|-
| XIII || 1981 || [[Sydney]] || {{AUS}} || Yes || Official versions of the code in English, French, and German (the English version to take precedence in case of discrepancy); conservation procedure (and rejection) extended to species names "of major economic importance"; fungi starting date restored to 1753 with [[sanctioned name]] status established; the types of genera and higher categories become the types of species (i.e., the taxa themselves are no longer types,<ref>This is a contrast to the ''[[International Code of Zoological Nomenclature|ICZN]]''.</ref> only specimens or illustrations).
|-
| XIV || 1987 || [[Berlin]] || {{GER}} || Yes || Official version of the code only in (British) English; later translations in French, German, and Japanese; conservation extended to species names that represent the type of a conserved generic name.
|-
| XV || 1993 || [[Tokyo]] || {{JPN}} || Yes || Moves towards registration of plant names; extensive re-arrangement of the nomenclature code; official version of the code only in (British) English; later translations in Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Slovak; conservation extended to all species names; rejection permitted for any name that would cause a disadvantageous nomenclatural change; epitype concept introduced.
|-
| XVI || 1999 || [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]] || {{USA}} || Yes || Refinement of [[Type (biology)|type]] requirements; illustrations as types mostly forbidden from 1958; morphotaxa for fossils. Proposals defeated included the BioCode and registration of plant names.
|-
| XVII || 2005 || [[Vienna]] || {{AUT}} || Yes || Morphotaxa and regular taxa for fossils; illustrations as types mostly forbidden from 2007; glossary added to the code of nomenclature.
|-
| XVIII || 2011 || [[Melbourne]] || {{AUS}} || Yes || Electronic publication permitted; registration of fungal names; English or Latin descriptions (or diagnoses) from 2012; the concepts of anamorph and teleomorph (for fungi) and morphotaxa (for fossils) eliminated.
|-
| XIX || 2017 || [[Shenzhen]] || {{CHN}} || Yes ||
|-
| XX || 2024 || [[Madrid]]
 || {{SPN}} || Yes||The 2023 IBC in Brazil was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the serious economic impact and social disruption. The XX IBC was rescheduled to Madrid in 2024.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Knapp, S. & Wen, J. |year=2021|title=INTERNATIONAL BOTANICAL CONGRESS MOVING TO MADRID IN 2024|journal=Taxon |volume=70 |issue=3|pages=690–698|doi=10.1002/tax.12522}}</ref> Hundreds of [[Kaffir (racial term)|kaffir]]-related species names were voted to be changed.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Rodrigo Pérez Ortega, Erik Stokstad |date=2024-07-24 |title=In a first, botanists vote to remove offensive plant names from hundreds of species |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/botanists-vote-to-remove-offensive-plant-names-from-hundreds-of-species |website=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |language=en |doi=10.1126/science.z3dptab}}</ref> 
|-
| XXI ||2029 ||[[Cape Town]] || {{RSA}} || 
|
|
|}

== Committees ==

=== Nomenclature Committee for Fungi ===
The Nomenclature Committee for Fungi (NCF) is a permanent [[committee]] of the IBC, appointed to discuss the international rules applied to [[Fungus|fungi]], especially their [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]]. The members of the NCF are [[Election|elected]] every six years. The internationally agreed rules that regulate how fungi are [[Botanical nomenclature|named]] are examined and revised at each International Botanical Congress, held every six years. As of 2021, Scott Alan Redhead chairs the committee.<ref>{{Cite web|year=2018|title=Nomenclature Committee for Fungi|url=http://www.ima-mycology.org/nomenclature/nomenclature-committee-fungi|access-date=2021-09-25|website=International Mycological Association}}</ref>

==Notes==
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==References==
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==External links==
*{{commons category-inline}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20000118140847/http://lsb380.plbio.lsu.edu/IABMS/IABMS.home International Association of Botanical and Mycological Societies] (IABMS)

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[[Category:Botanical societies]]
[[Category:International scientific organizations]]