This book is an up-to-date checklist of the current valid taxonomy for all vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens in British Columbia, including synonyms, species codes, and other information. A convenient, geographically restricted, comprehensive checklist like this one will aid greatly in avoiding the present confusion concerning the names of many species in the ecological and systematic literature, as well as in applied fields.

The book is organized into three sections. Part 1 organizes species alphabetically according to taxonomic order by families of vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens. Within each family, the genera are listed alphabetically, along with any synonomies (former names) and common names. In Part 2 species are organized alphabetically according to their scientific names. Part 3 lists common names followed by their scientific names. Excluded names (names inappropriately applied to plants in B.C.) are given in an appendix. Those familiar with plant taxonomy will find Part 1 particularly helpful when checking nomenclature; semi-professionals familiar with scientific names will use Part 2 and then Part 1; those who know only common names will check Part 3 and then Part 2 and Part 1 to determine families.

There is presently considerable confusion about many species names in B.C. Plant names change for many reasons and new plants invade. Information about plants in B.C. is scattered in several checklists, most of them incomplete or out of date; for some species, such as liverworts, no provincial checklist even exists. This checklist therefore will be useful to all professionals working with vegetation and for students in agriculture, botany, ecology, forestry and other sciences. Although the focus is on B.C., the book will also be useful outside the province, particularly in the northwest American states and in Alberta and the Yukon.