of plants", and anticipates the importance of this work, "Surely no greater technical benefit was ever conferred upon a future generation by the veterans of science than this Index. It smooths the way for every systematist who comes after. It stands as a monument to an intimate friendship. It bears witness to the munificence of Darwin, and the ungrudging personal care of Hooker." Editions First published in 1893, a hard copy was reprinted in 1996, providing access to the original publication details of plant names; these were also made available in microfiche format as the Cumulated Index Kewensis. The publication titled Kew Index was issued from 1986 until 1989. The first index contained the scientific names of 400,000 species, regular supplements were then issued on newly published names. The supplements were issued every five years, each one adding around 6000 names to the index, eventually forming a compilation of over 1,000,000 entries. The sixteenth supplement began to include bibliographic details at the rank of family and below, the later annual supplements included ferns and their allies. A digitalized version of the index was issued on a Compact Disc. A digital version was incorporporated with other indexes as the International Plant Names Index (IPNI), and may fulfill the original intention - a complete index of plant names. Entries at IPNI are designated with the abbreviation "(IK)". See also The Plant List Kew Rule References Bibliography Botanical nomenclature Botany books