A new way of editing a flora

Modern electronic tools have become common tools of most scientists. Flora writers and other botanists producing large manuscripts with a certain fixed structure may go even further and use the so-called Mail Merge option in a word processor such as Microsoft Word™. This tool allows structuring a document strictly, especially for the contributions of invited authors, to pre-format the final layout, and to simplify correspondence with contributors. Contributors fill in a structured Microsoft Excel™ spreadsheet with fixed headings, without any requirements for layout or formatting. The file is then used as data source for a merge document in the word processor. For completion of an entire Flora, such as the Flore Analytique du Bénin (Akoègninou et al., 2006), this iteration was done with 45 authors, producing over 180 different manuscripts, viz. one for each family. Final editing includes a check on correct language, insertion of separately produced keys, figures, references, etc.