项目概览与数据库规模
PLANTCOL（Plant Collections Online）是由比利时植物园与树木园协会（VBTA vzw）牵头运营的全国性活植物数据库，平台统一域名 www.plantcol.be，访客可按学名、品种、来源国等字段在线检索全国 19 家合作植物园与树木园所记录的活植物收藏。截至 2026 年 9 月，平台共汇集 100,155 条收藏记录，覆盖 33,451 株由 Meise 植物园（Plantentuin Meise）维护的最大批条目，以及来自 Bokrijk 树木园（15,413 株）、Wespelaar 树木园（11,308 株）、Het Leen 省立园区（8,626 株）与 Kalmthout 树木园（8,374 株）等机构的样本数据。
联合植物园与数据贡献
数据库由比利时境内 19 个植物园与树木园共同贡献数据，规模最大的五家分别是 Meise Botanic Garden、Bokrijk Arboretum、Wespelaar Arboretum、Provincial Domain Het Leen、Kalmthout Arboretum。各成员机构负责维护本园挂牌木本与草本植物的精确位置、来源凭证与图像，由 VBTA 协调并把数据汇集到 plantcol.be 统一发布，使公众无需逐家联系即可查到某株植物在比利时哪个园区可以看到。平台还作为比利时参与全球植物学信息共享的基础设施之一，把活植物数据与腊叶标本数据对接。
数据维度与检索能力
访客可在 plantcol.be 首页按多个维度筛选条目：按植物园（18 个分馆与子馆）、按科（Rosaceae 8,325 条 / Ericaceae 7,642 条 / Fabaceae 3,836 条 / Orchidaceae 3,558 条 / Theaceae 2,990 条）、按属（Rhododendron 6,327 条 / Camellia 2,651 条 / Rosa 2,601 条 / Ilex 2,570 条 / Magnolia 2,566 条）、按物种、按品种、按繁殖方式（无性繁殖 16,062 条 / 有性繁殖 5,934 条 / 野外采集种子后代 5,504 条）、按种子库备份（5,953 条带种子库条目）、按来源国（前十为南非、美国、马达加斯加、墨西哥、日本、法国、比利时、中国、巴西、肯尼亚）以及按凭证标本人。
资助方与技术合作
项目自 2023 年起正式上线，由比利时弗拉芒大区政府（Vlaanderen is innovatie）与 Meise 植物园作为主要资助方，VBTA vzw 协调成员馆数据贡献，技术实现由根特大学植物园、Meise 植物园数字基础设施团队共同维护。项目还得到 FWO（Fund for Scientific Research Flanders）通过 DiSSCo-Flanders 计划的间接资助，使活植物数据可与全球科学标本数据基础设施衔接。检索界面默认按 Meise 植物园标识高亮，同时支持英语、荷兰语、法语、德语四种语言切换。
学术与应用价值
PLANTCOL 把原本分散在各家植物园独立记录簿上的活植物数据汇集成可检索的统一门户，使植物学家、园艺从业者、保护机构与一般公众都能在同一个数据库里看到比利时全境活植物收藏的全貌。这一模式把比利时植物学界在 DiSSCo-Flanders 框架下的数字化协作成果落地为面向公众的开放资源，与 VBTA 旗下 28 家成员植物园与树木园的对外教育工作形成互补。
Project Overview and Database Scale
PLANTCOL (Plant Collections Online) is a national living-plant database coordinated by the Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta of Belgium (VBTA vzw) and served through www.plantcol.be. Visitors can query the holdings of 19 partner gardens and arboreta by scientific name, cultivar, provenance country and many other fields. As of September 2026 the database lists 100,155 records, of which 33,451 belong to Meise Botanic Garden, the largest single contributor, followed by Bokrijk Arboretum (15,413), Wespelaar Arboretum (11,308), Provincial Domain Het Leen (8,626) and Kalmthout Arboretum (8,374).
Partner Gardens and Data Contributions
Data are contributed by 19 Belgian botanical gardens and arboreta. The five largest contributors are Meise Botanic Garden, Bokrijk Arboretum, Wespelaar Arboretum, Provincial Domain Het Leen and Kalmthout Arboretum. Each partner institution maintains precise accession data, location, provenance documentation and images of the plants it holds, while VBTA coordinates the workflow and consolidates the data into the central portal. By aggregating these records, PLANTCOL makes it possible for anyone to find where a specific species is cultivated in Belgium without contacting each garden individually, and it forms part of Belgium’s contribution to global biodiversity informatics infrastructure.
Data Dimensions and Search Capabilities
Visitors can filter records on the home page along multiple dimensions: by collection (18 partner gardens and sublocations), by family (Rosaceae 8,325; Ericaceae 7,642; Fabaceae 3,836; Orchidaceae 3,558; Theaceae 2,990), by genus (Rhododendron 6,327; Camellia 2,651; Rosa 2,601; Ilex 2,570; Magnolia 2,566), by species, by cultivar group, by propagation history (vegetative 16,062; sexual 5,934; sexual wild-collected 5,504), by seed-bank backup (5,953 entries), by country of origin (top ten: South Africa, United States of America, Madagascar, Mexico, Japan, France, Belgium, China, Brazil, Kenya), and by the specialist who determined the specimen.
Funders and Technical Collaboration
The project went live in 2023 with funding from the Government of Flanders (Vlaanderen is innovatie) and Meise Botanic Garden as principal sponsors; VBTA vzw coordinates contributions from the member gardens, while technical development is shared between Ghent University Botanical Garden and the digital-infrastructure team of Meise Botanic Garden. The platform also benefits indirectly from FWO (Fund for Scientific Research Flanders) support through the DiSSCo-Flanders programme, which links the living-plant data to global scientific collection infrastructure. The query interface is available in English, Dutch, French and German.
Academic and Practical Value
By bringing together records that previously lived only in individual garden accession books, PLANTCOL offers botanists, horticulturists, conservation bodies and the wider public a single searchable window onto Belgium’s living plant heritage. The portal operationalises the digitisation work carried out by the Belgian botanical community under DiSSCo-Flanders and complements the public engagement mission of VBTA’s 28 member gardens and arboreta in Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
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