Plant biodiversity is threatened, yet many species remain undescribed. It is estimated that >50% of undescribed species have already been collected and are awaiting discovery in herbaria.

Predicting the flowering times of angiosperm taxa is a goal of mounting importance in the face of future climate change, with applications not only in plant biology and ecology, but also horticulture, agriculture, and invasive species management.

The first two decades of the twenty-first century have seen a rapid rise in the mobilization of digital biodiversity data.