The MMPND story

 This is the official story as it should have been told by others since 2024.

The Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) was a massive, historic botanical repository hosted originally by the University of Melbourne and managed by Michel H. Porcher. It catalogued plant names of economic importance, providing botanical names, synonyms and common names in nearly 100 languages and 40 scripts. Despite its name the database is a collection of html files. This choice was initially made to avoid technical issues with databases software related to foreign fonts.

It was created in the early nineties out of the frustration with books regarding costs and availability. The global enthusiasm for computer technology applied to multilingual botanical nomenclature provided a great opportunity to break new ground. Despite the lack of foreign fonts the project went ahead. At the time the foreign scripted names were represented with gifs [1] [2] until the main fonts became available [3].

The project attracted much international attention and generated cooperation from the main world botanical databases such as the US GRIN, FAO Agrovoc, IPNI etc.[4][5][9].

In the early twenties following funding cuts the project was brought to a halt and became an archived document. Years later the man behind the idea decided to pursue the compiling of the MMPND via the simplest and cheapest blog available under the pseudonym “the hortibloke”, referring to previous related works [6] [7] [8] [9] [10].

Presently the MMPND being archived it means that the internal links are still functioning, most files can be viewed, but practically all external links are outdated and / or broken.

The new blog , a modern extension to the historical site, provides considerable updates at rates of 3 to 7 new genera per month. A quick glance comparing any original compiling to a new updated version will demonstrate the extent of the improvements brought to the compilings.

External links

Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database. (MMPND) (Official website)

MMPND rejuvenated  (M.M.P.N.D. metamorphosis by the Polyglotic Lexicographer alias The hortibloke).

References

[1] Historic Bamboo index created with gifs, rather than fonts.

[2] http://www.tuninst.net/MMPD/MMPD-indx.htm 

[3] Unicode  (current version) was established in the early nineties and released by the Unicode Consortium to allow multilingual communication.

[4] GRIN International dataset. USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.

[5] The interconnected world of agrifood systems.

[6 Names of plants in India. 

[7] Dinesh Valke on Flickr, combining photography and plant nomenclature.

[8] ECHO community, providing redirection.

[9] Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages, example of interlink.

[10] IPNI The International Plant Names Index. Historical FAQs-Frequently Asked Questions Contents 10 > Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database is searchable in any language and script and holds a lot of information including an index of medicinal plants".