Rafael Govaerts has worked at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew since 1994. He generates synonymised taxonomic lists for selected families and is has completed all Monocot families. This publication will be the eighth in the World Checklist series of which he is co-author. He is convener for TDWG and has interests in plant conservation.Paul Wilkin has worked in the Lilioid & Alismatid monocot section of the Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew since 1993 and is a specialist in the systematics of Dioscoreales (yams and their allies) with experience of the taxa worldwide, but especially in Africa, Madagascar and Thailand. He has published or has in press 31 peer-reviewed papers on the order, and has supervised four postgraduate students working on its systematics and in allied disciplines.Richard Saunders is currently an Associate Professor at The University of Hong Kong, where he has worked since 1992. His research focus is the systematics, phylogenetics and reproductive biology of angiosperms, particularly the Annonaceae, Burmanniaceae and Schisandraceae.