The rules that govern the scientific naming of algae, fungi, and plants are revised at the Nomenclature Section of an International Botanical Congress (IBC). This edition of the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants
embodies the decisions of the XIX IBC, which took place in Shenzhen, China in July, 2017. This Shenzhen Code supersedes the Melbourne Code (McNeill & al. in Regnum Veg. 154. 2012), published six years ago after the XVIII IBC in Melbourne, Australia, and like its five predecessors, it is written entirely in (British) English. The Melbourne Code was translated into Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Turkish; it is anticipated, that the Shenzhen Code, too, will become available in several languages. In questions about the meaning of provisions in translated editions of this Code, the English edition is definitive. (preface)
