Plant Heritage owns Persephone and we use it ourselves, so we are continuing to develop it. Find out about the latest features here
Screenshot of Persephone dashboard with message at top
Technical Updates (Mar 2026)
Free format option now available on cultivar name
Google Search RHS button added to allow a more flexible search of the RHS database when plant name not found by usual process
Groups now ordering correctly so that cultivar name takes precedence
Authorities now appearing in correct order in plant name.
Option to show/hide AGM and Classification in plant name.
Collection Level Checking - RHS horticultural database (see Help>Plant Pages>Checking Plant Names)
POWO check updated to identify correct synonym when there are multiple authorities for same plant name
IUCN check updated to ensure that plant names not found are recorded as 'Not Found' rather than 'Not Checked'
Holders of proposed collections can now add plants to the Wish List and attach the plant name to the proposed collection
Explanatory pop-up on Out of Scope feature corrected
New enhanced security feature (Jan 2026)
If you have not used the system for 45 minutes, it will log you out as a security precaution. Just log back in to continue.
New message facility (Jan 2026)
Where we have posted a message, you will see this in an orange bar at the top of each page. Once you have read it, click on the cross on the right hand side of the bar and it will disappear.
Check your collection against Plants of the World online easily (Dec 2025)
As plant names can change and it is time consuming to check them all regularly, a new function has been added to check plant names against Kew's Plants of the World Online (POWO) for an entire collection in one go. This updates the information in the POWO sub-form. If the accepted name for the plant on POWO has changed, this will be recorded as a synonym, giving you the option to promote it to the Display Name if you wish. There is also a new table on the plant Nomenclature tab which will allow you to keep track of how plant names change over time. and family field is now automatically filled from the POWO check.
Check your collection against the IUCN Red List in one go (Dec 2025)
The Persephone Team can check plants names of plants of wild origin against the IUCN Red List across an entire collection in one go. In this case, the IUCN sub-form is updated automatically, and you will be able to see how the conservation status of your plant is changing over time in a table on the Plant Conservation tab. Note that where the threat status of a plant with an infraspecific rank is being checked, and the IUCN has only assessed the plant at species level, you will see a ‘yes’ in the ‘Species Level Only’ column.