The star rating system has been developed to obtain a quick impression of the importance of a plant species for different categories, without reading the text.

In the ‘Search’ screen it is also possible to sort plant species according to a category. The species with most stars for that category will then be shown first. If you choose ‘do not sort’ in the drop-down table, the species in your search will be shown alphabetically.
If you do not choose anything from the star ratings, the species found in your search will be shown according to the 'General importance', so first the species with 5 stars, then 4 stars etcetera.

Only star ratings for which at least 1 star is present, will be shown.
In case you find an omission or error for the star ratings, please inform us by e-mail.

Example:
If you type in the 'Search for Uses' field the word 'vegetable', you get more than 850 results. This means that in the paragraph on 'uses', somewhere the word 'vegetable' is mentioned.
These 850 species are sorted on 'General importance', not on 'most important vegetable'.
If you combine the word 'vegetable' in the field 'Search for Uses' with star rating 'Sort by vegetables', then the most important vegetable species show up: 5 stars, followed by 4 stars etc.

The star rating system contains the following categories:

01 General importance
02 Geographic coverage (Africa)
03 Geographic coverage (worldwide)

04 Cereals and pulses	including pseudo-cereals (non-gramineous)
05 Vegetables	including legume seeds eaten as sprouted seeds
06 Dye and tannins use	including mordants and inks
07 Ornamental use	including hedge and wayside plants
08 Forage/feed use	including feed for fish and insects such as silkworms
09 Fruit use	including nuts
10 Timber use	including bamboos used for construction
11 Carbohydrate/starch use	including bee plants (honey); excluding cereals and pulses yielding starch
12 Auxiliary use	including shade trees, live supports, cover crops, mulches, green manure, windbreaks, live fences, erosion-controlling plants, land reclamation species and water-cleaning agents
13 Fuel use	including plants for the production of charcoal and as tinder
14 Medicinal use	including poisonous plants used as pesticide, fish poison and dart poison, and narcotic plants
15 Spices and condiment use	including vegetable salt, and flavour compounds added for conservation, such as hop in beer
16 Essential oil and exudate use	including aromatic woods, and plants producing camphor, latex, resin, balsam, gum, wax and aromatic resin
17 Vegetable oil use
18 Stimulant use	including plants used for beverages, chewing and smoking; excluding narcotic plants, but including legal drugs
19 Fibre use	including rattans, and plants for packing and thatching, as tying material and for making paper, baskets, mats, wickerwork, wattle work and tooth brushes
20 Climate change
21 Food security
22 Conservation status

Explanation of the different star ratings

01 General importance

1 star	identical to main use in Africa	and no secondary use
2 star	identical to main use in Africa	plus 1 star if 1 or more relevant secondary uses
3 star	identical to main use in Africa	plus 1 star if 1 or more relevant secondary uses
4 star	identical to main use in Africa	plus 1 star if 1 or more relevant secondary uses
5 star	identical to main use in Africa

02 Geographic coverage (Africa)

1 star	1 region
2 star	2 regions
3 star	3 regions
4 star	4 regions
5 star	5 regions

The regions are West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, southern Africa and the Indian Ocean islands.

In case a species occurs on the border of 2 regions AND has a small area of distribution (e.g. a species occurring only in eastern Nigeria and western Cameroon) then only 1 star is given.

03 Geographic coverage (Worldwide)

1 star	1 continent
2 star	2 continents
3 star	3 continents
4 star	4 continents
5 star	worldwide

The continents are Africa, (South-East) Asia, South America, North America, Australia and Europe.

Commodity Groups:

04 Cereals and pulses	12 Auxiliary use
05 Vegetables	13 Fuel use
06 Dye and tannins use	14 Medicinal use
07 Ornamental use	15 Spices and condiment use
08 Forage/feed use	16 Essential oil and exudate use
09 Fruit use	17 Vegetable oil use
10 Timber use	18 Stimulant use
11 Carbohydrate/starch use	19 Fibre use

All commodity groups have a similar rating system:

1 star	1 paragraph on use	and: no properties
2 star	2 paragraphs on use	or: 1 paragraph use + 1 paragraph relevant properties
3 star	3 paragraphs on use	or: 2 paragraphs use + 3 paragraphs relevant properties
4 star	4 paragraphs on use	or: 2–3 paragraphs use + 1 page relevant properties
5 star	1–2 page on use	or: > 3–4 paragraphs use + 2 pages relevant properties

20 Climate change

1 star	possible tolerance/resistance
2 star	slight tolerance/resistance
3 star	rather tolerant/resistant
4 star	tolerant/resistant
5 star	very tolerant/resistant

Plants that can play a role in an environment affected by climate change, have characteristics like drought tolerance, waterlogging tolerance, salt tolerance and fire resistance.

21 Food security

1 star	slightly important / important in rare cases
2 star	rather important / important as famine food or harvested from the wild
3 star	semi-cultivated (e.g. not cut down in field) / cultivated on a small scale
4 star	important (cultivated)
5 star	very important (cultivated)

Plants that play a role in food security are cultivated crops, but also plants that are collected from the wild, either in case of availability or in case of food shortage, when there is no alternative.

22 Conservation status

1 star	least concern
2 star	near threatened
3 star	vulnerable
4 star	endangered
5 star	critically endangered

This star rating is based on the IUCN red list and on information of PROTA.