The checklist is based on a comprehensive review of the literature, herbarium collections, and online databases. It comprises 10,255 species (385 Pteridophytes, 16 Gymnosperms, and 9,854 Angiosperms) that are either native to the Democratic Republic of the Congo or introduced and recorded outside cultivation. Cultivated species, as well as infraspecific taxa and hybrids, are excluded. For each species, the checklist provides information on family, status (native or introduced), life form (tree, liana, shrub or suffrutex, herb, epiphytic herb, epiphytic shrub, epiphytic parasite), and endemism. 1098 species are strict endemics of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Species occurrence is confirmed by references to the Flore d’Afrique centrale (in which specimens are cited), by other taxonomic literature citing specimens from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or by herbarium specimens with verified identifications. Species known solely from a destroyed type specimen are excluded. Nomenclature follows World Flora Online, with a few exceptions. One or more synonyms are provided when a species is treated under a different name in the Flore d’Afrique centrale, World Flora Online, or Plants of the World Online, or when the accepted name has changed recently. Temporal scope