The Institute of Health Systems has set up a computerised data base of Medicinal flora called "MEDFLOR - INDIA". Published and unpublished literature containing ethnobotanical information have been collected. These articles are coded by an ethnobiologist to yield structured information for the data base. The Institute provides search and query services to researchers, research institutions, and public health workers about medicinal plants. This data base was set-up in the year 1993. To start with, the Institute is focusing on the medicinal plants in A.P. So far, 200 unique usage entries of 400 plant species have been incorporated in the data base. The data base was set up in technical assistance from the Department of Pharmacy, University of Illiniois at Chicago (UIC) and the Department of Botany, S K University, Anantapur. Editorial guidelines for MEDFLOR and a format for collection of ethnobotanical information hav been developed. Further development of this data base is affected due to lack of funding. The Institute is looking for support to continue to build up this important resource.