Sixteen years after the last comprehensive checklist of Burkina Faso, about 30% more species have become known for the country's flora. Many of these are documented in the herbarium collections of the University of Ouagadougou (OUA) and the Herbarium Senckenbergianum (FR). Nevertheless some regions and habitat types are still incompletely sampled. To address these gaps, geographical patterns of collection intensity and species richness are analysed and focus areas for future research identified. The presently known species composition is analysed according to taxonomic and functional groups.