Search POWO (Plants of the World Online, by Kew) — the authoritative global plant taxonomy database — for accepted plant names and synonyms by scientific or common name. Returns matching taxa with their family, rank, whether the name is accepted, and a POWO fqId you can pass to get_taxon. Keyless...
AI agents call search_plants to retrieve information from Mcp Powo without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
limit | number | — | Max results to return (default 15). |
query | string | Yes | Scientific or common plant name, e.g. "Quercus robur" or "English oak". |
Parameters from the server's own tool schema.
This tool retrieves botanical taxonomy data from Plants of the World Online without side effects. It queries an existing database and returns results (accepted plant names, synonyms, family, rank, POWO identifiers). There is no creation, modification, deletion, or execution of code or external operations.
From the tool's definition Tool description states it 'Search[es]' and 'Returns matching taxa' — purely informational retrieval with no modification, deletion, or execution of external systems. The word 'Keyless' reinforces that it is a simple lookup service.
Risk signalsAccepts freeform code/query input (query)
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Search POWO (Plants of the World Online, by Kew) — the authoritative global plant taxonomy database — for accepted plant names and synonyms by scientific or common name. Returns matching taxa with their family, rank, whether the name is accepted, and a POWO fqId you can pass to get_taxon. Keyless. Complements GBIF/iNaturalist with curated botanical taxonomy. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Mcp Powo MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
search_plants accepts 2 parameters: limit, query. Required: query. The full parameter table on this page comes from the server's own tool schema.
Register the Mcp Powo MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for search_plants: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches Mcp Powo. Nothing to install.
search_plants is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the search_plants rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for search_plants. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
search_plants is provided by the Mcp Powo MCP server (pipeworx-io/mcp-powo). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Every MCP server has a record like this.
Type a name, get the same breakdown: verified identity, auth posture, risk grade, capabilities, recommended policy.
Teams ship this data inside their own products. See what a licence covers →