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Please note, this book was originally published in English in 2013 by Science Press in China.
The flora of China is astonishing in its diversity. With 32 500 species of vascular plants, over fifty per cent of which are endemic, it has more botanical variety than anywhere else in the world and provides unbroken connections to all its landscapes – from tropical to subtropical, temperate and boreal forests. The Plants of China tells the story of the plants of China: from the evolution of the flora through time to the survey of the bioclimatic zones, soundly based on chapters with information on climate, physical geography and soils. The history of botany and its study are also examined, with chapters dedicated to forestry, medicinal plants and ornamentals, with the changing flora, aliens, extinction and conservation also discussed. An essential read for years to come, The Plants of China shows that an understanding of the flora of China is crucial to interpreting plant evolution and fossil history elsewhere in the world.
Foreword Wu Cheng-Yih (Wu Zheng-Yi) and Peter H. Raven
Preface
List of contributors
1. Introduction Stephen Blackmore, Hong De-Yuan, Peter H. Raven and Alexandra H. Wortley
2. Global significance of plant diversity in China Huang Hong-Wen, Sara Oldfield and Hong Qian
3. Physical geography Zheng Du
4. Climate Zheng Du
5. Soils Zheng Du
6. Origin and development of the Chinese flora Zhou Zhe-Kun
7. History of vegetation in China Zhou Zhe-Kun
8. The vegetation of China today Chen Ling-Zhi
9. Floristic elements of the Chinese flora Peng Hua and Wu Cheng-Yih (Wu Zheng-Yi)
10. Phytogeographical regions of China Sun Hang
11. Development of Chinese botany Peng Hua
12. Plant exploration in China Hu Chi-Ming (Hu Qi-Ming) and Mark F. Watson
13. History of Chinese botanical institutions Hu Zong-Gang, Ma Hai-Ying, Ma Jin-Shuang and Hong De-Yuan
14. History of, and recent advances in, plant taxonomy Zhang Yu-Xiao and Li De-Zhu
15. Introduction to economic plants Pei Sheng-Ji
16. Crop plants and their wild relatives He Shan-An, Yi Ting-Shuang, Pei Sheng-Ji and Huang Hong-Wen
17. Economic forest plants Pei Sheng-Ji, Yang Yu-Ming and Wang Juan
18. Medicinal plants Pei Sheng-Ji and Huai Hu-Yin
19. Ornamental plants He Shan-An and Xing Fu-Wu
20. Major introduced economic plants Yi Ting-Shuang, Peter L. Morrell, Pei Sheng-Ji and He Shan-An
21. Other important economic plants Pei Sheng-Ji and Hu Guang-Wan
22. Naturalised and invasive plants in China Li Zhen-Yu, Fan Xiao-Hong and David E. Boufford
23. The extinction crisis Huang Hong-Wen and Sara Oldfield
24. Conservation strategies Huang Hong-Wen, Peter S. Wyse Jackson and Chen Ling-Zhi
25. Prospects for the future Huang Hong-Wen
Index to scientific names
Appendix: table of Chinese dynasties
Hong De-Yuan is Professor of the State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany at the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. In 2012 he was awarded the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Lachlan Macquarie Medal, in recognition of his outstanding achievement in helping protect plant biodiversity.
Stephen Blackmore CBE FRSE is Queen's Botanist and Honorary Fellow at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, where he was previously the Regius Keeper. Before that he was Keeper of Botany at the Natural History Museum in London. His research has concentrated in the area of palynology, microscopy and systematics and his achievements have been recognised by three Linnean Society medals.
Contributors:
- Wu Cheng-Yih (Wu Zheng-Yi)
- Peter H. Raven
- Stephen Blackmore
- Hong De-Yuan
- Alexandra H. Wortley
- Huang Hong-Wen
- Sara Oldfield
- Hong Qian
- Zheng Du
- Zhou Zhe-Kun
- Chen Ling-Zhi
- Peng Hua
- Sun Hang
- Hu Chi-Ming (Hu Qi-Ming)
- Mark F. Watson
- Hu Zong-Gang
- Ma Hai-Ying
- Ma Jin-Shuang
- Zhang Yu-Xiao
- Li De-Zhu
- Pei Sheng-Ji
- He Shan-An
- Yi Ting-Shuang
- Yang Yu-Ming
- Wang Juan
- Huai Hu-Yin
- Xing Fu-Wu
- Yi Ting-Shuang
- Peter L. Morrell
- Hu Guang-Wan
- Li Zhen-Yu
- Fan Xiao-Hong
- David E. Boufford
- Peter S. Wyse Jackson
- Chen Ling-Zhi
"This work will be especially useful to non-Chinese readers, since much of this information has not previously been published outside China [...] Without a doubt, this is a valuable contribution because of the new text material presented and the extensive end-of-chapter reference lists."
– Choice
