Flora of China Volume 17 English Edition

Author: Editorial Committee of Flora of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: Flora of China (Volume 17, English Edition) describes: The flora of China is the most diverse in the North Temperate Zone and is one of the richest in the world. It includes approximately 8,500 species of trees and shrubs. China is the only country in the world that encompasses unbroken transitional zones connecting tropical, subtropical, temperate, and boreal forests. Some genera of vascular plants (e.g., Metasequoia, Ginkgo, Cercidiphyllum), which are known only as fossils in Europe and North America, have survived in China. Therefore, knowledge of the flora of China is essential for interpreting the fossil record and understanding the vegetational history of North America, Europe, and other parts of Asia, for adequately protecting the plants, for utilizing them economically, and simply for learning the properties of a significant fraction of the world’s plants.