Landscape Tree Science

Author: Wuhan City Landscape Technology School
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-04-01
Features: Chapter 2 The Role of Landscape Trees
Section 2.1 The Germplasm Resources of Landscape Trees in Our Country
China has a vast territory, moderate climate, and complex topography, providing extremely favorable geographical conditions for the germplasm resources of landscape trees. Additionally, during the Quaternary Ice Age in the Cenozoic era, when the world experienced glacial periods, China was isolated by north-south trending mountains, leaving many mountainous areas unaffected by direct glacial influence, which became "refuges" for plants. This invaluable historical ecological condition has allowed many tree species that are now extinct in Europe, such as Ginkgo biloba, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, Picea chenocephala, and Magnolia kobus, to be preserved as "living fossils." As a result, China is widely recognized by the global botanical community as the "Mother of Landscaping" and one of the important cradles of world landscape plants.