Flora of China
The flora of
Vascular plants
China has over 39,000 vascular plants, including
Native species
Gutta-percha tree (Eucommia ulmoides) is a small tree that has alternately arranged, deciduous leaves and is almost threatened in the wild.[9] However, it is widely cultivated by the people of China for its bark which has medicinal properties. It is also important in China's natural rubber producing industry as its leaf produces a latex compound when torn which dries into rubber.[9]
Happy tree (Camptotheca acuminate) is a low-growing deciduous tree native to the arm, humid river banks along the Yangtze River. The leaves, bark, roots, and seeds have medicinal properties that have been used to treat the common cold, liver problems, digestive problems, and psoriasis in the past.[9]
Yunnan Cypress (Cupressus duclouxiana) is an endemic coniferous tree species that occur in the low altitude regions of Central China.[9] This species is threatened by habitat loss and is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.[11]
Other native plants include
Fungi
This section needs additional citations for verification. (November 2021) |
The fungal flora of China is extensive with over 27,000 fungal species. As of 2018, China has reported 1789 edible
The fungal records from the Checklist of Fungi in China and the Flora Fungorum Sinicorum series reveal that the distribution of fungi in China is uneven, particularly in Northwest China. Northwest China includes the provinces of Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, and Shaanxi making up over 30% of the country's territory, however, only 3887 species of fungi out of 759 genera have been yielded there. In comparison, the tropical regions of South-Central China and Southwest China, which includes the provinces of Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan, account for less than 5% of the country's territory but have yielded 5,056 species in 1192 general. However, there is a difference in the precipitation levels in both areas and these climatic and geographical conditions may possibly be a reason for the fungal diversity in the two regions.
Mushroom cultivation plays a major role in the ecological and social development of China. According to the State of World's fungi report 2018, over 100 species of fungi have been domesticated for cultivation with around 60% being produced commercially.[2] It not only provides food but also income and around 25 million jobs. China has become one of the largest edible mushroom producers in the world reaching an estimated annual yield of over 38 million tonnes.[2]
Vegetation types
Forests
There are six forest regions in China. This includes the North, Northeast, Northwest, South Central, Southeast, and Southwest.
Use by humans
Over 10,000 of the species have been implemented in at least one of the fields with a vast majority in medicine. Nowadays, Chinese plants have been exported all around the world to be studied or used for food or used in the medicinal system.[5] The Chinese originated medicinal plant Artemisia annua, also known as sweet wormwood, is one of the most well known medicinal plants to come from China, having been used since ancient times to treat fevers as well as a possible treatment for malaria in the 1970s.[5] Poaceae, also known as grasses, are a very economically important group with around 1795 species (809 being endemic) in China.[1] Species from this family such as Phyllostachys heteroclada, which was one of the more popular bamboos, were used to weave everyday objects such as bamboo mats as well as children's toys.[14]
Plants have also played a large role in China's history and culture having been symbolically used in art, architecture and religion. Different plants can be interpreted differently depending on their characteristics. Plants can be symbolically used through either association or through puns of the Chinese characters of the plant's name. The paeonia (paeony) is one of the most popular botanical images in Chinese culture with its beauty symbolising wealth, honor and rank.[5]
Research exhibits data that tells us the number of useful plants that are endemic, threatened, or both such as how 3552 (33%) of useful plants are endemic to China with 1353 of those having been included in at least one list of globally threatened species. This includes the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).[15]
Conservation and threat
The arrival of humans has caused a disturbance and had a great impact on the evolution of plants in China. The introduction of factors such as climate change and pollution has impacted the climatic and geographical location and diversity of plants. Fungi being less recorded in Central and Eastern China where there is more agricultural and industrial development and habitat destruction can be seen as an example of this.[2] Recently, it has been reported that Fritillaria delavayi, a small high in demand flower located in Southwest China, has been evolving to camouflage with its environment to avoid getting picked. This plant has been used for medicinal purposes for the last 2000 years but demand has steadily started to increase, resulting in the flower developing grey and brown leaves to blend in with its rocky surrounding.[16]
Conservation
In early 2002, China endorsed the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation providing an approach for preserving the estimated 300,000 to 425,000 species of vascular plants in in situ and ex situ preservation.[17][18] In response to this, The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) established an ex situ conservation program to help efficiently manage the ex situ conservation of indigenous plants in China. Their 12 botanical garden institutions serve as conservation, research as well as public education and with the program, they planned to create five regional gardens, establish nine specialized ones as well as acquire and renovate 15 existing ones. The five regions on which new gardens would be established were the temperate and plain forest of North China; the Yangtze River regional aquatic flora (east-central China); the subtropical monsoon evergreen broadleaved forest (South China); tropical rainforest (southwest China); and the south-central China Henduan mountain flora.[18] In 2008, China's Strategy for Plant Conservation was adopted as a joint initiative of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.[17] More than 3000 nature reserves have been created, covering approximately 16% of China's land surface. This includes more than 85% of types of terrestrial natural ecosystems, 40% of types of natural wetlands, 20% of native forests, and 65% of natural communities of vascular plants.[19]
Invasive species
China has a long history of intentional and non-intentional introduction of invasive species. Invasive species are widespread in the country representing many major
References
- ^ a b Wu, Z. Y., P. H. Raven & D. Y. Hong, eds. 2006. Flora of China. Vol. 22 (Poaceae). Science Press, Beijing, and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis
- ^ a b c d Fang, R., et al. (2018). Country focus: China. In: K. J. Willis (ed.), State of the World's Fungi. Report. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. pp. 48–55
- ^ Hu, R (1990). Distribution of Bryophytes in China (PDF).
- ^ Huang J, Ma K, Huang J (2017). Species Diversity Distribution Patterns of Chinese Endemic Seed Plants Based on Geographical Regions. PLoS ONE 12(1): e0170276 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170276
- ^ a b c d e Hong, D. Y., & Blackmore, S. (Eds.). (2015). Plants of China: A companion to the flora of China. Cambridge University Press
- ^ Chen, Z.‐D., et al. (2016), Tree of life for the genera of Chinese vascular plants. Jnl of Systematics Evolution, 54: 277-306.https://doi.org/10.1111/jse.12219
- ^ Cockshull, K. E. (2019). Callistephus chinensis, In CRC Handbook of Flowering (pp. 112-114). CRC Press
- ^ a b Xiong, Y., Chen, S., Guo, B. et al. (2020). An efficient micropropagation protocol for Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu et Cheng from shoot segments of 2-year-old trees. Trees 34, 307–313 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-019-01905-7
- ^ a b c d e f Sawe, B. E. (2019, July 10). Plants Native to China. Retrieved from https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/native-plants-of-the-people-s-republic-of-china.html
- ^ Hu, H. H. (1998). "How Metasequoia, the 'living fossil', was discovered in China". Arnoldia. 58 (4): 4–7. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
- ^ Lu, X., Xu, H., Li, Z., Shang, H., Adams, R. P., & Mao, K. (2014). Genetic diversity and conservation implications of four Cupressus species in China as revealed by microsatellite markers. Biochemical genetics, 52(3-4), 181-202. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10528-013-9638-1
- ^ a b c d e Tang, C. Q. (2015). The Subtropical Vegetation of Southwestern China Plant Distribution, Diversity and Ecology . Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.
- ^ a b c d Kolbek, J., Srutek, M., & Box, E. E. O. (2003). Forest Vegetation of Northeast Asia (1st ed. 2003.). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0143-3
- ^ Luo, B., Ahmed, S. & Long, C. (2020) Bamboos for weaving and relevant traditional knowledge in Sansui, Southwest China. J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine 16, 63 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-020-00418-9
- ^ Zhuang, H., Wang, C., Wang, Y., Jin, T., Huang, R., Lin, Z., & Wang, Y. (2020). Native useful vascular plants of China: A checklist and use patterns. Plant Diversity, 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pld.2020.09.003
- ^ Gibbens, S. (2021, March 16). A medicinal Chinese herb may be evolving to camouflage from humans. [1]
- ^ a b Ren, H., Qin, H., Ouyang, Z., Wen, X., Jin, X., Liu, H., … Zhao, L. (2019). Progress of implementation on the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation in (2011–2020) China. Biological Conservation, 230, 169–178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2018.12.030
- ^ a b Huang, H., Han, X., Kang, L., Raven, P., Jackson, P. W., & Chen, Y. (2002). Conserving native plants in China. Science, 297(5583), 935-936.
- ^ Huang H. (2011). Plant diversity and conservation in China: planning a strategic bioresource for a sustainable future. Bot J Linn Soc. 166(3):282-300. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2011.01157.x. PMID 22059249
- ^ Liu, J., Liang, S. C., Liu, F. H., Wang, R. Q., & Dong, M. (2005). Invasive alien plant species in China: regional distribution patterns. Diversity and distributions, 11(4), 341-347. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1366-9516.2005.00162.x
- ^ a b c d Yan, X., Zhenyu, L., Gregg, W.P. et al. Invasive species in China — an overview. Biodiversity and Conservation 10, 1317–1341 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016695609745
- ^ Hong, J. I. N. (2006). Research Advance on Biological Control of Ragweed in China [J]. Prataculture & Animal Husbandry, 7.
- ^ Chen, H., Chen, L., & Albright, T. P. (2007). Developing habitat-suitability maps of invasive ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia. L) in China using GIS and statistical methods. In GIS for Health and the Environment (pp. 105-121). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-71318-0_8
External links
- Media related to Flora of China at Wikimedia Commons
- eflora: Flora of China