Flora Of China Research Articles

A study of the Polish missionary Michel Boym's pharmacy books

Michel Boym was a 17th-century missionary who came to China from Poland. He was the first man who introduce Chinese herbal medicine to Europe by writing Flora Sinensis (Chinese Flora) and Medicamenta Simplicia quae Chinensibus ad usum medicum adhibentur. This article reveals that which Chinese herbal medicine books may have been consulted in the Medicamenta Simplicia quae Chinensibus ad usum medicum adhibentur by analyzing its content and comparing it with the Chinese herbal medicine books. We believed that in order to write this book, he consulted many Chinese books, collected a variety of herbal samples and consulted Chinese people who knew about herbals, and added his own understanding. As a western pharmacology book, his book structure, content and characteristics are the closest to Chinese herbal medicine books. And which Chinese books he has consulted, may include, but is not limited to BenCao GangMu(Compendium of Materia Medica)《》, Lei Gong Pao Zhi Yao Xing Jie 《》, Ben Cao Meng Quan《》 and Xin Kan Lei Gong Pao Zhi Bian Lan 《》.

Characterization of the Complete Chloroplast Genomes of Buddleja colvilei and B. sessilifolia: Implications for the Taxonomy of Buddleja L.

Buddleja colvilei Hook.f. & Thomson (Scrophulariaceae) is a threatened alpine plant with a distribution throughout the Himalayas, also used as an ornamental plant. The name Buddleja sessilifolia B.S. Sun ex S.Y. Pao was assigned in 1983 to a plant distributed throughout the Gaoligong Mountains, but the name was later placed in synonymy with B. colvilei in the Flora of China. In this study we sequenced the complete chloroplast (cp) genomes of two individuals of B. colvilei and three individuals of B. sessilifolia from across the range. Both molecular and morphological analysis support the revision of B. sessilifolia. The phylogenetic analysis constructed with the whole cp genomes, the large single-copy regions (LSC), small single-copy regions (SSC), inverted repeat (IR) and the nuclear genes 18S/ITS1/5.8S/ITS2/28S all supported B. sessilifolia as a distinct species. Additionally, coalescence-based species delimitation methods (bGMYC, bPTP) using the whole chloroplast datasets also supported B. sessilifolia as a distinct species. The results suggest that the B. sessilifolia lineage was early diverging among the Asian Buddleja species. Overall gene contents were similar and gene arrangements were found to be highly conserved in the two species, however, fixed differences were found between the two species. A total of 474 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified between the two species. The Principal Coordinate Analysis of the morphological characters resolved two groups and supported B. sessilifolia as a distinct species. Discrimination of B. colvilei and B. sessilifolia using morphological characters and the redescription of B. sessilifolia are detailed here.

The China Program on Species Diversity Information Systems

A program to integrate species diversity information systems was launched by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in January 2018, with funding from the CAS Earth project, a Strategic Priority Research Program of CAS. The program will create a series of data products, such as China flora online, species catalogues, distribution maps, software tools for data mining and knowledge discovery based on big data and artificial intelligence technology, and a service platform and portal highlighting species diversity information in China. The products and platform will provide the robust data to support decision making on biodiversity conservation, fundamental research on biodiversity evolution and spatial patterns, and species identification for citizen science. China flora online will include 35,000 species of higher plants in China and an online editing environment for botanists to maintain the floral records. The trait database will include structured data of animals, plants and fungi, such as weight, height, length, color and shape of organisms. This species catalogue will be the annually updated version of the Catalogue of Life, China. The distribution maps will show the spatial pattern for each species of vertebrate animal and higher plant. Cell phone apps will help users to easily and quickly identify plants in the field. The mechanism and workflow for data collection, integration, public sharing and quality control will be built up in the next few years.

Porella longifolia (Steph.) S.Hatt. and Porella densifolia var. robusta (Steph.) S.Hatt. (Porellaceae, Marchantiophyta) excluded from the liverwort flora of China

Porella is a large genus with 86 currently accepted species. China is its center of diversity. Two narrowly distributed taxa, Porella densifolia var. robusta and P. longifolia are excluded from the liverwort flora of China because vouchered specimens are assignable to other species. The illustrations of Porella densifolia var. densifolia and P. acutifolia var. acutifolia based on Chinese plants are provided. Porella longifolia is thus far known only from Sumatra, Indonesia.

Descriptive Data Challenges for the World Flora Online

The World Flora Online (WFO) is primarily a data management project initiated in 2012 in response to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation – "To create an online flora of all known plants by 2020". A WFO Consortium has been formed of now 42 international partners with a governing Council and three Working Groups. The World Flora Online Public Portal (www.worldfloraonline.org) was launched at the International Botanical Congress in Shenzhen, China in July, 2017. The baseline Public Portal was primarily populated with a taxonomic backbone of information gathered from The Plant List augmented by newer taxonomic sources like Solanaceae Source. To support all known plant names in the WFO. including both vascular and non-vascular plants, new WFO identifiers (WFOIDs) were created, which were also cross-referenced to the International Plant Names Index (IPNI) identifiers for plant names included there. The next phase of the World Flora Online involves additional enhancement of the taxonomic backbone by engagement of new plant Taxonomic Expert Networks (TENs) and acceleration of ingestion of descriptive data from digital floras and monographs, and other sources like International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) threat assessments and the Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) Global Tree Assessment. Descriptive data can be text descriptions, images, geographic distributions, identification keys, phylogenetic trees, as well as atomized trait data like threat status, lifeform or habitat. Initial digital descriptive datasets have been received by WFO from Flora of Brazil, Flora of South Africa, Flora of China, Flora of North Africa, Solanaceae Source and several others. The hard work is underway to match the names associated with the submitted descriptions to the names and WFOIDs in the World Flora Online taxonomic backbone and then merging the descriptive data elements into the WFO database. Numerous data tools have been adopted and created to accomplish the data cleaning, standardization and transformation required before descriptive data can be integrated. The WFO project has discovered many variations between just the few datasets received so far, which highlights the need for better standardization and controlled vocabularies for flora and monographic descriptive data. This presentation will review some of the issues identified by the project when merging descriptive data and some potential gaps in the TDWG standards specifically for flora descriptive data. Some opportunities for consideration by the TDWG Species Information Interest Group will be presented.

Correlation analysis between cold and heat property of traditional Chinese medicines and light conditions of their original plants in habitat

The current study was conducted to explore the relationship between property of traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) and the light conditions of their original plant in habitats and advance a "light-cold and heat property" hypothesis under the guidance of theory of TCM. In the present study, we selected 127 common Chinese herbs. Association rules mining method was used to find out the association relationship between the cold-heat properties of different TCM and the habitats of their original plant, while using statistical methods to analyze the correlation between light condition and cold-heat property of TCM based on the description of the habitats in the Flora of China and investigation. The results showed that the habitats associated to TCM with cold property are in the order of grassland>curb>hillside>wasteland>gully>farmland>riverside. The habitats that associated to TCM with heat property are: undergrowth>shrub>gully>jungle. For 68 TCMs with cold property, 81.2% of their original plants are light-demanding, 8.7% are shade-demanding, and 8.7% of them showed no obvious light preference. For 59 TCMs with heat property, 62.7% of their original plants are shade-demanding, 20.3% are shade-demanding, and 17.0% of them showed no obvious light preference. Meanwhile, Chi-square test showed that there was a significant difference between the cold-heat property and light preference (P<0.01). In summary, there is a significant correlation between the light preference of TCM original plants and their cold-heat properties. In order to ensure the pharmacological effect of TCM, the relationship between the light conditions and the properties of TCM should be considered in the cultivation of medicinal plants for TCM.

Two illegitimate superfluous names in Premna (Lamiaceae, Premnoideae)

When compiling Flora Yunnanica, Wu (1977) described six new species in the genus Premna Linnaeus (1771: 587), including P. laevigata Wu (1977: 440), P. oligantha Wu (1977: 434), P. punicea Wu (1977: 433), P. rubroglandulosa Wu (1977: 431), P. straminicaulis Wu (1977: 426), and P. velutina Wu (1977: 428). All these species were recognized in the account of Premna of Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae (P’ei &amp; Chen, 1982), and in its English updated edition, Flora of China (Chen &amp; Gilbert, 1994). Unfortunately, P. laevigata C.Y.Wu and P. velutina C.Y.Wu are two illegitimate names according to Art. 53.1 of the ICN (McNeill et al. 2012) because they are later homonyms of P. laevigata Miquel (1858: 895) and P. velutina Gürke (1895: 338), respectively. The illegitimacy of the two names was later realized by Boufford &amp; Bartholomew (2012) and Li et al. (2013), proposing the names P. wuii (noting this “wuii” as “wui”) Boufford &amp; Bartholomew (2012: 1) to replace the name P. velutina C.Y.Wu, and P. menglaensis Li (2013: 58) to replace the name P. laevigata C.Y.Wu, respectively.

Describing one generic and two new species record to the flora of Pakistan using LM and SEM methods.

Common mulberry weed (Fatoua villosa (Thunb.) Nakai) and creeping amaranth (Amaranthus crassipes Schlecht) are reported for the first time in Pakistan's flora as these were not listed in any other literature nor identified before in Pakistan. Plants were found as a result of taxonomic studies performed in 2013 in Peshawar, Pakistan. Detail study was performed for the exact identification. Morphological results were compared with Flora of China and Flora of North America. Plant distribution along with its habitat and adjacent species was also recorded. Scanning electron and light microscopy was performed for the confirmation of epidermal appendages on leaf epidermis and palyno-morphological characters.

Evolutionary history of the angiosperm flora of China.

High species diversity may result from recent rapid speciation in a 'cradle' and/or the gradual accumulation and preservation of species over time in a 'museum'. China harbours nearly 10% of angiosperm species worldwide and has long been considered as both a museum, owing to the presence of many species with hypothesized ancient origins, and a cradle, as many lineages have originated as recent topographic changes and climatic shifts-such as the formation of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and the development of the monsoon-provided new habitats that promoted remarkable radiation. However, no detailed phylogenetic study has addressed when and how the major components of the Chinese angiosperm flora assembled to form the present-day vegetation. Here we investigate the spatio-temporal divergence patterns of the Chinese flora using a dated phylogeny of 92% of the angiosperm genera for the region, a nearly complete species-level tree comprising 26,978 species and detailed spatial distribution data. We found that 66% of the angiosperm genera in China did not originate until early in the Miocene epoch (23 million years ago (Mya)). The flora of eastern China bears a signature of older divergence (mean divergence times of 22.04-25.39 Mya), phylogenetic overdispersion (spatial co-occurrence of distant relatives) and higher phylogenetic diversity. In western China, the flora shows more recent divergence (mean divergence times of 15.29-18.86 Mya), pronounced phylogenetic clustering (co-occurrence of close relatives) and lower phylogenetic diversity. Analyses of species-level phylogenetic diversity using simulated branch lengths yielded results similar to genus-level patterns. Our analyses indicate that eastern China represents a floristic museum, and western China an evolutionary cradle, for herbaceous genera; eastern China has served as both a museum and a cradle for woody genera. These results identify areas of high species richness and phylogenetic diversity, and provide a foundation on which to build conservation efforts in China.

The China Plant Trait Database: toward a comprehensive regional compilation of functional traits for land plants.

Plant functional traits provide information about adaptations to climate and environmental conditions, and can be used to explore the existence of alternative plant strategies within ecosystems. Trait data are also increasingly being used to provide parameter estimates for vegetation models. Here we present a new database of plant functional traits from China. Most global climate and vegetation types can be found in China, and thus the database is relevant for global modeling. The China Plant Trait Database contains information on morphometric, physical, chemical, and photosynthetic traits from 122 sites spanning the range from boreal to tropical, and from deserts and steppes through woodlands and forests, including montane vegetation. Data collection at each site was based either on sampling the dominant species or on a stratified sampling of each ecosystem layer. The database contains information on 1,215 unique species, though many species have been sampled at multiple sites. The original field identifications have been taxonomically standardized to the Flora of China. Similarly, derived photosynthetic traits, such as electron-transport and carboxylation capacities, were calculated using a standardized method. To facilitate trait-environment analyses, the database also contains detailed climate and vegetation information for each site. The data set is released under a Creative Commons BY license. When using the data set, we kindly request that you cite this article, recognizing the hard work that went into collecting the data and the authors' willingness to make it publicly available.

Ex situ Flora of China

The role of living collections-based research and discovery has been a prominent feature throughout the history of evolution and advance of botanical science: such research is the core and soul of the botanical gardens. Currently, there are c. 162 Chinese botanical gardens, harboring c. 20,000 species in China. As an example of initiatives to utilize the garden cultivated flora to address plant diversity conservation and germplasm discovery for sustainable agriculture and the bio-industries, the Ex situ Flora of China project aims to catalog and document this mega-diversity of plants that are cultivated in the Chinese botanical gardens. The concept of Ex situ Flora of China is a complete new formulation of species, based on garden cultivated individuals and populations, to obtain better morphological descriptions, provide multi-purpose applicability and a fundamental data service that will support national bio-strategies and bio-industries. It emphasises integrative information, accurately collected from living collections across different Chinese botanical gardens, on biology, phenology, cultivation requirements and uses of plant resources, which are normally not available from traditional Floras based on herbarium specimens. The ex situ flora should provide better information coverage for taxonomy, biological and introduction and collection data and color photos of stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and seed, as well as useful information of cultivation key points and main use of each plant. In general, the Ex situ Flora of China provides more useful information than the traditional Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae. The project of Ex situ Flora of China is planned to be one of the most important initiatives of the plant diversity research platform for sustainable economic and social development in China.

Index to Titles and Authors/Editors of Books Reviewed Volume 92 (2017)

Index to Titles and Authors/Editors of Books Reviewed Volume 92 (2017)

Early Cretaceous charophyte flora from the Chijinbao Formation in the Jiuquan Basin, Northwest China, and its stratigraphic and palaeoecological significance

The charophyte flora from the Lower Cretaceous Chijinbao Formation (Jiuquan Basin, Northwest China) and its application to biostratigraphy and palaeoecology were investigated. The species Mesochara stipitata and Aclistochara huihuibaoensis were found in the Chijinbao Formation. The intra-specific variability of M. stipitata and A. huihuibaoensis was examined based on biometric analyses. The flora suggests a Barremian age for the Chijinbao Formation, in agreement with the data obtained from conchostracan and fish assemblages. Sedimentological, taphonomic and palaeoecological data indicate that a permanent lake occurred in the area, and that the climate was warm at the time of deposition of the Chijinbao Formation. The Early Cretaceous charophyte flora of the Jiuquan Basin was poorly diverse, especially in comparison with Europe where abundant clavatoraceans dominated the lakes and ponds of the tropical to subtropical Lower Cretaceous Central Tethyan Archipelago. Instead, the Barremian Chinese flora was dominated by a few early characeans. Differences in climate may account for such contrasting diversity.

Salvinia molesta D.S. Mitch.

<i>Salvinia molesta</i> D.S. Mitch.

Botanical origin and chemical constituents of commercial Saposhnikoviae radixand its related crude drugs available in Shaanxi and the surrounding regions.

Saposhnikoviae radix (SR) is described in the Japanese Pharmacopoeia as a crude drug derived from the root of Saposhnikovia divaricata Schischkin (Umbelliferae). According to Flora of China, the root of Peucedanum ledebourielloides K. F. Fu is used as a regional substitute forSR. Therefore, we surveyed the botanical origin of the drug used in China, especially Shaanxi and the surrounding regions, through nucleotide sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region of rDNA. As a result, several samples from Shaanxi () and Shanxi () provinces were identified as Peucedanum ledebourielloides. To prevent this substitute from being distributed as genuineSR, we developed a thin-layer chromatography analysis condition to enable a specific compound of this species to be easily detected. The specific compound was identified as xanthalin, based on 1D- and 2D-NMR and high-resolution mass spectrometry data. The established TLC conditions were as follows-extraction solvent, n-hexane; applied volume, 5µL; chromatographic support, silica gel; developing solvent, n-hexane:ethyl acetate:acetic acid (20:10:1); developing length, 7cm; detection, UV (365nm); R f value, 0.4 (blue fluorescence; xanthalin).

Phylogenetic placement of Yunnanopilia (Opiliaceae) inferred from molecular and morphological data

AbstractYunnanopilia longistaminea (W.Z. Li) C.Y. Wu &amp; D.Z. Li, which is a controversial species in Opiliaceae, is treated as a variety of Champereia manillana (Blume) Merrill in the Flora of China and morphological analysis has produced conflicting results regarding its affinity to Melientha and Champereia. To determine the systematic position of Yunnanopilia in Opiliaceae, we selected two nuclear regions (internal transcribed spacer [ITS4‐ITS5] and 18S rDNA) and four chloroplast regions (rbcL, matK, psbA‐trnH, and trnS‐trnG) to test the phylogenetics of the family Opiliaceae using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analysis. Morphological characteristics were also examined to clarify the similarities and differences among Y. longistaminea and two closely related species. Agonandra was located at the basal position in the family Opiliaceae; in the large clade including other remaining genera, two main clades were clearly identified and correlated with inflorescence morphological characteristics. All samples of Y. longistaminea formed a clade. Yunnanopilia, Melientha, and Champereia were more closely related than other genera of Opiliaceae. Yunnanopilia longistaminea was sister to M. suavis Pierre and was more closely related to M. suavis than to C. manillana. Morphological analysis also showed that differences in the inflorescences and flowers between Y. longistaminea and M. suavis were substantial enough to warrant the retention of Y. longistaminea in its current genus. Thus, we suggest that the monotypic Yunnanopilia be treated as a distinct genus and that the name Y. longistaminea should be adopted.

The identity of Eritrichium aktonense and E. longifolium (Boraginaceae)

Eritrichium aktonense Y.S.Lian &amp; J.Q.Wang has been previously placed in synonymy within E. longifolium Decne. in Flora of China. However, based on our examinations of specimens and bibliographies, combined with field observations, E. longifolium is shown to be significantly different from E. aktonense, but to be conspecific with E. petiolare var. villosum W.T.Wang.

Plant micro-reserves in Valencia (E. Spain): A model to preserve threatened flora in China?

The Valencian Community (eastern Spain) was the pioneer territory establishing plant micro-reserves (PMRs). Its model to protect small sites for endemic and endangered plants has been exported to several countries around the globe. This paper highlights 1) the role of PMRs to complement the protection provided by large protected areas, 2) how the establishment of PMRs fosters the increase of floristic knowledge, and 3) the fact that continuous monitoring of PMRs also yields new records of endangered species found within the same PMRs. The flexibility of the PMR approach -it can be adapted to other national and regional legislations- allows its transfer to other rich-biodiversity regions and countries such as China.

Varieties textual research, resource investigation and identification of commercial drugs on Cuscutae Semen

Through the textual research, resource investigation, literature reviews (including Flora of China, municipal Flora, pharmacopoeia of China and municipal drug standards) and identification of commercial drugs on Cuscutae Semen, it was found the species described in the herbal textual was Cuscuta chinensis, with good quality from Shandong and Henan Province. The identification of commodities showed the majority drugs were from C. australis, varied from the ancient herbal textuals .Mordern literature reviews indicate that it was necessary to strengthen the research on Cuscutae Semen from C. australis, C. chinensis and C. japonica because of their differences in resources, macroscopical and microscopical characters, while wrong descriptions in some literatures. It was suggested that the two species (C. australis and C. chinensis) should be separated in pharmacopoeia of China. The study provides scientific basis for the development and utilization of Cuscutae Semen.

Preliminary study on phytogeography of Dipterocarpaceae Blume family in Vietnam

Biogeographically mapping flora of Vietnam requires the studies on the distribution of some important species groups for identifying the typical species composition of each phytochorion. The Dipterocarpaceae family contains taxa originated in tropical Asia and its subfamily of Dipterocarpoideae is proved to have Southeast Asia origin. In Vietnam, this family includes 43 species in 7 genera. In this study, Dipterocarpaceae species from 645 sites in Vietnam are assessed and compared to those in over the world. In Vietnam, this family distributes in tropical and/or slightly passing to subtropical climate but none of its species is naturally found in the Red River and the Mekong River deltas. In the world, the Dipterocarpaceae species found in Vietnam concentrated distributes in Indochina floristic region, corresponding to the originative area of South Myanmar. Statistically, there are 12 endemic species for the Indochinese floristic region and five of them are endemic for four provinces of this region related to Vietnam, respectively as follows: South China - 1, North Indochina - 1, South Indochina - 2 and Annam - 1. Additionally, some species distribute in East Asia floristic region of Holarctic Kingdom because of expanding the distribution area from the Indochinese floristic region. All genera of this family in Vietnam were originated in the Indochinese floristic region. Moreover, the floristic data and phytogeographical phylogeny diagram, based on analyses of phytogeography and DNA, would be better to use for finding out the distributional source or the forming time of species or genus, then the phylogenetic diagram.ReferencesAngiosperm Phylogeny Group, 2009. An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 161(2), 105-121. Ashton P.S., 1982. Dipterocarpaceae. In: Van Steenis C.G.G.J., 1979-1983, Flora Malesiana. Dipterocarpaceae. Martinus Nijhoff Publisher, The Hague, London, 9(2), 250p. Averyanov L.V., Phan K.L., Nguyen T.H., Harder D.K., 2003. Phytogeographic review of Vietnam and adjacent areas of Eastern Indochina, Komarovia, Saint Petersburg, 3, 1-83. Kress W.J., DeFilipps R.A., Farr E. and Yin D.Y.K., 2003. A checklist of the trees, shrubs, herbs and climbers of Myanmar. National Museum of Nature History, Washington DC, 45, 1-590. Le Tran Chan (Editor), 1999. Some characteristics of the flora of Vietnam. Science and Technique publishing house, Hanoi, 305p (Vietnamese). Li X.W., Li J., Ashton P.S., 2007. Dipterocarpaceae. In: Wu Z.Y., Raven P.H. (Hrsg.). Flora of China. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, 13, 48-54. Nguyen Hoang Nghia, 2005. Dipterocarps of Vietnam. Agriculture Publishing House, Hanoi, 100p. Nguyen Kim Dao, 2003. “Dipterocarpceae Blume, 1825” in Checklist Plant species of Vietnam. Agricultural Publishing House, Hanoi, 2, 328-340 (Vietnamese). Nguyen Nga Phi, 2009. Molecular phylogeny of Southeast-Asian Dipterocarps belonging to tribe Dipterocarpeae (family Dipterocarpaceae) based on non-coding sequence data of chloroplast and nuclear DNA. Department of Forest Genetics and Georest Tree Breeding, Büsgen Institute, Faculty of Forest Science and Forest Ecology, Georg-August University of Göttingen. Göttingen, 142p. Nguyen Nghia Thin, 2004. Methods in Botanical Research. HNU publishing house, Hanoi, 172p (Vietnamese). Pham Hoang Ho, 2001. Illustration Flora of Vietnam, Youth Publishing House. Ho Chi Minh City, 2, 1022p (Vietnamese). Smitinand T., 1969. The distribution of Dipterocarpaceae in Thailand. National History Bull. Siam Soci., 23, 67-75. Smitinand T., J.E. Vidal, P.H. Ho, 1990. Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam, 25, Diptérocarpacées. Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 123p (French). Takhtajan A. (Translated by Theodore J. Crovello), 1986. Floristic Regions of the World. University of California Press, 544p. Thai Van Trung, 1978. Tropical Forest Ecology systems of Vietnam. Science and Technique publishing house, Hanoi, 314p (Vietnamese). The Plant List (Version 1.1.), 2013. Dipterocarpaceae. http://www.theplantlist.org.