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According to preliminary reports by botanists, China has about 1,200 species of orchids. Although they represent only a small proportion of the world's total, they grow in large quantities and are quite varied. Many species are traditionally highly prized. China's Yunnan Province is one of the richest orchid resource areas in the world. It has over 530 species in about 100 genera. Among them, Paphiopedilum markianum is a new species discovered in the early 1990s and is endemic to China, P. amenianum known as "jintong "or"jindu"in Hong kong, has beautiful yellow flowers and is extremely rare. lts discovery has drawn a great deal of attention from botanists and horticulturists in various countries. Another species, P. malipoense, is regarded by specialists as representaive asof the most primitive Paphiopedilum being in fact an intermediate of transitional species between the more primitive Cypripedium and Paphiopedilum. It must be pointed out that, among the orchidaceous plants growing in China, a large pret comprise small genera. There are 62 genera which have one species; 59 genera which have 2-4 species; 28 genera which have 5-15 species; 6 genera which have 16-20 sepecies; and 17 genera which have 21 or more species. However, continuing field investigations will reveal new genera and species.
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