This set of pictorial books contains nearly 20 thousand photographs, presenting the cream of wild higher plants and important cultivated plants in China, the species of which number more than 10 thousand. Each of the species is concisely introduced in both Chinese and English from such aspcts as Chinese name, Latin name, morphological features, flowering and fruiting season, habitalt and distribution. Divided into nine volumes, this work includes 100 bryophyte families, 40 pteridophyte families, 11 gymnosperm families and 232 angiosperm families, 383 families altogether; the inclusion of all the said families is complete except for the bryophytes. The set of pictorial books is another monumental work on plant taxonomy, after Iconographia Cormophytorum Sinicorum, Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae, and Flora of China.
In order to present the diversity of China's plants systematically,botanists from China have made pain-taking efforts to compile a seriesof large-volume floras including
Iconograophia Cormophytorum Sinicorum, Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae (Chinese version) by themselves
, and
Flora of China (Englisg version) with the collaboration of international specialists. These books are well known both in China and abroad and have been used extensively for studing Chinese plants and plants from adjacent areas.These works present the results of plants taxonomic study and study of plant resources in China at different periods, and constitute some of the most important large classic volumes in the field of plant taxonomy.
However, in all these works the plants are only partly illustrated by black and white linedrawings, unable to present the texture and coloure of flowers and leaves fully in their natural state, and they hardly reveal the spectacular beauty and fascination of the wealth of plant species.
This series meed the needs
This volume describes 614 species of bryophytes distributed in China, including 130 species of liverworts, 477 species of mosses and 7 species of hornworts. Each species is illustrated by one or two close-up images taken in the wild and given a concise description in both Chinese and English.The arrangement of families and genera in tis book largely follows the Flora Bryophytorum Sinicorum, while the delimitation, status, distribution and habitat of the species is based on the treatments in the Flora Bryophytorum Sinicorum (Vols. 1-10), Moss flora of China English Version (Vols.1-8), Higher Plants of China (Vol.1), Species Catalogue of China (Vol.1 Plants, Bryophytes) and recent taxonomic revisions and molecular phylogenetic articles on certain taxa. The Chinese names of the species in this book follow those in the Species Catalogue of China (Vol.1, Plant, Bryophytes). Vouchers for the photos in this book have been deposited in the relevant herbaria of the universities and institutions of the photographers.
This work is intended for scientific researchers and administrators in the field of botany and also for botany enthusiasts. As well as for reading, the work can be a classic collection.