Biodiv Sci ›› 2015, Vol. 23 ›› Issue (2): 225-231.  DOI: 10.17520/biods.2015052

Special Issue: 中国生物物种编目进展

• Bioinventories: On Species Catalogue of China • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Families and genera of Chinese angiosperms: a synoptic classification based on APG III

Bing Liu1, Jianfei Ye1,2, Su Liu3, Yuan Wang3, Yong Yang1,*(), Yangjun Lai4, Gang Zeng1, Qinwen Lin2   

  1. 1 State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093
    2 Beijing Botanical Garden, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093
    3 Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Shanghai 201602
    4 Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008
  • Received:2015-03-06 Accepted:2015-03-24 Online:2015-03-20 Published:2015-04-09
  • Contact: Yang Yong

Abstract:

Angiosperms constitute the most diverse lineage of higher plants and are represented by ca. 300,000 living species that dominate the vegetation of terrestrial ecosystems. Number and composition of families, genera, and species are important to understanding global and regional biodiversity. Due to the rapid development of molecular systematics, circumscriptions of many traditional angiosperm families and genera have been revised. This study investigates circumscriptions of families and genera of native and introduced angiosperms in China according to the APG III classification system and recent phylogenetic studies. Results showed that there are 258 native and 55 introduced families (including 6 naturalized families), and 2,872 native and 1,605 introduced genera (including 152 naturalized genera) in China. A brief introduction to the historical and recent changes of circumscriptions of families and genera occurring in China was also provided. Our list included 115 newly recorded families and 1,729 newly recorded genera when compared to Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae, and 85 newly recorded families and 1,531newly recorded genera when compared to Flora of China.

Key words: APG III, China, classification, family, genus, angiosperms, native, introduced, naturalized