How many known vascular plant species are there in the world? An integration of multiple global plant databases

doi:10.17520/biods.2022254

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims: Despite that vascular plants constitute an important component of overall global biodiversity and have been studied well over two centuries, the questions of “How many species of vascular plants are there in the world and how many of them have been discovered and described?” remain open. Here, we address the second of the two questions.
Method: We synthesized four global plant databases.
Results & Conclusions: Our study shows that for the entire global flora of vascular plants (including natural hybrids), 376,366 species have been discovered and validly described. When natural hybrids are excluded, the global flora includes 369,054 species of vascular plant species, of which pteridophytes (ferns and lycophytes), gymnosperms and angiosperms have 13,810, 1,172 and 354,072 species, respectively. The number of vascular plant species derived from our study is larger than any of the other four databases by at least 17,700 species.

https://www.biodiversity-science.net/fileup/PDF/2022254-1.pdf

Key words: angiosperm, flowering plant, gymnosperm, lycophyte, pteridophyte, species diversity

Hong Qian, Jian Zhang, Jingchao Zhao. How many known vascular plant species are there in the world? An integration of multiple global plant databases[J]. Biodiv Sci, 2022, 30(7): 22254.

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URL: https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/10.17520/biods.2022254

https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/Y2022/V30/I7/22254

Figures/Tables 1

References 13

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目 Order	物种数量 Number of species		目 Order	物种数量 Number of species
目 Order	包括杂交种 Incl. hybrid	排除杂交种 Excl. hybrid	目 Order	包括杂交种 Incl. hybrid	排除杂交种 Excl. hybrid
蕨类植物 Pteridophyte			缨子木目 Crossosomatales	77	77
桫椤目 Cyatheales	793	782	葫芦目 Cucurbitales	3,232	3,215
木贼目 Equisetales	45	35	五桠果目 Dilleniales	567	567
里白目 Gleicheniales	177	173	薯蓣目 Dioscoreales	909	907
膜蕨目 Hymenophyllales	637	634	川续断目 Dipsacales	1,471	1,432
水韭目 Isoetales	208	203	杜鹃花目 Ericales	14,638	14,445
石松目 Lycopodiales	522	513	南鼠刺目 Escalloniales	154	147
合囊蕨目 Marattiales	151	151	豆目 Fabales	26,412	26,301
瓶尔小草目 Ophioglossales	132	128	壳斗目 Fagales	1,670	1,435
紫萁目 Osmundales	26	24	丝缨花目 Garryales	27	27
水龙骨目 Polypodiales	10,560	10,123	龙胆目 Gentianales	23,687	23,600
松叶蕨目 Psilotales	19	19	牻牛儿苗目 Geraniales	953	934
槐叶蘋目 Salviniales	82	81	大叶草目 Gunnerales	67	66
莎草蕨目 Schizaeales	224	213	腺椒树目 Huerteales	30	30
卷柏目 Selaginellales	731	731	茶茱萸目 Icacinales	187	187
裸子植物 Gymnosperm			唇形目 Lamiales	29,365	28,447
柏目 Cupressales	458	441	樟目 Laurales	3,955	3,954
苏铁目 Cycadales	376	375	百合目 Liliales	1,897	1,876
银杏目 Ginkgoales	1	1	木兰目 Magnoliales	3,565	3,542
买麻藤目 Gnetales	120	117	金虎尾目 Malpighiales	20,197	19,749
松目 Pinales	262	238	锦葵目 Malvales	7,770	7,605
被子植物 Angiosperm			水螅花目 Metteniusales	66	66
菖蒲目 Acorales	2	2	桃金娘目 Myrtales	15,400	15,203
泽泻目 Alismatales	4,832	4,729	睡莲目 Nymphaeales	109	101
无油樟目 Amborellales	1	1	酢浆草目 Oxalidales	2,164	2,160
伞形目 Apiales	6,400	6,377	露兜树目 Pandanales	1,699	1,698
冬青目 Aquifoliales	770	766	盔被花目 Paracryphiales	42	42
棕榈目 Arecales	2,814	2,784	无叶莲目 Petrosaviales	4	4
天门冬目 Asparagales	42,236	40,736	苦榄木目 Picramniales	57	57
菊目 Asterales	41,868	41,459	胡椒目 Piperales	4,512	4,512
木兰藤目 Austrobaileyales	91	91	禾本目 Poales	25,379	24,667
红珊藤目 Berberidopsidales	4	4	山龙眼目 Proteales	2,085	2,080
紫草目 Boraginales	3,711	3,674	毛茛目 Ranunculales	6,328	6,207
十字花目 Brassicales	5,502	5,393	蔷薇目 Rosales	11,985	11,428
绒球花目 Bruniales	90	90	檀香目 Santalales	2,636	2,632
黄杨目 Buxales	135	135	无患子目 Sapindales	7,071	7,036
白樟目 Canellales	129	129	虎耳草目 Saxifragales	3,359	3,134
石竹目 Caryophyllales	15,362	15,020	茄目 Solanales	5,493	5,469
卫矛目 Celastrales	1,437	1,437	昆栏树目 Trochodendrales	2	2
金鱼藻目 Ceratophyllales	7	7	黄漆姑目 Vahliales	5	5
金粟兰目 Chloranthales	75	75	葡萄目 Vitales	1,105	1,101
鸭跖草目 Commelinales	959	956	姜目 Zingiberales	2,999	2,986
山茱萸目 Cornales	744	731	蒺藜目 Zygophyllales	343	343

目 Order	物种数量 Number of species		目 Order	物种数量 Number of species
目 Order	包括杂交种 Incl. hybrid	排除杂交种 Excl. hybrid	目 Order	包括杂交种 Incl. hybrid	排除杂交种 Excl. hybrid
蕨类植物 Pteridophyte			缨子木目 Crossosomatales	77	77
桫椤目 Cyatheales	793	782	葫芦目 Cucurbitales	3,232	3,215
木贼目 Equisetales	45	35	五桠果目 Dilleniales	567	567
里白目 Gleicheniales	177	173	薯蓣目 Dioscoreales	909	907
膜蕨目 Hymenophyllales	637	634	川续断目 Dipsacales	1,471	1,432
水韭目 Isoetales	208	203	杜鹃花目 Ericales	14,638	14,445
石松目 Lycopodiales	522	513	南鼠刺目 Escalloniales	154	147
合囊蕨目 Marattiales	151	151	豆目 Fabales	26,412	26,301
瓶尔小草目 Ophioglossales	132	128	壳斗目 Fagales	1,670	1,435
紫萁目 Osmundales	26	24	丝缨花目 Garryales	27	27
水龙骨目 Polypodiales	10,560	10,123	龙胆目 Gentianales	23,687	23,600
松叶蕨目 Psilotales	19	19	牻牛儿苗目 Geraniales	953	934
槐叶蘋目 Salviniales	82	81	大叶草目 Gunnerales	67	66
莎草蕨目 Schizaeales	224	213	腺椒树目 Huerteales	30	30
卷柏目 Selaginellales	731	731	茶茱萸目 Icacinales	187	187
裸子植物 Gymnosperm			唇形目 Lamiales	29,365	28,447
柏目 Cupressales	458	441	樟目 Laurales	3,955	3,954
苏铁目 Cycadales	376	375	百合目 Liliales	1,897	1,876
银杏目 Ginkgoales	1	1	木兰目 Magnoliales	3,565	3,542
买麻藤目 Gnetales	120	117	金虎尾目 Malpighiales	20,197	19,749
松目 Pinales	262	238	锦葵目 Malvales	7,770	7,605
被子植物 Angiosperm			水螅花目 Metteniusales	66	66
菖蒲目 Acorales	2	2	桃金娘目 Myrtales	15,400	15,203
泽泻目 Alismatales	4,832	4,729	睡莲目 Nymphaeales	109	101
无油樟目 Amborellales	1	1	酢浆草目 Oxalidales	2,164	2,160
伞形目 Apiales	6,400	6,377	露兜树目 Pandanales	1,699	1,698
冬青目 Aquifoliales	770	766	盔被花目 Paracryphiales	42	42
棕榈目 Arecales	2,814	2,784	无叶莲目 Petrosaviales	4	4
天门冬目 Asparagales	42,236	40,736	苦榄木目 Picramniales	57	57
菊目 Asterales	41,868	41,459	胡椒目 Piperales	4,512	4,512
木兰藤目 Austrobaileyales	91	91	禾本目 Poales	25,379	24,667
红珊藤目 Berberidopsidales	4	4	山龙眼目 Proteales	2,085	2,080
紫草目 Boraginales	3,711	3,674	毛茛目 Ranunculales	6,328	6,207
十字花目 Brassicales	5,502	5,393	蔷薇目 Rosales	11,985	11,428
绒球花目 Bruniales	90	90	檀香目 Santalales	2,636	2,632
黄杨目 Buxales	135	135	无患子目 Sapindales	7,071	7,036
白樟目 Canellales	129	129	虎耳草目 Saxifragales	3,359	3,134
石竹目 Caryophyllales	15,362	15,020	茄目 Solanales	5,493	5,469
卫矛目 Celastrales	1,437	1,437	昆栏树目 Trochodendrales	2	2
金鱼藻目 Ceratophyllales	7	7	黄漆姑目 Vahliales	5	5
金粟兰目 Chloranthales	75	75	葡萄目 Vitales	1,105	1,101
鸭跖草目 Commelinales	959	956	姜目 Zingiberales	2,999	2,986
山茱萸目 Cornales	744	731	蒺藜目 Zygophyllales	343	343

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