Abstract:

Aim: Plant species names undergo revisions and changes in response to deepening taxonomic research deepens and new discoveries. These valuable diverse pieces of information are scattered across various publications, requires necessitate timely consolidation into the Species Catalogue of China, under the guidance of taxonomic experts. To address this requirement, it is necessary to create a dataset containing information on new taxa, name changes, and the latest statuses of plants in China.

Methods: We collected data on newly discovered taxa and name changes for Chinese higher plants by reviewing 228 journals and monographs. This compilation involved 403 articles from 62 journals and 1 monograph, focusing on the new taxa and nomenclatural changes of higher plants in 2022.

Results: In 2022, China reported a total of 318 new taxa of higher plants, encompassing 12 new genera, 286 new species, 3 new subspecies, 10 new varieties, and 7 new forms. The recently described species fall into bryophytes (15 taxa), pteridophytes (28 species), gymnosperm (1 species), and angiosperms (362 taxa). Notably, 155 newly identified species have been published with detailed evidence covering molecular systematics, chromosomes, micromorphology, genome, etc. Among these, 92 species were considered as threatened according to IUCN standards. The majority of these discoveries originate from five southwestern provinces in China, namely Yunnan, Sichuan, Xizang, Guangxi, and Guizhou. Medog, a county-level unit, recorded the highest number of newly discovered species in 2022. Furthermore, 122 new combinations and 11 replacement names were transferred from other species. Additionally, 103 names were designated as synonyms for 76 taxa, while 4 names were re-accepted.

Conclusion: In 2022, China witnessed a net increase of 346 new taxa of higher plants, accounting for 0.89% of the total Chinese plant species. Additionally, 240 names of higher plants underwent changes, accounting for 0.62% of the total. These changes represented 1.5% of all Chinese plant names modified in 2022, encompassing both species additions and nomenclature treatments.

Key words: higher plants, new taxa, name changes, China