《全芳备祖》之我见

“Quan Fang Bei Zu” is a compiled work mainly for folklores, poems and other literary works concerning some common plants with some botanical information in it.  It is certainly not a pure botanical work, covering no more than 240 species of plants, and thus has little use as a reference book in indexing names even in a primitive sense.  Therefore “Quan Fang Bei Zu” could not be considered as a botanical dictionary.  Xu Wen-xuan and his co-workers’ argument that “Quan Fang Bei Zu” was the most perfect ancient botanical codes and records till then is not convincing.  Actually “Tu Jing Ben Cao” is of higher value than the book under discussion from botanical point of view.     

云南丽藻族新植物

 Yunnan is extends across the subtropical and tropical zones, situated in the sou- thern border area of southwestern China.  This district is extremely rich in plants, and thus, it has been known as a “Kingdom of Plants”.  However, up to the present our knowledge of the Charophyta in this region has been scanty.      In order to get a thorough understanding of its Charophyta, we identified speci- mens collected from 13 countries or cities in this province.  The result shows that is especially abundant in Charophyta.      In this paper, however, only are reported new species, new varieties and new re- cords of China on the Nitelleae.  The former two are Nitella hokouensis, N. bicornuta, N. longicaudata, N. procera, N. brevidactyla, N. papillata, N. pseudohyalina, N. hyalina var. aberrans and Tolypella yunnanensis; while the third is Nitella globulifera Pal andN. japonica T. F. Allen.     

西藏菊科植物

 1)  The Compositae in Tibet so far known comprise 508 species and 88 genera, which nearly amounts to one fourth of the total number of genera and one third of the total number of species of Compositae in all China, if the number of 2290 species and 220 genera have respectively been counted in all China. In Tibet there are all tribes of Com- positae known in China, and surprisingly, the large tribes in Tibetan Compositae are also large ones in all China and the small tribes in Tibet are also small ones in all China. Generally speaking, the large genera in Tibet are also large ones in all China and the small genera in Tibet are likewise small ones in all China. In this sense it is reasonable to say that the Compositae flora of Tibet is an epitome of the Compositae flora of all China.      In the Compositae flora of Tibet, there are only 5 large genera each containing 30 species or more. They are Aster, Artemisia, Senecio, Saussurea and Cremanthodium. And 5 genera each containing 10—29 species. They are Erigeron, Anaphalis, Leontopodium, Ajania, Ligularia and Taraxacum. In addition, there are 77 small genera, namely 87% of the total of Compositae genera in Tibet, each comprising 1—9 species, such as Aja-niopsis, Cavea and Vernonia, etc.      2)  The constituents of Compositae flora in Tibet is very closely related to those of Sichuan-Yunnan provinces with 59 genera and 250 species in common. Such a situation is evidently brought about by the geographycal proximity in which the Hengtuang Shan Range links southeastern and eastern Tibet with northern and northwestern Sichuan- Ynnnan.  With India the Tibetan Compositae have 59 genera and 132 species in common, also showing close floristic relationships between the two regions. Apparently the floris- tic exchange of Compositae between Tibet and India is realized by way of the mountain range of the Himalayas.  The mountain range of the Himalayas, including the parallel ranges, plays a important role as a bridge hereby some members of the Compositae of western or northern Central Asia and of the northern Africa or of western Asia have migrated eastwards or southeastwards as far as the southern part of Fibet and northern part of India, or hereby some Compositae plants of eastern and southeastern Asia or Asia Media have migrated northwestwards as the northern part of Central Asia.      Some of the species and genera in common to both Tibet and Sinjiang indicate that this weak floristical relationship between these regions is principally realized through two migration routes: one migration route is by way of the Himalayas including the parallel ranges to Pamir Plataeu and Tien Shan, or vice versa. The other migration route is by way of northern Sinjiang to Mongolia, eastern Inner Mongolia, southwards to Gansu, Qinghai (or western Sichuan), eastern Tibet up to the Himalayas, or vice versa.      However, Tibet is not entirely situated at a migration crossroad of the floral ele- ments. An ample amount of the data shows that Compositae flora have a particular capability of development in Tibet. of the total number of species of Tibetan Com- positae, 102 species and 1 genus (Ajaniopsis Shih) are endemic. Besides, 8 genera are re- gional endemics with their range extending to its neighbourhood. The higher percentage of endemics at specific level than at generic in Tibetan Compositae may be a result of active speciation in response to the new enviromental conditions created by the uplifting of the Himalayas.  The flora in Tibetan Plateau as a whole appears to be of a younger age.       3) The uprising of the Himalayas and of the Tibetan Plateau accompanied by the ultraviolet ray radiation, the microthermal climate and the high wind pressure has, no doubt, played a profound influence upon the speciation of the native elements of Tibetan Compositae. The recent speciation is the main trend in the development of the Com-positae flora native in Tibet in the wake of upheaval of the plateau.     

蔷薇科太行花属系统位置的研究

 We have described a new genus Taihangia, collected from, the south part of Taihang Mountain in northern China. At the same time, comparative studies on Taihangia with its related genera have been made in various fields including external morphology, anatomy of carpels, chromosome and pollen morphology by light, scanning and transmission electron microscope. In addition, isoperoxidases of two varietier were analysed by means of polya-crylamide gel slab electrophoresis. The preliminary results are as follows:       Morphology: The genus Taihangia is perennial and has simple leaves, occasionally with 1—2 very small reduced lobes on the upper part of petiole; flowers white, andromo- noecious and androdioecious, terminal, single or rarely 2 on a leafless scape; calyx and cpicalyx with 5 segments; petals 5; stamens numerous; pistils numerous, with pubescent styles, spirally inserted on the receptacle in bisexual flowers, but with less number of abortive and glabrous pistils in male flowers.       In comparison with the related genera such as Dryas, Geum, Coluria and Waldsteinia, the new genus has unisexual flowers and always herbaceous habit indicating its advanced feature but the genus has a primitive style with thin and short hairs as compared with the genus Dryas which has long, pinnately haired styles, a character greatly facilitamg anemo-choric dissemination. The styles of Taihangia are slender and differ from those of the ge-nus Geum which are articulate, with a persistent hooked rostrum, thus adapting to epizo-ochoric dissemination to a higher degree.       The anatomy of carpels shows the baral position of ovules in the genus Taihangia like those in other related genera such as Dryas, Geum, Acomastylis, Coluria and Waldsteinia. This suggests that the new genus and its related ones are in a common evolutionary line as compared with the other tribes which have a pendulous ovule and represent a separate evolutionary line in Rosaceae. Dorsal and ventral bundles in carpels through sections are free at the base. Neither fusion, nor reduction of dorsals and vertrals. are observed. This shows that the genus Taihangia is rather primitive.       Somatic chromosome: All the living plants, collected from both Honan and Hopei Provinces were examined. The results show that in these plants the chromosome number is 2n= 14, and thus the basic number of chromosome is x=7. Such a diploid genus is first found in both anemochoric and epizoochoric genera. Therefore, in this respect Taihangia is primitive as compared with herbaceous polyploid genus Geum and related ones.      Pollen: The stereostructure shown by scanning electron microscope reveals  that  the pollen grains of the genus Taihangia are ellipsoid and 3-colporate. There are two types of exine sculpture. One is rather shortly striate and it seems rugulate over the pollen surface; the other is long-striate. The genus Dryas differs in having only short and thick striae over the surface. The genus is similar to the genera Geum, Coluria and Waldsteinia in colpustype, but differs from them in that they all have long, parallel striae which are distributed along the meridional line.       In addition, under transmission electron microscope, the exine in the Taihangia and related genera Acomastylis, Geum, Coluria, Waldsteinia and Dryas has been shown to be typically differentiated into two distinct layers, nexine and sexine. The nexine, weakly statined, appears to consist of endoxine with no foot-layer, in which the columellae are fused, and which is thicker beneath the apertures. The sexine is 2-layered, consisting of columellae and tectum. Three patterns of tectum can be distinguished in the tribe Dryadeae: the first, in the genera Taihangia, Acomastylis, Geum, Coluria and Waldsteinia, is tectate-imperforate, with the sculpturing elements both acute and obtuse at the top and broad at the base; the second, in the genus Dryas, is semitectate, with the sculpturing elements shown in ultrathin sections rod-like and broader at the top than at the base or as broad at the top as at the base, and the third, tectate-perforate, with the sculpturing elements different in size. From the above results, the herbaceous groups and woody ones  have palynologically evolved in two distinct directions, and the genus Taihangia is related to other herbaceous genera such as Acomastylis, Geum, Coluria and Waldsteinia, as shown in the electron microphotographs of ultrathin sections. The genus Taihangia, however, is different from related herbaceous genera in that the pollen of Taihangia is dimorphic, i.e. in addition to the above pattern of pollen another one of the exine in Taihangia is rugulate, with the sculpturing elements shown in the ultrathin sections being obtuse or emarginate and nearly as broad at the top as at the base.      The interesting results obtained from the comparative analysis of morphology, ana- tomy of carpels, chromosome countings, microscopic and submicrosocopic structures of pollen may enable us to evaluate the systematic position of Taihangia and to throw a new light on evolution of the tribe Dryadeae. It is well known that the modes of dissemination of rosaceous fruits play an important role in the expansion and evolution of the family. The follicle is the most primitive and the plants with follicles, like the Spiraeoideae, are mostly woody and mesic, while the achene, drupe and pyrenarium are derived. In Rosoideae  having a achene is a common feature. Particularly in the tribe Dryadeae, which is distinguished from the other related tribes by having orthotropous ovules, the methods of dissemination of fruits have developed in three distinct specialized directions: anemochory with long, plumose styles (e.g. Dryas), formicochory or dispersed by ants or other insects, with the deciduous styles (e.g. Waldsteinia and Collria),and epizoochory with the upper deciduous stigmatic part and the lower persistent hooked rostrum, an  adhesive organ favouring  epizoochory dissemination (e. g. Geum and related taxa). Taihangia is a genus endemic to mesophytic forest area of northern China. Due to its narrow range and specific habit as well as pubescent styles, neither perfectly adapted to anemochory nor to epizoochory, the genus  Taihangia might be a direct progeny of the ancestry of anemochory. Maintaining the diploidy and having an ntermediate sculptural type of pollen, the new genus might probably represent a linkage between anemochory and zoochory (including epizoochory and dispersed by ants).       Experimental evidence from isoperoxidases shows the stable zymograms of root and roostoks. The anodal isozyme of T. rupestris var. rupestris may be divided into 6 bands: A, B, C, D, E, F, and T. rupestris var. ciliata into 4 bands: A, B, C, G. The two varietiesof the species share 3 bands: A, B, C. However, D, E and F bands are characteristic of var. rupestris and G band is limited to var. ciliata. As far as the available materials are concerned, the analysis of isoperoxidases supports the subdivision of the species into two varieties.     

木兰科分类系统的初步研究

A new system of classification of Magnoliaceae proposed.  This paper deals mainly with taxonomy and phytogeography of the family Magnoliaceae on the basis of external morphology, wood anatomy and palynology.  Different  authors have had different ideas about the delimitation of genera of this family, their controversy being carried on through more than one hundred years (Table I).  Since I have been engaged in the work of the Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae, I have accumulated a considerable amount of information and material and have investigated the living plants at their natural localities, which enable me to find out the evolutionary tendencies and primitive morphological characters of various genera of the family.  According to the evolutionary tendencies of the characters and the geographical distribution of this family I propose a new system by dividing it into two subfamilies, Magnolioideae and Liriodendroideae Law (1979), two tribes, Magnolieae and Michelieae Law, four subtribes, Manglietiinae Law, Magnoliinae, Elmerrilliinae Law and Micheliinae, and fifteen genera (Fig. 1 ), a system which is different from those by J. D. Dandy (1964-1974) and the other authors.      The recent distribution and possible survival centre of Magnoliaceae. The members of Magnoliaceae are distributed chiefly in temperate and tropical zones of the Northern Hemisphere, ——Southeast Asia and southeast North America, but a few genera and species also occur in the Malay Archipelago and Brazil of the Southern Hemisphere. Forty species of 4 genera occur in America, among which one genus (Dugendiodendron) is endemic to the continent, while about 200 species of 14 genera occur in Southeast Asia, of which 12 genera are endemic.  In China there are about 110 species of 11 genera which mostly occur in Guangxi, Guangdong and Yunnan; 58 species and more than 9 genera occur in the mountainous districts of Yunnan.   Moreover,  one  genus (Manglietiastrum Law, 1979) and 19 species are endemic to this region.  The family in discussion is much limited to or interruptedly distributed in the mountainous regions of Guangxi, Guangdong and Yunnan.  The regions are found to have a great abundance of species, and the members of the relatively primitive taxa are also much more there than in the other regions of the world.      The major genera, Manglietia, Magnolia and Michelia, possess 160 out of a total of 240 species in the whole family.  Talauma has 40 species, while the other eleven genera each contain only 2 to 7 species, even with one monotypic genus.   These three major genera are sufficient for indicating the evolutionary tendency and geographical distribution of Magnoliaceae.  It is worthwhile discussing their morphological  characters  and distributional patterns as follows:      The members of Manglietia are all evergreen trees, with flowers terminal, anthers dehiscing introrsely, filaments very short and flat, ovules 4 or more per carpel.  This is considered as the most primitive genus in subtribe Manglietiinae.  Eighteen out of a total  of 35 species of the genus are distributed in the western, southwest to southeast Yunnan. Very primitive species, such as Manglietia hookeri, M. insignis  and M. mega- phylla, M. grandis, also occur in this region. They are distributed from Yunnan eastwards to Zhejiang and Fujian through central China, south China, with only one species (Manglietia microtricha) of the genus westwards to Xizang.  There are several species distributing southwards from northeast India to the Malay Archipelago (Fig. 7).      The members of Magnolia are evergreen and deciduous trees or shrubs, with flowers terminal, anthers dehiscing introrsely or laterally, ovules 2 per carpel, stipule adnate to the petiole.  The genus Magnolia is the most primitive in the subtribe Magnoliinae and is the largest genus of the family Magnoliaceae. Its deciduous species are distributed from Yunnan north-eastwards to Korea and Japan (Kurile N. 46’) through Central China, North China and westwards to Burma, the eastern Himalayas  and northeast India.  The evergreen species are distributed from northeast  Yunnan  (China)  to  the Malay Archipelago.  In China there are 23 species, of which 15 seem to be very primi- tive, e.g. Magnolia henryi, M. delavayi, M. officinalis and M. rostrata, which occur in Guangxi, Guangdong and Yunnan.      The members of Michelia are evergreen trees or shrubs, with flowers axillary, an- thers dehiscing laterally or sublaterally, gynoecium stipitate, carpels numerous or few. Michelia is considered to be the most primitive in the subtribe Micheliinae, and is to the second largest genus of the family.  About 23 out of a total of 50 species of this genus are very primitive, e.g. Michelia sphaerantha, M. lacei, M. champaca,  and  M. flavidiflora, which occur in Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan (the distributional center of the family under discussion)  and extend eastwards to Taiwan  of  China, southern Japan through central China, southwards to the Malay Archipelago through Indo-China. westwards to Xizang of China, and south-westwards to India and Sri Lanka (Fig. 7).      The members of Magnoliaceae are concentrated in Guangxi, Guangdong and Yunnan and radiate from there.  The farther away from the centre, the less members we are able to find, but the more advanced they are in morphology.  In this old geographical centre there are more primitive species, more  endemics  and  more monotypic genera. Thus it is reasonable to assume that the region of Guangxi, Guangdong and Yunnan, China, is not only the centre of recent distribution, but also the chief survival centreof Magnoliaceae in the world.     

鳞毛蕨属的生物系统学研究

At the outset the paper begins with a brief discussion of the geographical origin of the genus Dryopteris. With the cytological data so far available the author presumed that the No- rthern Hemisphere and possibly Eurasia is the geographical origin of the genus and that the Eastern Himalayas, China and Japan is the centre of speciation of the genus, and thence has spread to other continents along several routes. He is also of the opinion that the genus  tends to evolve the highest grade of polyploidy where it has existed longest. On the other hand, he pointed out that the production of polyploids may occur most frequently in response to pressures which a group meets in the course of its migration in space and time, with  the  majority  of diploids persisting as relics close to the original centre of diversification.       He then described the progress of the biosystematics of the European and North American Dryopteris, which has been undertaken through a close cooperation among botanists, cytologists and phytochemists of different nations. This team is also looking forward to a cooperation with the Chinese botanists in the study of East Asian species of Dryopteris, so that the relationships of Chinese species and those of other floras can be understood.       The term biosystematics had been invented to mean experimental studies of breeding sy- stems of the species concerned in order to ellucidate their evolutionary relationships.  It stems from the early researches of Professor Irene Manton whose classical book “Problems of Cytology and Evolution in the Pteridophyta” (1950) laid the foundation of Biosystematics. Manton was also the first to introduce the acetocarmine squash  method for staining  chromosomes  in  the spore-mother-cells at meiosis.       The lecture was illustrated with diagrams showing in detail the pairing behaviour of the chromosomes at the metaphase in meiosis and the formation of the polyploidies of different levels.       Besides cytological approach two other techniques have been also applied to the systematic studies of Dryopteris. The first is the comparison of sporoderms  using the scaning  electron microscope, revealing different ornamentations on the pericine. The second is the study of plant chemistry, in particular, that of the phloroglucinoles by thinlayer chromatography.       The remaining far greater part of the paper is devoted to analysing cytologically the Eu- ropean and North American species of Dryopteris in three groups, showing the lines of experi-mental work that has resulted in the understanding of their evolutional relationships.     

茶树品种分类的探讨

  It is generally accepted that tea plant (Thea sinensis L.) is originated in China, where has numerous varieties,  According to the literature, the selected work of tea plants may be traced as early as to the 3rd-5th century A.D.  The number of varie- ties discovered in recent years reached more than 300.  Besides, a large number of wild species were discovered. In all tea varieties, the crown canopy, leaf size and the date of sprouting were different.  It was proposed that according to the crown canopy, leaf size and the date of sprouting.   The  principle of the classification  of Chinese tea varieties may be 3 orders.  The first order named “group”, it contains macrophanerophyte group, microphanerophyte group, and frutex group.  The second order named “type”, it contains extreme large leaf size, large leaf size, medium leaf size and small leaf size.  The third order named “species”, it contains the early- sprouting species, medium-sprouting species and late-sprouting species.       

中国列当属的分类及与近缘属的关系

The morphological characters in the genus Orobanche were evaluated from the taxonomic point of view.  The author finds that the plants of this genus are relatively similar to each other in respect to characters of vegetative organs, fruits and seeds.  But the differences in the floral structures can be served as a basis for delimitating infrageneric taxa.   The seed coat of 18 species and pollen grains of  6 species were also examined under scanning electron microscope (SEM). They seem to have little significance for distinguishing species.       The result supports G. Beck’s (1930) division of the genus Orobanche into 4 sections, of which 2 occur in China, based on the characters of the inflorescence, bracteoles and calyx. The author considers that some characters, such as anther hairy or not, upper lip of corolla entire or not, lower lip longer or shorter than the upper one, the state of corolla-tube inflec-  tion and the hair type of filaments and plants, are important in distinguishing Chinese species.  A key to the species of Orobanche in China is given.       This genus consists of about 100 species, and is mostly confined to Eurasia, with over 60  species found in Caucasus and Middle Asia of USSR, where may be the mordern  distribu-  tional  centre.        Orobanche L. in China is represented by 23 species, 3 varieties and l forma. As shown in  Table 1, most species (12 species) are found in Xinjiang, which clearly shows a close floristic  relationship between this region and Middle Asia of USSR.  6 species are endemic to China,  of which 4 are confined to the Hengduan Mountains  (Yangtze-Mekong-Salwin divide).        The relationships between this genus and related ones of Orobanchaceae are also discussed.  The author holds the following opinions: the genus Phelypaea Desf. should be considered as a   member of Orobanche L. Sect. Gymnocaulis G. Beck,  the monotypic genus,   Necranthus A.   Gilli endemic to Turkey, is allied with Orobanche L. Sect.  Orobanche, the monotypic genus,   Platypholis Maxim, endemic to Bonin Is. of Japan, is far from Orobanche L. in relation and   should be regarded as a separate genus.        The 11 OTU’s, including all the sections of Orobanche L. and 7 genera of Orobanchaceae,   and 15 morphological characters were used in the  numerical  taxonomic treatment  to  test  the   above-mentioned  suggestions.   After standardization of characters, the correlation matrices were   computerized.  The correlation matrices were made to test the various clustering methods.   At    last the UPGMA clustering method was chosen and its result is shown in a phenogram.  The   result of numerical analysis is basically in accordance with the suggestions.     

白洋淀水生植物区系初步分析

The Baiyandian Lake lies at 115°56′ E. and 38°55′ N.  It is about 8 m above sea level, with an area about 312 square km.  There are abundant aquatic plants here, inc- luding flowering plants of 30 families, 46 genera, 66 species and 3 varieties besides one in- troduced species.  32 species are erect ones covering about 48.5% of the total number of species in this lake, 20 are submerged ones, about 30.3%, 9 are leaf-floating ones, about 13.6% and 5 are floating ones, 7.6%.  The soil at the bed of the lake is very fertile and the depth is appro- priate, favouring various plants.  The coverage is large, sometimes it may reach 100%, for example, in communities of Phragmites communis, Hydrilla verticillata,  Hydrocharis dubis, Trapa bicornis, etc. Although the Baiyandian Lake is located in the temperate zone, the floristic elements are complex.  There are tropic-subtropic elements and elements of high-frigid zone as well.  When compared respectively with the floras of the Lakes Jingbo Lake, Honghu Lake and Lugu Lake, the flora of this lake is found more similar to that of subtropic Honghu Lake than to those of the other lakes, which shows that it hase a character transitional between the south and the north in China.  Further studies of the floristic relationships are needed in order to exploit and use the resources of the aquatic plants in this lake.     

三种数值方法在几种六道木分类中的应用

   In the last 10—20 years there has bee n increasing awareness of the problem con- cerning the aims and practices of taxonomy.  In particular, there has been growing interest in the development of numerical methods in biological taxonomy as an aid to making systematics a quantitative science, a step which comes in time to almost every scientific discipline.       Numerical taxonomy is the evaluation by numerical methods of the affinity or  similarity between taxonomic units and the employment of these affinities in erecting a hierarchic order of taxa.  The present rapid development of these ideas is presuma- bly a result of the development of computer techniques.       Numerical taxonomic approach has been applied to the studies of entomology and microbiology in China to some extent since 1975. But so far it hasn’t been commonly used in botany.  The present report is a preliminary study on 9 spp. of the genus Abelia.  A set of binary data with 54 characters  is  used  for  computing association coefficient; and a set of quantitative data with 47 characters for distance coefficient and correlation coefficient. For the mathematical models were chosen the non-metric  simple matching association coefficient, the geometrical distance of Riemannian space and correlation coefficient.  Computational procedures are stepwise presented in detail and computer programmes are written in the background of Algol-60 language. Cluster analysis is compared with simple linkage,  average  linkage  and multi-correlation.      The results of DC and CC for 9 spp. of Abelia agree closely with the traditional taxonomy, because the data we collected mainly come from morphological characters. It would seem that the results of quantita tive data are more appropriate for  seed plants.  It is, therefore, postulated that our programes are complementary and very useful to a wide range of classification entities, such as microbes, animals and plants in present situation in China.      In conclusion, a comparison between the  conventional taxonomy  and  numerical taxonomy has been made, and a brief discussion of three problems, i.e. the monothetic versus polythetic, divisive versus agglomerative, weighting versus unweighting.       

芒苞草亚科——石蒜科的一新亚科

 Acanthochlamydoideae, a new subfamily of Amaryllidaceae, is proposed in the pre- sent paper, based upon the monotypic genus Acanthochlamys which was detected by the writer in 1979 and named Didymocolpus as a new genus but was preceded by P. C. Kao in 1980 under the former name.  The genus is indeed of great morphological in- terest. It has semicylindric leaves with a deep furrow on the ventral and dorsal sides respectively.  The lower part of the leaf is connate with, or adnate to, the lower mid- rib of a rather large and membranous vagina . Such a feature, as far as we know, is very rare in the monocotyledons.      The flower resembles that of Amaryllidaceae in having inferior ovary, six stamens and corolla-like perianth with a rather long tube.  But it is quite different in other characters, such as head-like cyme, leaf-like bracts and bisulcate leaves, which all are foreign to any taxon known in the Amaryllidaceae.  On the other hand, it bears some resemblance particularly in habit and inflorescence  to  Campynemanthe  of  the Hy- poxidaceae, and also to Borya and Bartlingia of the Liliaceae (in the tribe John- sonieae), but differs in its long perianth-tube and curious leaf structure.  It is highly probable that the resemblance between them is only superficial and not indicative of direct or close relationship.      This is no doubt a very curious plant of which we still know incompletely, and for which an appropriate place in the monocotyledons has not yet been found.  Con- sidering its floral characters, however, it seems safe for the present to place it as a separate subfamily in the Amaryllidaceae and is juxtaposed with the Ixiolirioideae and Amaryllidoideae, the only two subfamilies of Amaryllidaceae according to H. Mel- chior (1964), and, of course, to either of them it is not directly related. Its true affinity remains problematic.      The only species, Acanthochlamys bracteata, is found in Mar-er-kan (102°12'N, 31°47'E), Qian-ning (101°30'N, 30°33'E), Xiang-cheng  (99°39'N, 28°54'E)  and Dau cheng (100°10'N, 29°03'E) in western Sichuan of southwest China, in open bushland or grassland at an altitude between 2700—3500 meters.  Its geographical distribution is mapped and its morphological details are illustrated to facilitate its identification.       

鄂西神农架地区的植被和植物区系

 Shennungia is generally known as “The highest mountain in Central China”. It is situated at latitude 31°342'N., longitude 110°35'E. in western Hupeh.       The area explored is deeply cut in all sides by five V-shaped valleys, giving the landscape a steep topography.  Its summit is about 3105 meters above the sea level, and the relative altitude is from 1000-2000 meters.      The climate of the region is warm temperate.  The differences of humidity-warmth condition between the eastern and the western flanks are quite marked.      In western Hupeh and the adjacent area of Szechuan the rugged topography still preserves some tracts of natural forests at higher elevations.  Our vegetational survey is confined to localities above 1500 meters. The collection of plant samples of the flora is extended to the whole mountain from the foothill to the peak.  The present article deals with only a part of the results of our survey.      1.  The vertical vegetation belts of Mt. Shennungia and relationships with other regions:  The vegetation belts on the eastern and the western flanks of the mountain are shown in diagram 2 and 3.  The comparison of the vertical vegetation zones of the Mt. Shennungia with those of the Yülungshan in N. W. Yunnan and the eastern Himalaya to the west and with those of Hwangshan and Central Japan to the east is shown in table 4, It shows that the plant communities of the Mt. Shennungia are of temperate nature, and they are more closely related to those of Hwangshan in S. Anhwei and of Central Japan than to the eastern Himalaya.      2.  Floristic composition: The generic ranges of flowering plant are relatively distinct and stable. Various distributional patterns of genera are analysized.      1)  Statistics of the genera in various distributional patterns: The total number of genera of flowering plants in this region are 762, belonging to the following four categories. A) tropical genera 239 (31.3%), B)  temperate  genera  416 (54.7%),  C) endemic genera 47 (6%), and D) comsmopolitan genera 61 (8%).       2)  Endemic genera:  An examination of the composition of the flora in western Hupeh reveals that 47 endemic Chinese genera occur in this mountain of which 24 are monotypic genera, 20 oligotypic and 2 multitypic as shown in Table 4. The arborescent genera are nearly all deciduous. They are of temperate nature.       3)  Temperate genera:  There are 416  genera in  wastern Hupeh.  They  are subdivides into the following three groups according to their distributional patterns: A)  The north temperate genera: There are 159 genera belonging to 62 families in western Hupeh. B)  Eastern Asian genera:  There are 117 genera belonging to 69 families in western Hupeh.  Among them 22 are common to the western Szechuan, adjacent regions of Yunnan and the Eastern Himalaya.  The remaining 95 genera are commom to both eastern China and Japan. C) The Eastern Asian-eastern North- American genera:  Of the total 762 genera known in western Hupeh, 64 are disjunc- tively distributed in both eastern Asia and eastern North-America.       4)  The tropical genera: Of the 762 genera of the flowering plant of western Hupeh, 239 (31%) are of tropical nature.       Finally, our survey shows:  1. Many of the primitive temperate genera and ende- mic relicts concentrate in western Hupeh and the adjacent region of Szechuan indica- ting that it might be one of refuges of tertiary flora. Moreover, it might also be one of the most important regions of differentiation, development and distribution of tem- perature flora. 2.  The vegetation of this region is not only of temperate nature, but also of a transitional nature. 3.  According to an analysis of the flora and a compari- son of the vertical distribution of the vegetation of Yülungshan and Eastern Himalaya to the west with Hwangshan and Central Japan to the east, the floristic affinity of western Hupeh is more closely related to eastern China and Central Japan rather than to the Eastern Himalaya, and phytogeographically this region is intermediate between the Sino-Himalayan and the Sino-Japanese patterns.  However, the problem of phyto- geography of western Hupeh and the adjacent region of Szechuan is a complicated one requiring further study.       

两种蕨类植物的新命名

 The fern genus Diplaziopsis C. Chr. of Index Filicum has long been considered as a monotypic one, with the sole species, D. javanica (B1.) C. Chr. from tropical Asia.  In 1906, H. Christ described a second species, Allantodia cavaleriana Christ (=D. cavale- riana C. Chr.) from Kweichow, West China, but this was since not fully recognized by fern students in general, being often considered as a variety of the first species.  This is certainly a mistake, as is shown by ample herbarium specimens today.  In the recent work on the genus, the writer has found among the herbarium material two additional new species from China, thus bringing the genus up to four species in Asia, mainly from China, where, as it is, the genus has its center of development from the long past.      Phylogenetically, Diplaziopsis C. Chr. represents one of the offshoots from the great stock of diplazioid ferns, of which the genus Diplazium Sw. constitutes the main body of the group and from which our genus differs chiefly in its leaves of a thin texture with reticulated venation, but not so much in its type of indusium as it has generally been emphasized by most botanists in the past, for, as it is, the type of indusium in Di- plaziopsis also prevails in many species of Diplazium, for which C. B. Clarke (Trans. Linn. Soc. ser. 2, Bot. I:495, 1880) created, but really superfluously, a subgenus Pseudal- lantodia, about which the writer will dwell in another paper in the near future.  Suffice it to say here that the indusium in Diplaziopsis as revealed by the species treated here is, indeed, typical of diplazioid ferns, only often, as it happens, with  its  adaxial  edge pressed so tight under the expanding sorus that it is unable to open freely along its upper free edge and, as a result, its thin vaulted back bursts open from the pressure of the ex- panding sorus underneath.      As a result of the present study, following four species of the genus have been re- cognized.      Diplaziopsis javanica (B1.) C. Chr. Ind. Fil. (1905) 227.      Wide spread in tropical Asia, northwardly to Bakbo and the southern part of Yun- nan, China.      D. cavaleriana (Christ) C. Chr. Ind. Fil. Suppl. I (1913) 25.      Ranges from West China through northern part of Fukien of East China to Japan.      D. intermedia Ching, sp. nov.      Endemic in West China:  Mt. Omei, Szechuan, and Kweichow.      D. hainanensis Ching, sp. nov.      In conclusion, it may be pointed out that with the modern plant taxonomy pursued in a more efficient manner than in the past, and especially by the introduction of the cytotaxonomic methods, the so-called “monotypic genera”, as conceived by the orthodox systematists, will continue to prove, to a great extent, to be lack of  enough  scientific ground.  The fact that the “monotypic genus” of Diplaziopsis C. Chr. is now found to be a genus of four well-defined species is once again an instance to illustrate the pointat issue.     

西藏豆科植物区系的形成与分化

 Xizang (Tibet) is rich in Leguminosae flora, comprising 41 genera and 254 species so far known, exclusive of the commonly cultivated taxa (including 11 genera and 16 species). There are 4 endemic genera (with 8 species), 10 temperate genera (with 175 species) and 19 tropical genera (with 46 species) as well as the representatives of those genera whose distribution centers are in East Asia-North  America, Mediterranean and Central Asia.       1.  There are altogether 4 endemic genera of Leguminosae in this region. Accord- ing to their morphological characters, systematic position and geographical distribution, it would appear that Salweenia and Piptanthus are Tertiary paleo-endemics, while Straceya and Cochlianths are neo-endemics. Salweenia and Piptanthus may be some of more primitive members in the subfamily Papilionasae and their allies are largely distributed in the southern Hemisphere.  The other two genera might have been derived from the northern temperate genus Hedysarum and the East Asian-North American genus Apios respectively, because of their morphological resemblance. They probably came into existanc during the uplifting of the Himalayas.       2. An analysis of temperate genera       There are twelve temperate genera of Leguminosae in the region, of which the more important elements in composition of flora, is Astragalus, Oxytropis and Cara- gana.       Astragalus  is a  cosmopolitan  genus comprising 2000 species, with its center distribution in Central Asia. 250 species, are from China so far known, in alpine zone of Southwest and Northwest, with 70 species extending farther to the Himalayas and Xizang Plateau.       Among them, there are 7 species (10%) common to Central Asia, 12 species (15.7%) to Southwest China and 40 species (60%) are endemic, it indicates that the differentia- tion of the species of the genus in the region is very active, especially in the subgenus Pogonophace with beards in stigma. 27 species amounting to 78.5% of the total species of the subgenus, are distributed in this region.  The species in the region mainly occur in alpine zone between altitude of 3500—300 m. above sea-level. They have developed into a member of representative of arid and cold alpine regions.      The endemic species of Astragalus in Xizang might be formed by specialization of the alien and native elements. It will be proved by a series of horizontal and vertical vicarism of endemic species.  For example, Astragalus bomiensis and A. englerianus are horizontal and vertical vicarism species, the former being distributed in southeast part of Xizang and the latter in Yunnan; also A. arnoldii and A. chomutovii, the former being an endemic on Xizang Plateau and latter in Central Asia.      The genus Oxytropis comprises 300 species which are mainly distributed in the north temperate zone. About 100 species are from China so far known, with 40 species extending to Himalayas and Xizang Plateau.  The distribution, formation and differ- entiation of the genus in this region are resembled to Astragalus.  These two genera are usually growing together, composing the main accompanying elements of alpine mea- dow and steppe.      Caragana is an endemic genus in Eurasian temperate zone and one of constructive elements of alpine bush-wood. About 100 species are from China, with 16 species in Xi- zang. According to the elements of composition, 4 species are common to Inner Mon- golia and Kausu, 4 species to Southwest of China, the others are endemic. This not only indicates that the species of Caragana in Xizang is closely related to those species of above mentioned regions, but the differentiation of the genus in the region is obviously effected by the uplifting of Himalayas, thus leading to the formations of endemic species reaching up to 50%.      3. An Analysis of Tropical Genera      There are 19 tropical genera in the region. They concentrate in southeast of Xizang and southern flank of the Himalayas. All of them but Indigofera and Desmodium are represented by a few species, especially the endemic species. Thus, it can be seen that they are less differentiated than the temperate genera.      However, the genus Desmodium which extends from tropical southeast and northeast Asia to Mexio is more active in differentiation than the other genera. According to Oha- Shi,s system about the genus in 1973, the species of Desmodium distributed in Sino-Hima- laya region mostly belong to the subgenus Dollinera and subgenus Podocarpium.  The subgenus Dollinera concentrates in both Sino-Himalaya region and Indo-China with 14 species, of which 7 species are endemic in Sino-Himalaya.  They are closely related to species of Indo-China, southern Yunnan and Assam and shows tha tthey have close con- nections in origin and that the former might be derived from the latter.      Another subgenus extending from subtropical to temperate zone is Podocarpium. Five out of the total eight species belonging to the subgenus are distributed in Sino- Himalaya and three of them are endemic.      An investigation on interspecific evolutionary relationship and geographic distribu- tion of the subgenus shows that the primary center of differentiation of Podocarpium is in the Sino-Himalaya region.      Finally, our survey shows that owing to the uplifting of the Himalayas which has brought about complicated geographic and climatic situations, the favorable conditions have been provided not only for the formation of the species but also for the genus in cer-tain degree.     

五加科分族新纲要

The present paper deals with the following three aspects:      1. It attempts to discuss the problems on primitive forms of the family Araliaceae. The genus Tupidanthus Hook. f. & Thoms. was considered by H. Harms (1894) and H. L. Li (1942) as primitive, whilst another genus Plerandra A. Gray was regarded as primitive by R. H. Eyde & C. C. Tseng in 1971. Having made a detailed comparison of the taxonomical characters of these two genera, the present authors believe that both genera are not the most primitive in the Araliaceae. Their affinit yis not close enough and they possibly evolved in parallel lines from a common ancestor which is so far un- known yet.      2. By studying the systems of the past, the present authors believe that none of them is entirely satisfactory. Bentham (1867) recognized five ‘series’ (in fact, equival- ent to ‘tribe’ with the ending-eae of names) based on the petaline arrangement in the bud, the numbers of stamen and the types of endospem. This is a plausible funda- mental treatment for the Araliaceae, but choosing the endosperm as a criteria in dividing tribe is artifical. As we know today, both ruminate and uniform endosperm are usually presente in the same genus.  Seemann’s system (1868) divided the Hederaceae (excl. Trib. Aralieae) into five tribes, in addition to the locules of ovary.  The criteria are essentially the same as Bentham’s. The system of Hams (1894) divided the family into three tribes. Two tribes, Aralieae and Mackinlayeae, of  Bentham are  retained,  but other groups were combined in the Trib. Schefflereae.  However, Harms did not retain one of those three oldest legitimate names which had named by Bentham, that is con- trary to the law of priority in the International Code of Botanical Nomenelature. Hut- chinson (1967) adopted seven tribes for the family. The criteria essentially follow those of Bentham, but the inflorescence is overstressed. The inflorescence is an artifical taxono- mical character in dividing tribes, because of some dioecious plants, such as Meryta sin- clairii (Hook. f.) Seem., have two types of inflorescence in male and female plants. Ac- cording to Hutchinson’s arrangement, the male and female plants would be put in se- parate tribes.     3.   The present authors are of the opinion that in the study of a natural classi- fication of plant groups emphasis should be laid not only on the characters of the repro- ductive organs, but on those of vegetative organs as well.  The present revised system is based principally upon the characters of both flowers and leaves of the five tribes as follows:       Trib. 1. Plerandreae Benth. emend. Hoo & Tseng      Trib. 2. Tetraplasandreae Hoo & Tseng       Trib. 3. Mackinlayeae Benth.      Trib. 4. Aralieae Benth.       Trib. 5. Panaceae Benth. emend. Hoo & Tseng     

中国种子植物特有属的数量分析

Chinese flora with many endemic elements is highly important in the world’s flora. According to recent statistics there are about 196 genera of spermatophytes, be- ing 6.5% of total Chinese genera.  These endemic genera comprising 377 species belong to 68 families, among which the Gesneriaceae (28 genera), Umbelliferae (13), Compo- sitae (13), Orchidaceae (12) and Labiatae (10) are predominant.  The tropical type containing 24 families and 80 genera is dominant. After it follows the temperate type with 23 families and 50 genera.  There are also 4 families endemic to China, i.e. Gin- kgoaceae, Bretschneideraceae, Eucommiaceae and Davidiaceae.  It shows that genera endemic to China are obviously related to the tropical and temperate flora in essence.      The endemic monotypic genera (139) and endemic obligotypic genera (48) combin- ed make up more than 95% of the total number of genera endemic to China.  Phylo- genetically more than half of them are ancient or primitive.  The life forms of all ende- mic genera are also diverse.  Herbs, especially perennial herbs, prevail with the propor- tion of about 62%, and trees and shrubs are the next, with 33%, and the rest are lianas.       Based upon the calculated number of genera endemic to China in each province and the similarity coefficents between any two provinces, some conclusions may be drawn as follows:       Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces combined are the distribution centre of genera en- demic to China and may be their original or  differentiation area,  because  numerous endemic genera, including various groups, exist in these two provinces.  The second is Guizhou where there are 62 endemic genera.  Others form a declining order, south China, central China and east China. But towards the north China endemic genera de- crease gradually, and the Qinling Range is an important distributional limit.       The largest simitarity coefficient, over 50%, appears between Shaanxi and Gansu probably because of the Qinling Range linking these two provinces.  But between any other two provinces it is less than 30% and it is generaly larger between two south pro- vinces than between two north provinces.       These characteristics mentioned above are correlated with topography and climate, and they may be resulted from the diversification in geography and climatic influence for a long time.     

我国悬钩子属植物的研究

 The genus Rubus is one of the largest genera in the Rosaceae, consisting of more than 750 species in many parts of the world, of which 194 species have been recorded in China.      In the present paper the Rubus is understood in its broad sense, including all the blackberries, dewberries and raspberries, comprising the woody and herbaceous kinds. So it is botanically a polymorphic, variable and very complicated group of plants. The detailed analysis and investigation of the evolutionary trends of the main organs in this genus have indicated the passage from shrubs to herbs in an evolutionary line, although there is no obvious discontinuity of morphological characters in various taxa. From a phylogenetic point of view, the Sect. Idaeobatus Focke is the most primitive group, characterized by its shrub habit armed with sharp prickles, aciculae or setae, stipules attached to the petioles, flowers hermaphrodite and often in terminal or axill- ary inflorescences, very rarely solitary, druplets separated from receptacles. Whereas the herbaceous Sect.  Chamaemorus L. is the most advanced group, which is usually unarmed, rarely with aciculae or setae, stipules free, flowers dieocious, solitary, dru- plets adhering to the receptacles and with high  chromosome numbers  (2n = 56). Basing upon the evolutionary tendency of morphological  features,  chromosome nu- mbers of certain species recorded in literature and the distribution patterns of species, a new systematic arrangement of Chinese Rubus has been suggested by the present authors. Focke in his well-known monograph divided the species of Rubus into  12 subgenera, while in the Flora of China 8 sections of Focke were adapted, but some im- portant revisions have been made in some taxa and Sect. Dalibarda Focke has been reduced to Sect.  Cylactis Focke.  In addition, the arrangement of sections is presented in a reverse order to those of Focke’s system.  The species of Rubus in  China are classified into 8 sections with 24 subsections (tab. 3) as follows: 1. Sect. Idaeobatus, emend. Yü et Lu(11 subsect. 83 sp.); 2. Sect. Lampobatus Focke (1 sp.); 3. Sect. Rubus (1 sp.); 4. Sect. Malachobatus Focke, emend. Yü et Lu (13 subsect. 85 sp.); 5. Sect. Dalibardastrus (Focke)Yü et Lu (10 sp.); 6. Sect. Chaemaebatus Focke (5 sp.); 7. Sect. Cylactis Focke, emend. Yü et Lu (8 sp.); 8. Sect. Chamaemorus Focke (1 sp.).      In respect to the geographical distribution the genus Rubus occurs throughout the world as shown in tab. 2, particularly abundant in the Northern Hemisphere, while the greatest concentration of species appears in North America and E. Asia.  Of the more than 750 species in the world, 470 or more species (64%) distributed in North America.  It is clearly showm that the center of distribution lies in North America at present time.  There are about 200 species recorded in E. Asia, of which the species in China (194) amount to 97% of the total number. By analysis of the distribution of species in China the great majority of them inhabit the southern parts of the Yangtze River where exist the greatest number of species and endemics,  especially in south- western parts of China, namely Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou (tab. 3. 4.).  It is in- teresting to note that the centre of distribution of Rubus in China ranges From north- western Yunnan to south-western Sichuan (tab. 5), where the genus also reaches its highest morphological diversity.       In this region the characteristics of floristic elements of Rubus can be summarized as follows: it is very rich in composition, contaning 6 sections and 94 species, about 66% of the total number of Chinese species; there are also various complex groups, including primitive, intermediate and advanced taxa of phylogenetic importance; the proportion of endemic plants is rather high, reaching 61 species, up to 44% of the total endemics in China.  It is noteworthy to note that the most primitive Subsect. Thyrsidaei (Focke) Yü et Lu, consisting of 9 endemic species, distributed in southern slopes of the Mts. Qin Ling and Taihang Shan (Fig. 4). From the above facts we may concluded that the south-western part of China is now not only the center of distribu- tion and differentiation of Rubus in China, but it may also be the center of origin ofthis genus.