China has a richer Flora than any other country in the North Temperate Zone. Although the areas of Europe, continental United States, and China are somewhat similar, the ratio of species in the three areas is about 1 to 2 to 3, as China has more than 30,000 species of vascular plants (or 12% of the world's total), compared with about 20,000 species in the United States and Canada combined, and about 12,000 species in Europe. The Flora of China (FOC) is a collaborative international project to publish the first English language treatment of Chinese plants. All FOC accounts are jointly co-authored by non-Chinese (mostly American and European) and Chinese scientists. By the end of this grant in 2008, the Project will have published more than 32 of the 50 volumes of text and illustrations. All scientific descriptions, illustrations, and maps of FOC are available electronically on the websites of the Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) and Harvard University Herbaria (HUH). The project has eleven centers: MBG, HUH, California Academy of Sciences, Smithsonian Institution, Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew, Edinburgh), Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle (Paris), and the institutes of botany in Beijing, Kunming, Nanjing, and Guangzhou. These institutions complement each other in their excellent libraries and rich collections of Chinese plants.
Study of the FOC is important for understanding modern relationships between the plants of North America and China because numerous species are found only in these two areas. The Chinese-North American disjunctions represent remains of a once widespread flora. Knowledge of FOC is essential for understanding the fossil composition in the Northern Hemisphere because living plants in China represent many genera that are known only from fossil records in North America and Europe. China still heavily depends on timber as energy sources, and 30% of its timber industry is used for household heating and cooking. This led to serious deforestation in most of China and has pushed numerous species to the brink of extinction. Consistent efforts will be made during the course of FOC to identify threatened and endangered species and those that have not been collected for some time. The information in FOC is essential for the proper management of the plant resources of China. The information in FOC is an important educational resource for use in training students and young scientists. Students in botany, medicine, horticulture, and other fields will find FOC a valuable reference. The broader project provides training opportunities for American students and young scientists through visits to Chinese institutions and field studies. It is also supporting the visits to the United States and Europe of many Chinese students and young botanists to train and work on FOC accounts. Finally, China has a higher number of medicinal plants that are actively traded and used than any other country in the world. About 23% of the entire Flora has medicinal properties. Only recently, however, has Chinese herbal medicine received increased attention in the West.
