The Flora of China (FOC) is an international collaborative project, whose goal is to produce the first complete, English-language account of the approximately 31,500 species of Chinese vascular plants. FOC will result in the publication of 50 volumes, including detailed descriptions of all Chinese plants and illustrations of over 60% of them. All of these materials will be freely available for browsing and downloading via the FOC Web site.
FOC is already having a major positive impact on the international scientific community. Upon completion, it will be of great importance to the future of plant science, biodiversity conservation, medicine, education, and horticulture. FOC is also enhancing the infrastructure for scientific research and education by promoting international collaborations among institutions in the United States, China, and Europe. FOC is coordinated by the Missouri Botanical Garden in partnership with ten other actively collaborating institutions. Every text in FOC is co-authored by at least one Chinese and at least one non-Chinese botanist, and the project involves the collaboration of at least 300 non-Chinese and 170 Chinese botanists worldwide. Of these, at least 100 botanists, including and graduate and undergraduate students, are from the United States.
