Flora of China e-Resources

Anthony R. BrachEditor, Missouri Botanical Garden

Associate of the Arnold Arboretum and Harvard University Herbaria

What is a Flora?• plants occurring within a given region

(i.e., “flora”).• publication of scientific descriptions of those

plants (i.e., “Flora”).

What is a Flora?• plants occurring within a given region

(i.e., “flora”).• publication of scientific descriptions of those

plants (i.e., “Flora”). • classification, identification keys, scientific and

vernacular names, synonyms, descriptions, phenology, distributions, uses, conservation.

Flora of China Projecta collaborative project to publish the first modern English-language

account of the ca. 31,500 species of vascular plants of China.

24 text volumes24 illustration volumes

plus introductory volume

Beginnings

Beginnings

1882-1885

1951 (Acta Phytotaxonomica Sinica)

1913-1917

1929-1937 1937

1915-19171913-1917

1920

Flora of ChinaFlora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae (FRPS) • in Chinese• 80 volumes in 126 books• 1959–2004 (45 years)Flora of China (FOC)• in English: modern revision• 25 text volumes + 24 illustration vols.• 1988–2013 (25 years)

A few figures

• Chinese vascular plants: ca. 31,500 spp.• China: about same land area and latitude as contiguous USA.

About 2X as many as species as FNA.

• Seed plants: 29,224 spp. (93% of flora)• About 7500 tree and shrub spp.• About 8000 spp. of economic importance• Pteridophytes: ca. 2,250 spp.

overlay map from Dave Bouffordadapted from Edgar Snow (ca. 1930s)

A few figures

• Chinese vascular plants: ca. 31,500 spp.• Seed plants: 29,224 spp. (93% of flora)• Endemic seed plants: 14,753 spp. (50.5%)

A few figures

• Volumes published and online: • 22 text vols. (+2 in 2012 + intro. in 2013)• 20 illustration vols. (+4 by 2013)

Coming Soon!

Largest genera in China• Rhododendron: 571 spp.• Carex: 527• Astragalus: 401• Corydalis: 357• Pedicularis: 352• Primula: 300• Saussurea: 289• Salix: 275• Gentiana: 248• Impatiens: 227• Saxifraga: 216• Berberis: 215• Aconitum: 211• Rubus: 208• Ilex: 204• Artemisia: 186• Begonia: 173• Delphinium: 173

• Clematis: 147• Elatostema: 146• Allium: 138• Lysimachia: 138• Oxytropis: 133• Strobilanthes: 128• Ranunculus: 125• Ligularia: 123• Lithocarpus: 123• Aster: 123• Sedum: 121• Taraxacum: 116• Polygonum: 113• Silene: 110• Arenaria: 102• Acer: 99• Chirita: 99• Ficus: 99

The Harvard University Herbaria and Arnold Arboretum serve as an important Center for the Project.

Editorial Process

1. Draft prepared by Chinese author(s)2. Edited according to FOC Guidelines (and draft online as HTML)

Editorial Process

1. Draft prepared by Chinese author(s)2. Edited according to FOC Guidelines (and draft online as HTML)3. Coauthored by non-Chinese specialist(s) -- collaborative revision4. Corrected and edited5. Reviewed by other specialists and regional advisors6. Corrected and edited

Editorial Process

1. Draft prepared by Chinese author(s)2. Edited according to FOC Guidelines (and draft online as HTML)3. Coauthored by non-Chinese specialist(s) -- collaborative revision4. Corrected and edited5. Reviewed by other specialists and regional advisors6. Corrected and edited7. Volume formatted8. Proofread 9. Published (PDFs online, printed volumes, added to eFloras.org)

Editorial process: Original draft• Acer leipoense Fang et Soong in Act. phytotax. Sin.11:179.1966• 雷波槭 lei bo qi• Acer leipoense var. leucotrichum Fang in Act. phytotax. Sin. 17(1):85,

Pl.14:4.1979; A. longipedicellatum C.Y.Wu in Act. phytotax. 21 (3): 337.1983.

• Tree to 8 m tall;bark deep brown, purple brown; branchlets round, those of the present year green or purplish green, pubescent, those of more than one year old brown, glabrous; winter-budes ovate, scales ciliate on the margin. Petiolesslender, glabrous, purplish green, 7-8 cm long; leaf deciduous chartaceous, roundish-ovate in outline, 9-11 x7-12 cm, subcordate or round at base, 3-lobed; shallowly and forwardly 3-lobed, the margin of lobes usually entire, rarely with a few serrations; upper surface green, glabrous; lower surface grey, powery and pebescent. Flower unknown. Fruits yellown, brown, in racemes 15-25cm long, purplish green, subglabrous, nutlets yellown brown. strongly convexed, 1 cm in diameter, pubescent; wing falcate, included nutlets 4-4.5 cm long, 1.5 borad. spreading right or acute angles. Fr. Sep.

Open forest, 2000-2700 m, SW Sichuan.

Editorial process: Edited draft

Editorial process: Revision

Editorial process: Review

• Comments from family specialists.

• e.g., Dipsacales

Editorial process: Review

• Comments from family specialists.

• e.g., Dipsacales • ~ Darwin’s “tree of

life” sketch:

Editorial process: Publication

Nomenclatural novelties (e.g., FOC Vol. 19)

Flora of China Checklistwww.tropicos.org/Project/FC

Hu Card Index: infraspecific names

Hu Card Index: contains 9000 infraspecific names

Index Kewensis: started recording infraspecific names in 1971

Website: www.foc.orgFOC Project’s structure and resources.

eFloras.orgelectronic flora: web interface to database containing published

treatments: freely available for browsing and searching.

eFloras: search

eFloras: search

eFloras: Related Links

eFloras: Related Links

www.tropicos.org

eFloras: Related Links

www.ipni.org

Related Objects: IllustrationseFloras.org and Tropicos.org

•Ginkgo biloba (Volume 4).

•Liriodendron chinense (Volume 7).

•Acer griseum (Volume 11).

• Zanthoxylum simulans (Volume 11).

•Rhododendron williamsianum (Volume 14).

Phyllostachys aurea (Volume 22)

Cypripedium tibeticum (Volume 25)

Related Objects: Photos

•Lithocarpus confinis (Volume 4).

•Salix souliei (Volume 4).

•Corydalis curviflora (Volume 7).

•Illicium simonsii (Volume 7).

•Rubus tricolor (Volume 9).

•Berberis pruinosa (Volume 19).

•Viburnum kansuense (Volume 19).

eFloras: Web Form for Updating Records– post-publication (709 corrections and 648 new names to date)

•Pinus fragilissima (post-publ. Volume 4).

eFloras: Web Form for Updating Records

Dichotomous keys

• keys as identification tools• ID process must follow a predefined path,

does the plant have traits “A” or “B”?

Dichotomous keys

• keys as identification tools• ID process must follow a predefined path,

does the plant have traits “A” or “B”?• Each lead of a couplet (e.g., 1a, 1b)

provides contrasting, diagnostic characters.

Problems with dichotomous keys

1. For indented keys, sometimes long intervals between first and second halves of a couplet, require turning several pages or scrolling to a distant lead.

Problems with dichotomous keys

1. For indented keys, sometimes long intervals between first and second halves of a couplet, require turning several pages or scrolling to a distant lead.

2. If the diagnostic character is unavailable (e.g., fl., fr., or sterile specimens), it is difficult (or even impossible) to use this type of key.

Ex. 1 (Pinus): Long interval between 1a and 1b

Solution 1: Bracketted keys

Example 2 (Quercus): What if a diagnostic character is unavailable?

Solution 2: Interactive Keys

• Multi-access (multiple entry)

• not dependent upon few or single characters that may be absent

Solution 2: Interactive Keys• Multi-access (multiple

entry) – not dependent upon few or single characters that may be absent

• can include images of character states (to aid selection)

image from Radford et al.http://www.ibiblio.org/botnet/glossary/

Solution 2: Interactive Keys• Multi-access (multiple

entry) – not dependent upon few or single characters that may be absent

• can include images of character states (for selection)

• can include images of taxa (for comparison)

Interactive Keys - Flora of China: interactive keys to large genera:

15000+ species (ongoing)DELTA

• DEscription Language for TAxonomy• 30 years of development: CSIRO

(Australia)• local use: stand-alone • remote use: web-accessible (with

Intkey application)• output options:

interactive keys: Intkey, data summaries, natural language descriptions, keys, distance matrices

• formerly only Windows

Interactive Keys - Flora of China: interactive keys to large genera:

15000+ species (ongoing)DELTA Intkey

• DEscription Language for TAxonomy

• 30 years of development: CSIRO (Australia)

• free for non-commercial use• local use: stand-alone • remote use: web-accessible

(with Intkey application)• output options• formerly only Windows

NaviKey• local use: stand-alone

application • remote use: applet on web

server• uses same DELTA file

directives (chars, items, specs) output from DELTA Editor

• any platform (Java-based)

Interactive Keys - Flora of China: interactive keys to large genera:

15000+ species (ongoing)DELTA Intkey

• local use: stand-alone • remote use: web-accessible

(with Intkey application)• formerly only Windows

new Open-DELTA Java version in development: Atlas of Living Australia: platform-independent

NaviKey• local use: stand-alone

application • remote use: applet on web

server• any platform (Java-based)• uses same DELTA file

directives (chars, items, specs) output from DELTA Editor

DELTA Editor• tree view • grid view

DELTA Intkey

DELTA Intkey

DELTA Intkey

DELTA Intkey

DELTA Intkey

3575 m

NaviKey: applet on web server

NaviKey: stand-alone on local computer

new Open DELTA Editor

new Open DELTA Intkey

XML tags: Markup of descriptionsHong Cui, Dept. of Information Technologies, University of Arizona

XML: Markup of descriptions

New, revised parser (forthcoming paper by Cui et al.)

CharaParser for Fine-Grained Semantic Annotation of Organism Morphological Descriptions

Future: Digital Floras

Future: Digital FlorasElectronic publication: digital, dynamic florasNomenclature• Tropicos to maintain eFloras: current functionality

– Post-publication updates(new names, corrigenda)

– Infraspecific names into Tropicos & IPNI(from Hu Card Index and Fl. Japan)

Descriptions and Identification• Databasing descriptions and distributions

(XML and DELTA; bilingual flora; treating new taxa)• Images (specimens, living plants, distribution maps)• Interactive keys (improvements and extensions)

Future: FOC Data Exploratione.g., Aceraceae

Distribution: Elevation (m)• Mean 1572• Minimum 0 (Acer pictum)• Maximum 4000 (Acer caudatum)

Province No. species

1. Anhui 17

2. Fujian 18

3. Gansu 26

4. Guangdong 19

5. Guangxi 30

6. Guizhou 33

7. Hainan 5

8. Hebei 6

9. Heilongjiang 10

10. Henan 25

11. Hubei 35

12. Hunan 24

13. Jiangsu 12

14. Jiangxi 23

15. Jilin 12

16. Liaoning 13

17. Nei Mongol 6

18. Ningxia 8

19. Qinghai 3

20. Shaanxi 27

21. Shandong 6

22. Shanxi 13

23. Sichuan 44

24. Taiwan 9

25. Xinjiang 2

26. Xizang 22

27. Yunnan 44

28. Zhejiang 22Leaf petiole: length (mm)

Mean = 47.4Minimum 5 (Acer henryi)

Maximum 200 (Dipteronia dyeriana)

Distance Matrix from DELTA Data (Nexus format)e.g., Aceraceae

Compound-leaved

Simple-leaved

Simple-leaved

Distance Matrix from DELTA Data (Nexus format)e.g., Betulaceae

Alnus

Carpinus

Corylus

Ostryopsis

Ostrya

Betula

Carpinus

Betula

Future: Record further data from specimens to improve Interactive Keys

Future: Database collection data for plotting distributions and improving interactive keys

Most collections from Gaoligongshan, bordering Myanmar.Map prepared by Brian Franzone.

Future: Potential for App Development

• Should be able to use the Flora anywhere.

• Identify any plant using easily observed features of the plant.

Having a modern, dynamically growing flora is a real possibility, with the Flora of China as a foundation.

PathKey(Beta) by Hongping Liangwww.pathkey.org

Acknowledgments• Flora of China Project

collaborators • Dave Boufford, Anne Marie

Countie, Brian Franzone (Harvard)

• Hong Song (St. Louis University)• Hong Cui (University of Arizona)• Hongping Liang (Connecticut)• Myriam Fica and Chris Freeland

(Missouri Botanical Garden) • Arnold Arboretum• Harvard University Herbaria• Missouri Botanical Garden• Starr Foundation• National Science Foundation

Hovenia dulcis Thunb. (Rhamnaceae)

at Highland Park, Rochester, NY

Season’s Greetings!

Photo by Paul J. Brach