Comparison of classifications of vascular plants of China

Abstract

China has 31,362 species of vascular plants, more than any country on the planet except Brazil and Colombia, and this number represents 8%-12% of the world diversity of vascular plants. With the two largest completed floristic projects in the world, a full documentation of the vascular plants of China has been published twice over the past 54 years: the Chineselanguage Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae (FRPS), 1959(FRPS), -2004, and the English-language Flora of China (FOC), 1994(FOC), -2013 With the advent of molecular phylogenetics the past half century has witnessed dramatical changes of classifications of vascular plants. In this paper, we compare the circumscriptions of all families of vascular plants occurring within China in FRPS, FOC, and the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) III system when applicable, and summarize familial assignments of all controversial genera in the different classifications. Such comparison to some extent reflects the history of classification of vascular plants and differences between classical morphology-based classifications and modern DNA (mainly chloroplast) sequence data-based classifications of vascular plants.Keywords APG III; Englerian system; familial assignments of genera; flowering plants; FOC; FRPS; pteridophytes (Tables S1-S8) Version of Record plants in 3328 genera and 312 families, of which 2129 species are ferns and lycophytes, 237 are gymnosperms, and 28,996 are angiosperms (Wu & al., 2013d). The FOC project took 25 years of endeavor by 478 authors and 324 artists from 30 countries (Wu & al., 2013d). Supplementary Material The Electronic SupplementIn order to facilitate comparison with FRPS, the decision was made at the start of the FOC project to follow the modified Englerian family sequence for seed plants used in FRPS (Editorial Committee of FRPS, 1961-2002, the only major change being to move the monocotyledons to the end of the sequence. Otherwise the policy was to keep to the FRPS system and only draw attention to any alternatives in comments after the family description (e.g., Liliaceae and Amaryllidaceae, Wu & Raven, 2000b: 73, 264). Only in some of the later volumes were there significant changes reflecting the widespread acceptance of APG III (e.g., the aquatic monocots, Wu & al., 2012b: 84-119). This was not the case for the pteridophytes (or monilophytes: lycophytes and ferns) where the sequence and family delimitations follow exactly the most recent system of Christenhusz & al. (2011), a modified Smith & al. (2006) system, and not the partly arbitrary sequence used in FRPS.In this paper, we compare the classifications of vascular plants of China in the FRPS, FOC, and APG III systems in the form of tables (Electr. Suppl.: Tables S1-S8). The need for this comparison of classifications comes from two directions, namely consideration of the value of plants as indicated by their taxonomy, and the history of plant taxonomy in China. Classifications are valued for their predictive value and modern molecular methods are the latest tools in our...

Embracing the pteridophyte classification of Ren‐Chang Ching using a generic phylogeny of Chinese ferns and lycophytes

“…). Similar observations were reported by Zhang & Gilbert (). Among them, 20 families (including Dicksoniaceae, substituted with Cibotiaceae, and Didymochlaenaceae, newly recorded in China) have identical delimitations.…”

“…For example, the following orders are accepted now as defined by Ching: Equisetales, Isoëtales, Lycopodiales, Marattiales, Ophioglossales, Osmundales, Psilotales, and Selaginellales (Ching, ; Smith et al, ; Liu et al, ; Christenhusz et al, ; Zhang et al, ). In contrast, the definition of the orders within the leptosporangiate ferns was substantially changed as the results of the replacement of a broadly defined order Polypodiales by six orders namely Cyatheales, Gleicheniales, Hymenophyllales, Salviniales, and Schizaeales besides the now narrowly defined Polypodiales (Smith et al, ; Liu et al, ; Christenhusz et al, ; Zhang et al, ; Zhang & Gilbert, ).…”

Circumscription and phylogeny of the fern family Tectariaceae based on plastid and nuclear markers, with the description of two new genera: Draconopteris and Malaifilix (Tectariaceae)

“…The circumscriptions of many families and orders in modern classifications have the same delimitations as those in traditional classifications, while in some other cases they are dramatically different from each other in modern and traditional classifications (Zhang & Gilbert, 2015). Molecular plus non-molecular data have helped create more or less consensus classifications of vascular plants at familial and ordinal level, but some unresolved issues remain.…”

Bioactive Compounds from Medicinal Plants and Their Importance in Drug Discovery in Pakistan

“…According to World Health Organization [68] for primary healthcare needs, 60% of world's population is dependant on traditional medicines and 80% population of developing countries is depending almost completely on traditional plants to get herbal medicines [69]. To the present day, the long tradition of herbal medicine continues in China, India, Pakistan and many other African and South American countries [70][71]. Pakistan is very rich in botanical wealth and diversity of plants resources because it has different climatic and edaphic factors.…”