In memoriam Ching-I Peng (1950–2018)—an outstanding scientist and mentor with a remarkable legacy

Abstract

Ching-I Peng, the most prolific and internationally recognized Taiwanese plant taxonomist of his generation, passed away on May 1, 2018. Dr. Peng was an eminent worker on the taxonomy of East Asian plants and the genus Ludwigia, and the foremost expert on Asian Begonia. He served as associate editor, co-editor in chief, and editor-in-chief of Botanical Studies and its predecessor Botanical Bulletin of Academia Sinica during the period 1992-2016. He gathered over 25,000 plant specimens, name 121 plant taxa, and has left a remarkable legacy of literature, collaborations and collections. This article summarizes Dr. Peng's academic career and commemorates his enduring contribution.

Six new species of Begonia from Guangxi, China

“…One of the major impetus of Begonia ’s phenomenal growth in the past decades has been the passion and dedication of Dr. Ching-I Peng (Fig. 1 ) and his collaborations with Begonia researchers and enthusiasts around the world; together the effort has resulted in 81 publications and 98 new Begonia species (Chung 2020 ). Sadly, Dr. Peng died of illness on 1 May 2018 and his prolific career of Begonia research was ended prematurely (Chung 2020 ), leaving numerous unfinished works.…”

“…Known for its splendid limestone karst (Chung et al 2014 ; Tseng et al 2019 ), Guangxi also harbors the second richest Begonia flora of China, surpassed only by Yunnan Province (Tian et al 2018 ). The addition of these six new species increases the total number of Begonia species in Guangxi from 86 (Dong and Liu 2019 ; Tong et al 2019 ) to 92, with more than 1/4 of the Begonia species named by Dr. Peng and his collaboration with Guangxi Institute of Botany (Chung 2020 ). According to morphological characters and comparison with allied species, one of the six new species, B. aurora , might be assigned to Sect.…”