China has more plants than anywhere else
in the temperate regions of the world in
fact it has almost twice as many kinds
of plants as are in the United States
which about the same size and about
three times as many as there are in
Europe it’s a very wonderful wealth of
plant species many of which have
contributed to our gardens like
rhododendrons and azaleas and forsythias
to our cultivated plants like soybeans
the reason that there are so many plants
in China is that they’ve survived
they’re better if you go back 15 million
years into the past you find much the
same kinds of plants and animals in the
United States Europe and China they’ve
survived in the warm temperate to
subtropical forests that stretch right
across the middle of China in those
forests of China we have surviving
species like gingko the maidenhair tree
which has been in cultivation in Europe
and North America six the 17th century a
wonderful relative knows for us is the
dove tree Davidian it’s called the dove
tree because the fluttering Brax that
hang down from the clusters of flowers
look like doves flying another example
is the dawn redwood Metasequoia
which was described as a fossil in 1941
40 million years ago was the Commodus
forest tree in western north america now
it’s completely wiped out there but it
survives as about 6,000 individuals in
China
the western half of China in the
interior of Asia consists of very tough
deserts in the harsh landscape of Tibet
there exists a whole series of herbs
sedges grasses saw surya primroses that
are found only there some groups of
plants like saw surya for example have
their buds protected against the low
temperatures that keep on growing
another reason that there are so many
kinds of plants in China is that unlike
the United States or Europe there’s real
tropical forests in the South tropical
rain forest in southern Yunnan and in
that tropical forest there are many
species that come up from the South they
give the province of Yunnan about as
many species one state of China and
affect about as many species as there
are in the United States and Canada
combined about 15,000 kinds of plants
and it’s the melding of all of those
regions the survival of species from the
past and the creation of many new
species by the forces of evolution in
the diverse topography of China that’s
produced so much variety so wonderfully
pleasing and exciting to see China is
doing the best that it can to save its
biological diversity including its
floral heritage Chinese officials are
very concerned with this but it’s very
difficult to meet the needs of 1.3
billion people to allow them to consume
more to give them things that they want
like automobiles and other imports from
the West and still to preserve the
natural landscape or even the quality of
the air or the water
they’re fighting that battle a battle
with which we’re all familiar well but
they’re going to have to do a great deal
more in the future as we all are
in the temperate regions of the world in
fact it has almost twice as many kinds
of plants as are in the United States
which about the same size and about
three times as many as there are in
Europe it’s a very wonderful wealth of
plant species many of which have
contributed to our gardens like
rhododendrons and azaleas and forsythias
to our cultivated plants like soybeans
the reason that there are so many plants
in China is that they’ve survived
they’re better if you go back 15 million
years into the past you find much the
same kinds of plants and animals in the
United States Europe and China they’ve
survived in the warm temperate to
subtropical forests that stretch right
across the middle of China in those
forests of China we have surviving
species like gingko the maidenhair tree
which has been in cultivation in Europe
and North America six the 17th century a
wonderful relative knows for us is the
dove tree Davidian it’s called the dove
tree because the fluttering Brax that
hang down from the clusters of flowers
look like doves flying another example
is the dawn redwood Metasequoia
which was described as a fossil in 1941
40 million years ago was the Commodus
forest tree in western north america now
it’s completely wiped out there but it
survives as about 6,000 individuals in
China
the western half of China in the
interior of Asia consists of very tough
deserts in the harsh landscape of Tibet
there exists a whole series of herbs
sedges grasses saw surya primroses that
are found only there some groups of
plants like saw surya for example have
their buds protected against the low
temperatures that keep on growing
another reason that there are so many
kinds of plants in China is that unlike
the United States or Europe there’s real
tropical forests in the South tropical
rain forest in southern Yunnan and in
that tropical forest there are many
species that come up from the South they
give the province of Yunnan about as
many species one state of China and
affect about as many species as there
are in the United States and Canada
combined about 15,000 kinds of plants
and it’s the melding of all of those
regions the survival of species from the
past and the creation of many new
species by the forces of evolution in
the diverse topography of China that’s
produced so much variety so wonderfully
pleasing and exciting to see China is
doing the best that it can to save its
biological diversity including its
floral heritage Chinese officials are
very concerned with this but it’s very
difficult to meet the needs of 1.3
billion people to allow them to consume
more to give them things that they want
like automobiles and other imports from
the West and still to preserve the
natural landscape or even the quality of
the air or the water
they’re fighting that battle a battle
with which we’re all familiar well but
they’re going to have to do a great deal
more in the future as we all are
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