Taiwan Island, which covers an area of ca. 35989 km2 and ranges from 21°45' to 25°56'N and from 119°18' to 124°34' E, is the largest one in China with the highest peak about 3997 m above sea level. The flora comprises ca. 3656 species in 1201 genera, of which 29.3% of species and only four genera are endemic to Taiwan. Evaluated in this paper is the importance of the 14 larger families which together contain 50.1% of the total number of species. Among the native genera of the seed plants flora of Taiwan, 742 (61.8%) are tropical, 346 (28.8%) temperate. It is clear that tropical genera play an important role in the flora of Taiwan. According to the distributional patterns of dominant species and Chinese endemic species, the flora of Taiwan is basically subtropical in nature. This flora includes an unusually high proportion of endemic species and is of prominent subtropical nature in composition. On the basis of analysis of geographical distribution of genera and nonendemic species of seed plants, the floristic affinities between Taiwan and the mainland of China are well documented by the presence of more than 1150 genera (96.3 % of total genera) and 1140 nonendemic species (48.2% of total nonendemic species.)

Cytology of the tribe Trollieae and of the tribe Cimicifugeae in the Ranunculaceae was comparatively investigated. Caltha palustris L. is found to represent a polyploid series with 2n = 32 (4x), 48 (6x) and 64 (8x) in NW Yunnan, with the tetraploid cytotype being commoner and showing obvious karyotypic variation among the populations. The chromosomes of Caltha, Calathodes, Megaleranthis and Trollius are basically similar in size among the genera, all medium-sized and belonging to the R-type. The close affinity of Calathodes, Megaleranthis and Trollius is supported by both cytological and palynological evidence. The karyotypes of Beesia, Anemonopsis,Souliea, Cimicifuga and Actaea are very similar among the genera but remarkably different from those of Caltha, Calathodes, Megaleranthis and Trollius with respect to the chromosome size and chromosome morphology. From cytological data it is clear that Beesia has closer affinity with Anemonopsis , Souliea, Cimicifuga and Actaea than with Caltha , Calathodes , Megaleranahis and Trollius, and therefore may find its better position in the tribe Cimicifugeae.

The taxonomy of some species of Deyeuxia Clarion ex Beauv. (Poaceae) from China is revised on the basis of herbarium materials and field observation of populations. Four species and one variety are reduced to synonymies, i.e., Deyeuxia pulchella var. laxa P. C. Kuo et S. L. Lu, D. gyirongensis P. C. Kuo et S. L. Lu and Calamagrostis megalantha Keng ex Keng f. to D. pulchella (Griseb.) Hook. f.; D. venusta Keng, Calamagrostis longiflora Keng ex Keng f. to D. flavens Keng. D. compacta Munro ex Hook. f. and D. holciformis (Jaub. et Spach. ) Bor are confirmed to be conspecific.

The holotype specimen of Aconitum wolongense W. T. Wang is found to contain two previously described taxa— A. tanguticum (Maxim.) Stapf. var. trichocarpum Hand.-Mazz. and A. franchetii Fin. et Gagnep. var. villosum W.T. Wang. As a result, A. wolongense is reduced to their synonyms.

One new species, Anoectochilus xingrenensis Z. H Tsi et X. H. Jin is described, and one genus (Aphyllorchis), 15 species are reported as new records to Guizhou Province, China.

The genetic relationships of 14 Chinese jujube (Ziziphus jujuba ) cultivars and one wild jujube species (Z. spinosus ) were analyzed using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Thirty-seven primers were screened from 120 10-mer arbitrary primers, and a total of 429 DNA bands were amplified, among which 214 (49.88%) were polymorphic. Based on the RAPD data, genetic distances among the samples were calculated and a dendrogram was constructed by using UPGMA’s method. The results showed that the genetic distances within varieties were larger than those among varieties. We consider therefore that the classification of Chinese jujube varieties was artificial, and those varieties should be reduced. According to the genetic relationships of cultivars, anew infraspecific classification of Chinese jujube should be made.