◎ Li He, reporter of this newspaper

The core functions of the National Botanical Garden are plant scientific research, introduction and domestication and ex situ conservation, and it is the national plant science research and exchange center, strategic plant resource reserve, endangered plant ex situ conservation base and plant science dissemination center.

Sun Guofeng

Executive Director of the South Park of the National Botanical Garden and Senior Engineer of the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences

After the beginning of summer, the National Botanical Garden is full of life and all things are showy. "Niche flowers" such as fringe trees, hedgehogs, catalpa, and four-shot flowers are becoming the protagonists of viewing. In mid-May, the "May Flower God" peony will also usher in the viewing period, followed by the "Queen of Flowers" monthly season, and the whole month can be described as a continuous and wonderful flower.

In April last year, China's first National Botanical Garden was officially inaugurated in Beijing; In July, the South China National Botanical Garden was officially inaugurated in Guangzhou. So far, China's two national botanical gardens, one south and one north, have been officially put into operation, and it has also opened the prelude to the construction of China's national botanical garden system.

There are about 3,8 species of higher plants in China, accounting for 1/10 of the world, which can be called the world's plant treasure house. In the past year, the National Botanical Garden has become the base of biodiversity conservation in China, the reserve bank of strategic plant resources, and an important platform for plant science dissemination, representing the highest level of national plant diversity protection, research and utilization, and playing a huge role in the protection of biodiversity.

Provide a good habitat for the conservation of plant diversity

Troll taro is one of the three flagship species of rare and endangered plants in the world, and the largest single inflorescence plant in the world. It blooms only three or four times in a lifetime, and the number of artificial cultivation flowers in the world is only more than 100 times.

After more than 10 years of introduction and careful cultivation, in July 2022, three troll taro plants of the National Botanical Garden achieved the world's first group flowering in the artificial cultivation state, and produced fruits and seeds through artificial pollination. The completion of the whole life cycle culture of troll taro fills the gap in the cultivation and research of this species in China. At the same time, the National Botanical Garden also cooperated with Beijing Forestry University to carry out research on volatile components and release laws in the flowering odor of troll taro, and also revealed the secret of why troll taro blooms so smelly.

The successful breeding of troll taro is just one of the results achieved by the National Arboretum. Wen Shifeng, deputy director of the National Botanical Garden System Planning and Preparation Office, said that since the establishment of the two national botanical gardens in Beijing and Guangzhou one year ago, they have carried out a number of work such as the collection of living plants and germplasm resources and the construction of scientific research platforms.

"Two national botanical gardens, each with its own characteristics and emphasis." Wen Shifeng said that the National Botanical Garden focuses on collecting native plants in the Sanbei region, representative plants in the northern temperate zone, and representative plants from different geographical regions around the world. The South China National Botanical Garden is based in South China and faces the conservation of biodiversity at the same latitude in the world, and is committed to plant protection, scientific research and knowledge dissemination in tropical and subtropical regions around the world.

The National Botanical Garden integrates the relevant resources of the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (South Garden) and the Beijing Botanical Garden (North Garden), and has diverse landforms such as mountains, terraces and floodplains, providing a good habitat for plant diversity. According to statistics, in the past year, the National Botanical Garden has completed a background survey of plant species resources, and more than 2000,1 new species of plants have been added. Up to now, a total of more than 7,300 kinds of plants have been collected, including nearly 13,<> rare and endangered plants, and the collection of plant specimens has exceeded <> million, accounting for <>% of the total plant specimen resources in China, and the National Botanical Garden has become a demonstration area for the protection of plant diversity in China.

One of the important functions of the South China National Botanical Garden is to provide ex situ conservation of tropical and subtropical plant resources in South China. Since 2022, more than 1100,88 kinds of plants have been newly introduced in the park, including 1 species of wild plants under national key protection, and the total number of protected plants in the park has reached more than 75,2, ranking among the top five in the world. Researcher Ren Hai, director of the South China National Botanical Garden, said that in the future, we will strive to protect about <>,<> kinds of plants, accounting for most of China's higher plant species, and achieve full coverage of ex situ conservation of rare and endangered plants in South China.

Scientific research strength has become a strong support for the National Botanical Garden

"The core functions of the National Botanical Garden are plant scientific research, introduction and domestication and ex situ conservation, and it is a national plant science research and exchange center, a strategic plant resource reserve, an ex situ conservation base for endangered plants and a plant science dissemination center." Sun Guofeng, executive director of the South Park of the National Botanical Garden and senior engineer of the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the strong scientific research strength has become a strong support for the National Botanical Garden.

With strong scientific research strength, the National Botanical Garden has successfully introduced 24 species of spruce from all over the world, accounting for more than half of the world; It has successfully introduced and bred China's unique tree species giant cypress, azalea orchid, lilac leaf honeysuckle, etc., and protected a variety of rare orchids such as Nujiang trough agave and Hima hanging orchid.

At the same time, the National Botanical Garden has also achieved many results in the discovery of new species, the selection and promotion of new varieties of resource plants. In the field investigation, the researchers discovered and described seven new species, including Gongshan Horn Pan Orchid, Meto Phalaenopsis and Qinghai Jade Phoenix Flower. "We also carried out ex situ conservation of a species in northern China, the southern snake vine. It was once thought that the species had no distribution in northern China or was extinct in the wild. In 7, after a field trip, we rediscovered this species and protected it ex situ. Sun Guofeng said that the National Botanical Garden has continuously explored and innovated the germplasm selection and breeding of resource plants, selected and bred new varieties with important economic value, supported national germplasm safety, and obtained a total of 2022 new plant variety protection authorizations in the past year.

In addition, in terms of the construction of scientific research platform, the National Botanical Garden has built a plant big data visualization system, integrated high-precision data of national macrobotany, and developed data products such as the national key protected wild plant information system, the early warning system of invasive alien plants, and the ex-situ conservation system of the National Botanical Garden, forming a comprehensive database of all spatial-temporal, multi-dimensional and full-life cycle of species.

In the South China National Botanical Garden, the white flowers of Huaiji primrose moss are blooming, thanks to the great promotion of science and technology on plant ex situ protection and expansion, Huaiji primrose moss has been adjusted from national first-class protection to national second-class protection.

The South China National Botanical Garden took the lead in realizing the integration and innovative application of biotechnology, habitat restoration technology and interspecific positive relationship promotion technology, carried out research and demonstration of the return of rare and endangered plants, and successfully realized the wild return of 36 rare and endangered plants in South China, including Huaiji primrose, Caiyun orchid, azalea red camellia, tiger yanhua, Longzhou golden flower tea, pig's blood wood, Guangdong Hanxiao, hydrangea Qian.

Create an ex situ conservation system in which all things are harmonious

Over the past year, a number of scientific research projects of the National Botanical Garden have progressed smoothly. The orchid conservation team of the National Botanical Garden has undertaken the research project of ex situ conservation of Warm Land Dipper orchid, a key research and development plan of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and has carried out germplasm resources investigation and conservation biological research in Yunnan and Guangxi, and is conducting research on key technologies of artificial breeding. At the same time, the team also carried out field resource investigation and species breeding research on the very small population of Tequila Yunnan, and successfully realized the seed germination of Tequila Yunxi, and found that its endophytic fungi had a significant effect on seed germination and seedling growth of other orchids. Based on the endangered status of its resources, research on targeted ex situ conservation technology has been carried out, and ex situ conservation of test tube seedlings and seeds has been realized.

The South China National Botanical Garden undertook scientific research projects in the investigation and utilization of plant resources and ecological restoration in southern China. "Discovering new species is the starting point for biodiversity, how can you understand biodiversity without knowing your family background?" Luo Shixiao, director of the Herbarium of the South China National Botanical Garden, said that in 2022, researchers at the South China National Botanical Garden discovered a total of 33 new species. In order to support the ecological governance of "Green Beauty Guangdong", the South China National Botanical Garden sent a total of 18 scientists to Shaoguan City and Zhaoqing City to support the local ecological environment construction.

At present, the National Botanical Garden System Construction Plan (2022-2035) and the National Botanical Garden Construction Plan have been compiled. Wen Shifeng said that the expected goal of the construction of the national botanical garden system is to achieve the effective ex situ conservation of more than 80% of wild plants under national key protection and more than 70% of rare and endangered wild plants through system construction, significantly enhance the capacity of biodiversity conservation, greatly improve the level of plant scientific research, popular science education, garden and horticultural display, and the development and utilization of plant resources, and form an ex situ conservation system with Chinese characteristics, world-class and harmonious with all things.

"According to the plan, nearly 300 hectares of mountain forest in the back mountain of Cherry Gou, the northernmost part of the National Botanical Garden, will be included in the National Botanical Garden and become a native plant conservation area." He Ran, director of the National Botanical Garden Management Committee, said that this mountain forest will expand the entire botanical garden by about doubling, and many subalpine plants can be introduced into the garden for conservation.

The North Park of the National Botanical Garden will also build a national plant germplasm resource bank, planning to collect and protect 7,<> kinds of plant ex vivo resources such as seeds, test tube seedlings and DNA. The project will complement the core functions of the National Botanical Garden, become a reserve and research platform for national strategic plant resources, and provide an important guarantee for national biosecurity.

In the future, the number of living plants in the National Botanical Garden will reach more than 3,80, covering 50% of the families and 10% of the genera of Chinese plant species, accounting for 500% of the world's plant species. The specimen collection reached 100 million, covering 95% of China's families and 28% of genera, and collected representative plant specimens from five continents; There will also be <> specialized parks integrating science, art and culture, as well as greenhouses on five continents and special conservation greenhouses.