China reports 65 new plant taxa discoveries in 2024

This file photo taken on May 4, 2024 shows a fruit-bearing twig of Carrierea leyensis, a new species of Salicaceae discovered in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua)

KUNMING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's National Wild Plant Germplasm Resource Center reported 65 new plant taxa discoveries in 2024, of which 40 were new species.

Forty-five percent of the discoveries were made in southwest China's Yunnan Province and Xizang Autonomous Region, the center said.

It has collected and preserved some of these species, and will carry out further research on the preservation and expansion techniques of germplasm resources such as rare taxa, aiming to improve the preservation of wild plant germplasm resources in China and support the conservation of China's biodiversity.

Established in 2017, the National Wild Plant Germplasm Resource Center was built and is operated by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Kunming Institute of Botany.