Why is China so rich in plant diversity?
China is the only place on Earth where there is an unbroken connection between tropical, subtropical, temperate and boreal forests. This vegetational continuum has resulted in associations of plants that are rarely seen in other parts of the world. Many plant species that were once widespread throughout the northern hemisphere were wiped out by glaciation in North America but survived in China. Nearly 120 genera in 60 families of plants have disjunct populations in eastern Asia and temperate North America, relicts of the once widespread flora.
