I. General Description of the Project
1. Introduction
The Moss Flora of China (English version) is an international, collaborative project organized by the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The purpose of this project is to prepare, edit, and publish a series of organized volumes concerning all mosses known from China, including Taiwan and Xizang (Tibet). At the same time, the project is developing a computerized database for all the mosses treated in the Flora.
This project is an offshoot, but not a directly translation of the on-going project, Bryophyte Flora of China (Chinese version). It is a separate program with different emphases on format and treatments of the taxa. The English version Flora is prepared under the supervision of an International Editorial Committee. All guidelines and policy decisions concerning this project are made by this committee.
An English version of the moss flora of China will provide the first modern floristic treatment of its kind that can be accessed by non-Chinese reading researchers. It will provide an up-to-date summary of the distribution of about 25% of the world's moss flora. Through completion of this project, we can look forward to an increased knowledge of the rich and diverse Chinese moss flora.