The classical and numerical taxonomy, palynology and the geographical dis-

tribution of the Genus Schizopepon are dealt with in the present paper.  Having comme-

nted on various opinions regarding the systematic position of the genus, the present au-

thors consider that C. Jeffrey’s treatment of Schizopepon as a new and monogeneric tri-

be, Schizopeponeae, should be supported.

     The gross morphological characters in the genus are assessed from the taxonomic

point of view.  Some characters, such as stamens with an elongated connective or not,

different insertions of ovules and various forms of ovaries and fruits, may be used for

distinguishing subgenera.

     The pollen grains of all the species were observed under light microscope (LM) and

scanning electron microscope (SEM).  The results show that a strong differentiation

has taken place in the pollen of the genus, and in consequence it may be regarded as an

important basis for dividing subgenera and species. Especially it should be pointed out

that degrees of development of colpi and positions of ora are positively correlated with

the external characters used for distinguishing subgenera.

     According to the morphological and palynological characters, the genus Schizopepon

may be divided into three subgenera and eight species: 1. Subgenus Schizopepon: 5 spe-

cies, S. bryoniaefolius Maxim., S. monoicus A. M. Lu et Z. Y. Zhang, S. dioicus Cogn.,

S. longipes Gagnep. and S. macranthus Hand.-Mazz.; 2. Subgenus Rhynchocarpos A. M.

Lu et Z. Y. Zhang: 1 species, S. bomiensis A. M. Lu et Z. Y. Zhang; 3. Subgenus Neoschi-

zopepon A. M. Lu et Z. Y. Zhang: 2 species, S. bicirrhosus (C. B. Clarke) C. Jeffrey

and S. xizangensis A. M. Lu et Z. Y. Zhang.

     The 8 OTU’s including all the species of this genus and 31 characters, of which 16 are morphological characters and 15 palynological characters, were used in the numerical taxonomic treatment.  After standardization of characters, the correlation and distance matrices were computed.  The correlation matrices are made to test the various clustering methods.  At last, the UPGMA clustering method was selected and its result

is shown in the form of phenogram.  The result of numerical analysis is similar to that of the classical classification.

     Schizopepon Maxim. is a genus of East Asia-Himalayan distribution. China has all 8 species and 2 varieties, of which 6 species are endemic. Based on the statistics of spedies number, the distribution centre of the genus is considered to be in the Hengduan Mountains (Yangtze-Mekong-Salwin water divides) and the adjacent areas of the southwest China.