The Huping Mountains is a nature reserve in Hunan Province. It is situated at
29°58'-30°08'N. latitude, 110°29'-110°59' E. longitude in north-western Hunan.
The total area of the mountains is about 420km2.
1. Rich in flora, the mountains is found to have 1961 species including varieties of 838
genera in 205 families (40 families of pteridophytes, 7 families of gymnosperms, 158 families
of angiosperms). The number of families in the Huping Mountains makes up 56.3% of 364
families in China, and 82.7% of 248 families in Hunan, that of genera in the mountains
makes up 26.2% of 3207 genera in China, and 67.4% of 1245 genera in Hunan; that of species
7.33% of 26750 species in China, and 45.4% of 4324 species in Hunan (see Table 1)
2. According to the comparative analysis of distribution areas of 743 genera of seed
plants in the Huping Mountains, 14 distribution types can be recognized as shown in Table 3
(15 distribution types in China). As shown in Table 3, the flora of the mountains is obvious-
ly temperate in nature, with abundant tropical elements. The amount of temperate genera in
the items 8-11 and 13 (see Table 3)is 373, being 54.5% of the total (excluding
cosmopolitan, the same below), while that of tropical genera from the items 2-7 is 277, be-
ing 40.4% of the total.
3. As a result of the analysis, the vegetation of the mountains can be divided into four
forest zones from the base to the top as follows:
A. The evergreen broad-leaved forest zone (below lloom alt.);
B. The mixed evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved forest zone (1100-1500m alt.);
C. The deciduous broad-leaved forest zone (1500-1750m alt.);
D. The mountainous shrub and meadow zone (above 1750m alt.);
The dominant genera in the forests are Cyclobalanopsis, Castanposis, Lithocarpus,
Quercus, Schima, Carpinus, Betula, Fagus. Rhododendron, Salix, Sinarundinaria ect.
4. The analysis of endemic genera: Here included are those genera which are endemic to
China and also distributed in the mountains. There are 31 such genera (Table 6, including
the cultivated genus Metasequoia), making up 13.8% of 224 genera endemic to China which
occur in Hunan, 4.5% of the total number of genera in the mountains. Among the genera 18
are monotypic, I0 oligotypic and 2 multitypic as shown in Table 6. Concerning habit of the
endemic genera, 9 are herbs, 1 vine and 21 woody plants. The woody genera are nearly all
deciduous, and thus temperate in nature.
Finally, based on the facts mentioned above, the floristic characteristics, of the Huping
Mountains can be summarized as follows:
( 1 ) The flora is rich in species, genera and families, and complex in geographical ele-
ments. (2) As numerous primitive and ancient (especially temperate)families and genera are
found in this region. it might be one of the important preservation regions of the Tertiary
flora. (3) This flora is obviously temperate in nature judging from the percentage of temper-
ate genera and the life form of genera endemic to China in this region. The temperate genera
and deciduous woody genera endemic to China in the region, make up 57.5% of the total,
whereas the tropical genera does 40.4% of the total. The proportion of temperate genera
shows that this region is transitional from the subtropical flora to the temperate one. (4) The
temperate nature of the flora has probably caused by the height of the mountains.
