Moss diversity in Yunnan Province, China

Among all of the provinces of China, Yunnan has the richest moss flora in number of species. Yet, large areas of the province remain unexplored, especially for mosses. Several projects involving CAS date back to the Gaoligong Shan expeditions from 2002–07. Since that time, additional expeditions have been conducted between CAS bryologist Jim Shevock in partnership with Dr. Wen Zhang 'Dennis' Ma with the Kunming Institute of Botany (KUN), Chinese Academy of Sciences. During 2015–16, four expeditions were implemented in western Yunnan through the auspices of a National Geographic Society Research Grant to study mosses in riparian habitats. To date, several thousand moss specimens have been obtained. Several mosses we have collected are either new for Yunnan, new for China, or new to science. This rate of discovery continues with each expedition. This project is focused on publications with Dr. Ma as the lead author from these new discoveries. Three new moss genera have been described from Yunnan. Two of these new genera are commemorative names honoring the principal investigators, Shevockia and Mawenzhangia.