Sun Hang (Editor-in-Chief), Zhou Zhuo, Deng Tao, and Chen Juntong (Associate Editors-in-Chief), Flora of the Alpine Subnival Belt of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, Volumes 1 & 2, pp. 1–851, 853–1702, Beijing: China Forestry Publishing House; ISBN: 978 7 5219 2062 8; Price: RMB 1600.00 (Fig. 1).

Table of Contents: Preface 1: Sun Honglie, Captain of the First Qinghai–Tibet Scientific Expedition (Preface 1–2 pages); Preface 2: Yao Tandong, Captain of the Second Qinghai–Tibet Scientific Expedition (Preface 3–4 pages); Foreword 1: Academician Chen Yiyu (Foreword 5–8 pages); Foreword 2: Academician Fang Jin-gyun (Foreword 9–12 pages); Foreword 3: Academician Hao Xiao-jiang (Foreword 13–16 pages). Preface: Sun Hang (pp. 17–25), Writing introduction (pp. 27–30), Contents (pp. 31–37); Overview (pp. 1–41), Introduction of Species: Lycophytes and Ferns (pp. 46–73; PPG I system), Gymnosperms (pp. 76–85; Christenhus et al. system), Angiosperms (pp. 88–1606; APG Ⅵ system), References (pp. 1607–1610), Index of Chinese Name (pp. 1611–1625), Index of Latin Name (pp. 1626–1658), List of Photographers and Photo Locations (pp. 1659–1702).

The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP), known as the "Roof of the World" and the "Third Pole" of the Earth (excluding the North and South Poles), is not only the largest and highest plateau in the world, but also one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth. In particular, the alpine subnival zone of the QTP not only boasts far more plant species than other regions in similar habitats worldwide, but its flora is also young and undergoing rapid differentiation. However, due to the harsh environment, inconvenient transportation, and the limited growth cycle of plants, collection and research are extremely difficult. Over the past two decades, the team led by Sun Hang from the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has conducted more than twenty in–depth scientific expeditions, collecting 16,781 number of plant specimens (over 30,000 sheets) and 23,975 molecular samples from the QTP's subnival zone, and taking a large amount of first–hand data, including huge numerous images. They have also discovered a large number of new taxa and new distributions. Based on this, the team first published "Seed Plants of the Alpine Subnival Belt from the Hengduan Mountains, SW China" in 2014 (Beijing: Science Press), and then published "Flowering Plants of the Hengduan Mountains" in 2021 (Kunming: Yunnan Science and Technology Press). This flora is a further summary of the author team's many years of work, recording 1532 species (including infraspecific units) of 240 genera and 56 families of vascular plants (Appendix A).

The publication of "Flora of the Alpine Subnival Belt in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau" not only fills a gap in the country's research on the flora of the QTP, but also has the following distinctive features: First, apart from the two prefaces to the series, all 1702 pages of the book are presented in both Chinese and English; this extends the readership beyond general Chinese academic works to the world. The international impact of such work is evident and obviously. Second, each species is accompanied by detailed morphological descriptions, phenological periods and habitat introductions, as well as necessary supporting specimens, exceeding the conventional scope of general floras and possessing significant academic influence, especially given its reliance on the authors' long–term firsthand data, making it invaluable and rare. Third, the overall arrangement of the book is highly distinctive, particularly the final list of photographers and photo locations (pages 1659–1702), which provides the photographer and detailed information in the provinces and county for each species and photograph, making it academically crucial. Fourth, 1321 of the 1532 species (approximately 86%) are accompanied by color photographs (some species have more than one, with some having four to five); what is particularly valuable is that as many as 70% of the 3588 photographs are from the team's own fieldwork. Fifth, of the 1532 species, 1124 are endemic to the QTP (approximately 73%), accompanied by point maps of their geographical distribution (far superior to general outline maps), making them readily understandable to readers. Sixth, the publication of this book has extremely important reference value for future revisions of the Flora of China and even the floras of related provinces and autonomous regions; especially considering the extreme environments such as the subnival zone, which most scholars have almost no opportunity to reach in their lifetime. Seventh, academic research, especially in works like plant taxonomy, should be conducted in this way: decades of persistent effort and continuous accumulation are necessary to achieve results that will be recorded in history and be convincing! Finally, this book is not only beautiful and detailed, but also boasts a young and promising editorial team. Two of the three associate editors are born in the 1980s, and the other in the 1990s, with the majority of the main editors also being born in the 1980s or even the 1990s–a group that is not only enviable but also has a bright future!

Of course, Chinese plant taxonomy has only existed for a little over a century, and compared to developed countries in Europe and America, we still have a long way to go, especially in terms of local flora works! Regarding the accumulation of basic data in plant taxonomy of China, this includes specimens with contemporary collection information (such as GPS data), not only physical specimens but also high–resolution field images, detailed habitat records of species in remote areas, and the acquisition of contemporary plant molecular materials. Particularly concerning is our own research on the QTP, which has a shorter history of less than a century, and further efforts are needed! While introducing this book, I also place my hopes on future generations! Regarding this book, if there is an opportunity to revise it, the following points could be considered: First, the delineation of the QTP within China should be directly provided in the writing introduction (readers will need to consult the references separately as they are not directly available; the relevant content from the book's references is provided here): it extends from the Pamir Plateau in the west to the Hengduan Mountains in the east, from the southern edge of the Himalayas in the south to the northern side of the Kunlun–Qilian Mountains in the north, spanning six provinces and municipalities in China (Xizang/Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan, with total 201 county–level administrative units), with a total area of approximately 2,572,400 square kilometers, accounting for more than a quarter of the country's land area. Second, this book only provides point–like distribution maps for endemic taxa of the Tibetan Plateau (including the over-seas parts); distribution maps for other non–endemic taxa are not provided. Similarly, the same applies to photographs; approximately 211 species lack photographs. Of course, obtaining all of these will not be easy; let's hope for the future! Third, the list of photographers and photo locations is 43 pages long, with highly detailed information; however, each photograph has four columns: serial number, image, photographer, and location. If the reprint could replace the serial numbers with page numbers, it would be more convenient and clearer for readers, since the serial numbers do not appear in the main text. In short, if these points are considered shortcomings of the book, it's more accurate to say that the author is nitpicking!

This is a flora of endemic China that is highly characteristic of contemporary plant taxonomy, particularly highlighting the unique contributions of contemporary Chinese scholars to the long–term and in–depth research on the QTP, and truly commendable! In the 21st–century academic world, especially in China, where everyone is focused on publishing papers and rankings, the authors' dedication and the production of such a richly illustrated, bilingual (Chinese and English) contemporary flora are truly remarkable. What more can we say than congratulations? Congratulations again to the editorial team, and thank are also given to the editors for their help and making this publication becoming possible!

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Jiangshuang Ma: Supervision, Resources, Funding acquisition, Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing.

Declaration of competing interest

The author Jinshuang Ma was an Editorial Board Member from 2015 to 2025 for Plant Diversity and was not involved in the editorial review or the decision to publish this article. The other authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Appendix A. Supplementary data

Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pld.2026.04.007.