The eighth Advanced Seminar on Plant Taxonomy Research was officially opened at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) on December 11. Prof. Zhang Xianchun and Prof. Gao Tiangang from CAS Institute of Botany presented keynote lectures concerning "Introduction to Taxonomy" and "Classification of Asteraceae: Research Progress and Group Recognition" respectively. 

With the theme of “Plant taxonomy, ex situ conservation, and national botanical garden system construction”, the course was composed of 4 days of course study and 1 day of outdoor internship. It is oriented to serve translocation conservation and national botanical garden system construction, focusing on plant diversity, involving plant taxonomy, systematics, biogeography, plant diversity conservation and its research methods and practical applications. 

The training course is jointly sponsored by Institute of Botany, Kunming Institute of Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Wuhan Botanical Garden and XTBG. It focuses on three major areas: plant classification and identification, plant diversity and conservation, and resource plant development and utilization.  

The training course received a total of 319 valid applications. And finally 44 applicants were selected to participate in the training.  

The training course was initiated by CAS Institute of Botany in 2015.  

Participants pose a photo. 

Teachers at the training course. 

Outdoor practice. 

Prof. Yang Yongping confers certificates to trainees.