Botanical exploration in the former Burma began in the late 19th century when it was still under the British colonial rule. More recently, many new species and newly recorded species have been recorded in Myanmar.

To understand and conserve biodiversity in Myanmar, the Southeast Asia Biodiversity Research Institute (SEABRI), Forest Research Institute (FRI), and the Forest Department (FD) of Myanmar conducted several joint biodiversity surveys from November of 2014 to December of 2018 in northern and western Myanmar.  

Recently, researchers from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) report 5 new plant species, one new family record, and 13 new genus records in journal Plant Diversity. The data may be important in understanding the floristic elements of north Myanmar and the relationship with those of neighboring regions. 

Based on herbarium specimens from their collections made in the last five years, some noteworthy taxa are new to the flora of Myanmar. Polyosmaceae (Polyosma wallichii Benn.) is a newly recorded family for Myanmar. 

13 new genera are recorded for the first time, including Amentotaxus Pilger (Taxaceae), Hydrobryopsis Engler (Podostemaceae), Cyrtosia Blume and Biermannia King & Pantling (Orchidaceae), Eleutharrhena Forman and Haematocarpus Miers (Menispermaceae), Craigia W.W. Smith & W.E. Evans (Malvaceae), Amblyanthopsis Mez (Primulaceae), Huodendron Rehder and Rehderodendron Hu (Styracaceae), PlateaBlume (Metteniusaceae), Achyrospermum Blume (Lamiaceae), Christisonia Gardner (Orobanchaceae). 

In addition, five new species are discovered, including Tupistra natmataungensis Y.H. Tan & H.B. Ding, Biermannia burmanica Y.H. Tan & Bin Yang, Impatiens megacalyx Y.H. Tan & H.B. Ding, Amblyanthopsis burmanica Y.H. Tan & H.B. Ding, Platea kachinensis Y.H. Tan & H.B. Ding.