The Chinese flora, with an estimated 31,000 species, is of immense scientific and horticultural importance. Noteworthy, too, is Chinese traditional medicine, which is based on the remarkable plant resources of the country. Descriptions and identification keys for this diverse flora, until now unavailable in English, have been published over the past 15 years in the Flora of China, in conjunction with a separate series, the Flora of China Illustrations. Twenty-eight of the total of 48 text and illustrations volumes have already been published, thanks to an unprecedented and long-standing collaboration between Western and Chinese scientists.
Volume 12 of the illustrations series is devoted to 18 plant families, several of which have economic and horticultural importance: Actinidiaceae, source of the kiwi fruit; Balsaminaceae, with the colorful Impatiens genus; Malvaceae, with Gossypium, the genus that provides cotton, and the mallows and hollyhocks; Theaceae, including the tea plant Camellia sinensis, as well as the ornamental camellias; and Vitaceae, notable for Vitis vinifera, the grapevine.