A Study on Aroids inGaoligong Mountains

GaoligongMountains is an area that spans the border of Yunnan Province in China and Myanmar. Thearea is of great botanical interest due to its high botanical diversity, largelyundisturbed vegetation, and limited of botanical exploration. The main genera of Araceaein the area are Arisaema, Remusatia, Rhaphidophora, and Typhonium. By far the most commongenus is Arisaema with a large diversity of species throughout the area. In the last 10years a series of major expeditions have explored the area, discovering several newspecies as well as finding species that were not previously known from the area. From theGaoligong Mountains area 58 species from 11 genera are listed and discussed, includingdistribution details. Of these, 10 endemic aroid species, including 3 unpublished speciesare described. Their distribution are listed and discussed. The geography of Araceaesuggests that the Gaoligong Mountains flora is a part of the East Asian flora and that theflora of Eastern Himalayas originated from that of northeastern Myanmar and GaoligongMountains.