Recently, a checklist "An Inventory of Legume Species Diversity of Myanmar" edited by Prof. ZHU Xiangyun, ZHANG Ruopeng and HE Yangliu from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was published by China Minzu University Press. It deals with Myanmar legumes of 160 genera, 725 specific and infraspecific taxa, and 819 color photos.  

In this list, the legume group with Burmese scholars totally collected 2,317 numbered specimens (7,511 sheets) in Myanmar from 2017 to 2019, they fixed 1,056 DNA materials and gathered 35 seed materials.

This inventory also covers much information from thousands of specimen collections. Among them, three taxa, viz., Acacia auriculiformis A. Cunn. ex Benth., Calopogonium mucunoides Desv. and Chamaecrista rotundifolia (Pers.) Greene are newly recorded from Myanmar (except for previous reports on two new record genera, seven new record species and one new record variety), which would promote further researches on the legume flora of Myanmar.  

Myanmar is a country located in the Northern Tropic in Southeast Asia. With its great variety of plant diversity, Myanmar is one of the most botanically fascinating countries in the world. The great wealth of natural habitats in Myanmar is rich in biodiversity, ranging from the high mountains continuous with the Himalayas to the wet tropical forests.  

This work was partially supported by the Southeast Asia Biodiversity Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. 

The checklist cover (Image by IBCAS)

The expedition group set up camp in Htamanthi zone without human beings, Sagaing Region, northern Myanmar (Image by CAI Shi)