Aspidistra is a large genus of herbaceous plants which inhabits tropical and subtropical forests of Asia. The genus comprises about 170 currently known species from China, India, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. In the two past decades, about ten new taxa of Aspidistra are described annually. Information about many species of Aspidistra is scattered. Particularly, recognizable images of a great number of species are not available. This project is an attempt to gather data about species of Aspidistra and make them public. One of the goals is collecting of photo images of Aspidistra, which are very useful for species recognition. The website should help to identify specimens and recognize some species which are still undescribed.
Nikolay A. Vislobokov
Ph.D., researcher
Department of Higher Plants
Faculty of Biology
M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University
1, 12, Leninskie Gory 119234
Moscow, Russia.
All comments and questions can be sent to us by e-mail: n.vislobokov@gmail.com.
We also encourage botanists and plant lovers to share the Aspidistra photos for identification and/or publication at our website.