Phylogenetic reconstruction and diversification patterns of Liliaceae: Insights into their evolutionary history
Available online 30 October 2026
Liliaceae is primarily distributed in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere with important horticultural and medicinal values. This study reconstructed a robust nuclear phylogeny of Liliaceae...
Demography and divergent selection shape lineage-specific adaptation in the endangered tree Firmiana danxiaensis
Available online 29 October 2026
Understanding how demographic history and divergent selection jointly shape local adaptation remains a central challenge in evolutionary biology, particularly for endangered species restricted to fragmented...
The diversity–invasion paradox across spatial scales: Alien cover, not alien richness, is negatively associated with native plant richness
Available online 29 October 2026
The diversity–invasion paradox contrasts fine-scale studies, in which species-rich native communities resist invasion, with broad-scale surveys, in which native and alien richness are positively correlated....
Black bread mold mediates nursery pollination in star anise: A specialized tripartite mutualism
Available online 28 October 2026
Plant-insect-fungus mutualisms are among the most intricate interactions, yet integrating an antagonistic fungus into a stable plant-pollinator system poses a major evolutionary challenge. In this study,...
Leaf and fine-root trait space across northern China grasslands: A test of multidimensional whole-plant coordination
Available online 28 October 2026
Coordination between leaves and fine roots links carbon gain with soil resource acquisition and is central to understanding whole-plant economic strategies. Yet it remains unclear whether the two organs...
Legacy effects dominate organ-specific biogeochemical niches, but nutrient limitation disrupts leaf-root coordination
Available online 28 October 2026
The biogeochemical niche (BN) hypothesis posits that species coexist through the spatial and temporal partitioning of their elemental composition. However, significant gaps remain in understanding how...
A preliminary study on the floristic geographical thought of Wu Zhengyi
Available online 26 October 2026
Early Miocene establishment of modern-type subtropical evergreen broadleaved forests in southwestern China
Available online 24 October 2026
Evergreen broadleaved forests (EBLFs) are one of the main vegetation types nowadays in East Asia, and their origin and evolutionary history still remains elusive. In this study, we reported an Early...
Holarctic plants in tropical Asia: Oligocene Metasequoia fossils in Laos and adjacent Yunnan, China
Available online 23 October 2026
The genus Metasequoia is a typical Holarctic element composed of the most iconic “living fossil”, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, which currently survives naturally only in central China. It occurs widely...
Global trends in vascular plant discovery and taxonomy, 2016–2025
Available online 23 October 2026
•Newly published vascular plant taxa from 2016 to 2025 were analyzed.•Largely increased annual number of new taxa comparing previous two decades.•New species were concentrated in Central-South America...
A quantitative classification of distribution types for global seed plant genera: Spatial patterns and macroecological implications
Available online 23 October 2026
Distribution types reflect the modern geographic patterns of biological lineages and serve as spatial proxies for their evolutionary and biogeographic histories. Here we present a comprehensive quantitative...
East Asian endemic seed-plant genera revisited: Fossils and biogeographic assembly
Available online 23 October 2026
East Asia harbors exceptional genus-level endemism, but present distributions alone cannot distinguish regional diversification from survival following range contraction. Fossil evidence is critical...
Macroevolutionary patterns in the origin and diversification of the Chinese seed flora
Available online 23 October 2026
Understanding the origin and diversification of regional floras is fundamental for explaining large-scale biodiversity patterns. China harbors one of the Northern Hemisphere’s richest floras, yet the...
Origin, differentiation and conservation of the alpine subnival flora of the Qinghai–Xizang plateau
Available online 22 October 2026
The alpine subnival flora of the Qinghai–Xizang Plateau (QXP) is an important component of global temperate alpine plant diversity. This synthesis combines a checklist-based floristic analysis with...
Leaf hydraulic traits are decoupled from stem hydraulics but linked to gas exchange and structural traits in desert shrubs
Available online 21 October 2026
Clarifying the coordination of water transport across different organs is essential for understanding plant drought adaptation. While previous studies have suggested that leaves may sometimes function...
Root functional trait associations vary across phylogenetic scales: A comparative study on Picea and Pinaceae species
Available online 21 October 2026
The genus Picea and the family Pinaceae are the most widely distributed gymnosperms on the earth. However, we lack understanding of the mechanisms underlying their evolution and global diversification...
Cenozoic evolution of East Asian palynofloristic regions: Links to Tibetan Plateau uplift and Asian monsoon-aridification
Available online 21 October 2026
Cenozoic phytogeographic evolution in East Asia provides a framework for understanding Tibetan Plateau (TP) uplift, Asian monsoon-aridification trend, and ecological responses. Reconstructing this evolution...
Divergent plant extinction rate estimates across approaches and their implications for conservation
Available online 20 October 2026
Estimates of plant extinction rates underpin conservation priorities and global biodiversity narratives, yet widely used assessment approaches often yield divergent results. Here, we synthesized 158...
Genomic and morphological data help resolve phylogenetic conflicts and establish revised, stable classifications: A synthetic insight into Carex sect. Mitratae s.l. (Cyperaceae)
Available online 17 October 2026
Phylogenetic incongruences and taxonomic discrepancies often go hand in hand, confounding taxonomic classifications due to the conflicting signals between molecular and morphological data. The internal...
Darwin’s Naturalization Conundrum Depends on Soil Nutrient Concentration
Available online 17 October 2026
Darwin’s naturalization conundrum is composed of two opposite hypotheses—the preadaptation hypothesis (PAH) and Darwin’s naturalization hypothesis (DNH), although whether they are driven by environmental...
Late-Miocene vicariance, adaptive divergence and genomic vulnerability across the eastern North America–Mesoamerica disjunction in the Tertiary relict Liquidambar styraciflua
Available online 17 October 2026
The temperate floristic disjunction between eastern North America (ENA) and the montane cloud forests of Mesoamerica (MAM) represents a major yet understudied biogeographic pattern. Using whole-genome...
Mitogenome structural evolution and cytonuclear coordination in Astragalus sinicus revealed by graphical pan-mitogenomics
Available online 13 October 2026
Plant mitochondrial genomes exhibit a striking “structure-sequence paradox,” characterized by extreme sequence conservation alongside rapid and extensive structural reorganization. Resolving these complex...
Patterns, drivers, and consequences of narrow-ranged species loss for angiosperm functional diversity across East Eurasia
Available online 5 October 2026
Functional diversity links species traits to ecosystem functioning, yet its large-scale patterns and vulnerability to species loss remain poorly understood. Here, we assembled a comprehensive distribution...
In memory of Professor Yan-Cheng Tang (1926–2016): A pioneer of modern plant taxonomy in China
Available online 5 October 2026
Functional trait divergence and climate-associated genomic variation in two Southeast Asian pines and their contact zone
Available online 3 October 2026
Climate gradients are associated with functional and genomic differentiation in forest trees, but the coupling between trait variation and genomic differentiation remains poorly understood in tropical...