昆明植物园 - Kunming Botanical Garden

Finally arriving at the Kunming Botanical Garden, a division of the Kunming Institute of Botany, CAS, I was met by Prof. WANG Zhonglang. He is an expert in Camellias and Rhododendrons and was quite happy to talk with me about my project. China's flora is one of the most diverse and expansive in the world, and is truly unique since it is the only place on earth with an unbroken continuum from boreal, to temperate, sub-tropical, and tropical forests. However, Prof. Wang explained that of China's vast flora, Yunnan Province alone accounts for nearly half of all taxa. Kunming Institute of Botany (KIB) is at the forefront of research on Yunnan's flora, and Kunming Botanical Garden KBG has a strong focus on educating the public. Though the rain prevented a more thorough exploration of the botanical garden, Prof. Wang and I had a great conversation.

The Rock Garden - designed by Terry Smyth of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne - a product of international collaboration

According to Prof. Wang, the KBG has sister-garden relationships with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in the UK and the Botanic Gardens of Toyama in Japan. He explained that though the KIB does collaborate with US universities, the KBG does not have very strong relationships with any US Botanical Garden. He said that the botanic garden does specifically wish for this to change, and expressed interest in partnering with US botanical gardens with large Camellia and/or Rhododendron collections. He also specifically would like to engage the American Camellia Society on a more formal basis since he sees that society as greatly influential in international Camellia forums.

Left to Right: Prof. Wang Zhonglang and me

Regarding the exchange program, besides collaboration regarding research, Prof. Wang noted a strong need for staff at his botanic garden to learn how to better take the "science acquired through research" and translate that to the masses - i.e. the KBG would be keenly interested in sending staff to US gardens to learn how to conduct effective educational programming, since this is incredibly important, especially moving into the future.