The Chinese flora， with an estimated 31，000 species， is of immense scientific and horticultural importance. Noteworthy， too， is Chinese traditional medicine， which is based on the remarkable plant resources of the country. De*ions and identification keys for this diverse flora， until now unavailable in English， have been published over the past 15 years in the Flora of China， in conjunction with a separate series， the Flora of China Illustrations. Thirty of the total of 48 text and illustrations volumes have already been published， thanks to an unprecedented and long-standing collaboration between Western and Chinese scientists.Volume 13 of the illustrations series is devoted to 33 plant families， a number of which are of horticultural or agricultural importance or are otherwise distinctive： Violaceae， with its white， purple， and yellow violets; Passifloraceae， the passion flower family; Caricaceae， of which the genus Carica furnishes us with the papaya fruit; Begoniaceae， with Begonia， noted for its ornamental flowers and foliage; Cactaceae， featuring the Cactus genus; Thymelaeaceae， including the ornamental shrubs Daphne， and Edgeworthia used for the manufacture of paper and medicines; Trapaceae， the water chestnuts; Nyssaceae， containing the genus Camptotheca， source of the anticancer drug camptothecin， and Davidia， the dove tree， which naturally occurs only in China; Onagraceae， including evening primrose and Epilobium or willowherb; and Araliaceae， containing the ivies as well as Panax or ginseng.
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