XVI International Botanical Congess

Vietnam has a very rich and diverse flora with 265 families of angiosperms comprising 219 dicot and 45 monocot families, 2100(155 550) genera, 9850(7350+2500) species). The largest families in the flora are the Orchidaceae (130 gen./> 800 spp.), Leguminosae (125/675), Gramineae (150/550), Rubiaceae (90/430), Euphorbiaceae (75/425), Compositae (125/360), Cyperaceae (28/355) and numer s families have more than 100 species. The Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources in Vietnam is active in the study of the flora, plant resources, and their conservation. Taxonomic research is supported by approximately 1,000,000 specimens held m nly in Hanoi (HN), at the Tropical Biological Institute in Ho Chi Minh city (HM), and in herbarium of Hanoi Natural Sciences University (HNU). The fifteen completed and in preparation volumes of the Flora of Vietnam include the Annonaceae (N.T. Ban, 29 gen./175 spp.), Apocynaceae (T.D. Ly, 50/170), Compositae (L.K. Bien, 125/360), Cyperaceae (N.K. Khoi, 28/355), Euphorbiaceae (N.T. Hiep, 11/120), Gramineae (N.T. Quyen, 150/550), liciaceae (P.K. Loc, 1/15), Labiatae (V.X. Phuong, 40/145), Liliaceae s.l. (N.T. Do, 50/100), Magnoliaceae (N.T. Ban, 13/50), Myrsinaceae (T.K. Lien, 6/140), and Verbenaceae (V.X. Phuong, 26/130).