Floristic Diversity of Fengshui Woods in Limestone Region, Qingyuan, China

Floristic composition and species diversity of Baiwan Fengshui woods in the limestone region of Qingyuan City, Guangdong were studied by plot method. A total of 151 vascular plants were recorded in the 10 plots with an area of 400 m². They belong to 61 families and 119 genera. Among the 100 non-cosmopolitan genera, 79% are tropical distribution elements. They are dominated by pantropic elements. There were also higher percentage of old world tropic and tropic Asian elements. The results showed that there was the highest species richness in herbal layer, followed by shrub layer, and the lowest one in tree layer. There were the highest Simpson and Shannon indices in shrub layer, followed by herbal layer, and the lowest one in tree layer. Evenness was the highest in shrub layer, followed by tree layer, and the lowest one in herbal layer. Zenia insignis, Cinnamomum burmannii, Radermachera sinica, Adenanthera microsperma, Celtis sinensis, Chukrasia tabularis, Loropetalum chinense, Murraya paniculata, and Micromelum integerrimum were found to grow well in Fengshui woods. They can be used in rehabilitation of degraded limestone areas in Qingyuan City and even in other subtropical areas of Guangdong Province.