The 18-day Training Course on Plant Identification and Classification 2017 completed on June 20 in Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden. The training course is sponsored by Chinese Union of Botanical Gardens (CUBG) and co-organized by Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden. 53 people from 47 gardens are receiving intensive training in Shanghai.

　　Based on the past three years’ experiences, the well-rounded teaching team continuously improve course design, teaching content and effect. This training was composed of lectures, invited reports, discussion, field practice, plant specimen identification contests, etc. The lectures covered such topics as concept of plant species, international code of botanical nomenclature, plant photography, information system management, exactitude anatomy, identification and classification of plants on unique families and genera.

　　The graduation ceremony was chaired by Prof. Ma Jinshuang, a plant taxonomist. Prof. Hu Yonghong, executive director of Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, awarded the training certificate for the first five outstanding participants.

　　The representative of participants Zhang Ling, from a bamboo protection workstation in Bo'ai County, Henan Province, expressed her gratitude to CUBG and the scientists in Chenshan. “It helped us have a systematic understanding on theory and methods of plant classification. It also enhanced our capability of identifying and classifying plants. Best of all, we learned to do it with practices, rigorousness and persistence." she said.

　　The training course is one of the three elite courses annually sponsored by CUBG since its official inauguration in 2013. Until now, with 258 trainees from 31 provinces, Hong Kong and Macau, this multi-dimensional training course is influential and valuable. It has offered a platform to cultivate a batch of plant taxonomists for botanic gardens.

field training in Tianmu Mountain

Prof. Hu Yonghong awarded the training certificate for the top 5 trainees

group photo