The fifth Symposium on Asian Pteridology was held at Shenzhen, China, during 15 – 17 November, 2010. The symposium was organized by China Fern Society, State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Biology (LSEB) in Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and Shenzhen Fairylike Botanical Garden (SZBG), China. A total of around 150 participants registered for the symposium covering 15 countries in Asia, Europe, North America and Africa.
Dr. Xian-Chun Zhang, the president of fern committee of China Flower Association, presided over the opening ceremony. Dr. Yong Li, the director of the SZBG, as well as Academician De-Yuan Hong inaugurated the symposium and welcomed the guests. The life-time contribution reward was presented to both Prof. Gong-Xia Xing and Prof. Kunio Iwatsuki by International Association for Pteridologists (IAP) owing to their great contribution to the fern research.
The symposium was intended to provide a platform for scientific communication among Asian fern research community. In China, there is a relatively large number of pteridologists who are doing researches in different fields, but not many of them have the opportunity to communicate and collaborate with fern researchers in other countries. Also, pteridologists in other countries have little knowledge of the ongoing fern research state in China.
The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Hans Nooteboom on the topic “Ferns in Flora Malaysian”, by Dr. Harald Schneider on the topic “Building bridges: steps towards a fully integrated evolutionary biology of ferns”, and by Dr. Xian-Chun Zhang on “Fern flora of China: families, genera and species”. In addition, various and vivid talks in different fields of fern research, such as taxonomy, anatomy, cytology, development, physiology, phytochemistry, phylogeny, speciation and phylogeography, have been given. During the symposium, the forth congress of the Chinese Fern Society was also held, and Dr. Xian-Chun Zhang was reappointed consecutively as the president of China Fern Society. During the closing ceremony, discussions about the next National Fern Symposium in China and the sixth Asian Fern Symposium were launched. The next Asian Fern Symposium will most likely take place in Borgor, Indonesia in 2013. The social events such as breaks, welcome reception, banquet and visit to SZBG were organized in an informal and effective way, providing several occasions for interaction of participants.
![](./W020101220570661328323.jpg)
The fifth Symposium on Asian Pteridology was held at Shenzhen, China, during 15 – 17 November, 2010. The symposium was organized by China Fern Society, State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Biology (LSEB) in Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and Shenzhen Fairylike Botanical Garden (SZBG), China. A total of around 150 participants registered for the symposium covering 15 countries in Asia, Europe, North America and Africa.
Dr. Xian-Chun Zhang, the president of fern committee of China Flower Association, presided over the opening ceremony. Dr. Yong Li, the director of the SZBG, as well as Academician De-Yuan Hong inaugurated the symposium and welcomed the guests. The life-time contribution reward was presented to both Prof. Gong-Xia Xing and Prof. Kunio Iwatsuki by International Association for Pteridologists (IAP) owing to their great contribution to the fern research.
The symposium was intended to provide a platform for scientific communication among Asian fern research community. In China, there is a relatively large number of pteridologists who are doing researches in different fields, but not many of them have the opportunity to communicate and collaborate with fern researchers in other countries. Also, pteridologists in other countries have little knowledge of the ongoing fern research state in China.
The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Hans Nooteboom on the topic “Ferns in Flora Malaysian”, by Dr. Harald Schneider on the topic “Building bridges: steps towards a fully integrated evolutionary biology of ferns”, and by Dr. Xian-Chun Zhang on “Fern flora of China: families, genera and species”. In addition, various and vivid talks in different fields of fern research, such as taxonomy, anatomy, cytology, development, physiology, phytochemistry, phylogeny, speciation and phylogeography, have been given. During the symposium, the forth congress of the Chinese Fern Society was also held, and Dr. Xian-Chun Zhang was reappointed consecutively as the president of China Fern Society. During the closing ceremony, discussions about the next National Fern Symposium in China and the sixth Asian Fern Symposium were launched. The next Asian Fern Symposium will most likely take place in Borgor, Indonesia in 2013. The social events such as breaks, welcome reception, banquet and visit to SZBG were organized in an informal and effective way, providing several occasions for interaction of participants.![](./W020101220570661328323.jpg)