A dataset on inventory and geographical distribution of vascular plants in Xizang, China

Xizang Autonomous Region is the main part of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and the second largest administrative region in China. It has the largest and highest plateau and the highest latitude tropical rainforest in the world. This region is a biodiversity hotspot with the largest elevation drop in the world. The works on plant diversity in Xizang mainly include the Flora Xizangica, which was written between 1983 and 1987. They are mainly based on the stage summary of the scientific research team on the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau, but the records of plants in South Xizang are very incomplete. Based on floras, periodical literatures, dissertations and other literature materials, combined with specimen data, supplemented by pictures of Plant Photo Bank of China (PPBC), and the author's field survey, this study compiled a county level distribution dataset of vascular plants in Xizang Autonomous Region. Each record in this dataset represents the distribution of a taxonomic group at a specific county or city level, including category, survival status, Chinese family name, Latin family name, Chinese genus name, Latin genus name, Chinese species name, Latin species name, authors of the Latin species name, county or city level distribution, literature evidence, literature notes, specimen evidence, etc. Based on this dataset, we archived a checklist of vascular plants of Xizang. Up to May 2023, this checklist contains 11,849 taxa from 252 families and 2,049 genera of vascular plants in Xizang Autonomous Region, including 49 taxa belonging to 2 families and 7 genera of lycopods, 699 taxa belonging to 31 families and 110 genera of pteridophytes, 84 taxa belonging to 6 families and 19 genera of gymnosperms, and 11,017 taxa belonging to 2,013 families and 1,913 genera of angiosperms. The top 10 families with the largest number of species are Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, Poaceae, Fabaceae, Rosaceae, Ericaceae, Ranunculaceae, Lamiaceae, Primulaceae, Orobanchaceae, and Apiaceae. In addition, this research also provides a checklist of vascular plants with excluded and dubious records in Xizang, including 894 species of 455 genera in 121 families. Our data in this paper will provide basic background information and system framework for the second edition of Flora Xizangica (or Flora of Xizang), and will provide important references for plant diversity conservation and monitoring, and utilization of plant resources in Xizang.