Taiwan is located in the subtropical climate zone and has mountains that rise to nearly 4,000 kilometers above sea level. As a result of the varied natural environment, it is home to a diverse array of unique plant species.

     The “Taiwan e-learning and Digital Archives – Institutional Project of Academia Sinica” in conjunction with the Biodiversity Research Center and the Academia Sinica Computing Center will hold an exhibition entitled “A New Way to Look at Plants: Digitizing Botanical Diversity, with a Special Focus on Begonia.” The exhibition will run from January 15^th to August 29^th, 2009 on the 2^nd Floor of the Joint Library of Humanities and Social Sciences. A simple opening ceremony will be held on January 15^th, and the media and the public are welcome to attend.

     Organized mainly by the Biodiversity Research Center, the exhibition aims to introduce the “Database of Native Plants in Taiwan,” a comprehensive botanical database, including images and maps, which are compiled by the Biodiversity Research Center to create a permanent record of the flora of Taiwan. The exhibition will highlight also the enormously diverse genus Begonia, which has been the focus of research of Dr. Ching-I Peng for two decades. Most of them are highly ornamental, displaying an amazing variety of shapes, colors, patterns and textures in their leaves. The exhibition will present images and information collected so far and document procedures by which the researchers collect materials. Visitors to the exhibition will get a chance to make a DIY card, in addition to taking part in interactive computer games.

     The “Database of Native Plants in Taiwan” project was launched in 2002. It has established an extensive database of plants mainly of Taiwan but also plants of eastern Asia. So far more than 115,000 vascular plant specimens have been mounted, 85,000 of which are from Taiwan. The database includes images of specimens as well as textual records and other relevant information in both English and Chinese, which is freely available on the World Wide Web.

Related Websites:

Database of Native Plants in Taiwan:

http://taiwanflora.sinica.edu.tw/en/en_1.htm

Biodiversity Research Center: http://biodiv.sinica.edu.tw

Media contacts:

Ching-I Peng, Research Fellow, Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica

(Tel) 886-2-2789-9621 ext 228

Yu-Wen Lin, Assistant of Digital Archives Promoting Office, Academia Sinica

(Tel) 886-2-2652-5277, 886-2-2652-5279

Pei-Yau Wu, Assistant of Digital Archives of Plants of Taiwan

(Tel) 886-2-2789-9623 #619

Mei-Hui Lin, Public Relations Office, Central Office of Administration, Academia Sinica (Tel) 886-2-2789-8821, (Fax) 886-2-2782-1551, (M) 0921-845-234

Organizer: Taiwan e-learning and Digital Archives – Institutional Project of Academia Sinica

Supported by: Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica Computing Center

Exhibition duration: January 15^th, 2009 until August 29^th, 2009

Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00 – 17:00

Place: 2^nd Floor, Joint Library of Humanities and Social Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences Building, Academia Sinica, No.128, Academia Road, Sec. 2, Nangang Taipei 115, Taiwan