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China: A Botanical Paradise in Peril

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Chinese Maple Native to a rugged, mountainous area of southwestern China, this beautiful, yet endangered, maple is threatened by habitat destruction and the construction of new dams. Embarking on an ambitious project in 2006 to help the maples survive, William McNamara, with funding from National Geographic, surveyed and fenced wild tree populations and created nurseries to produce seedlings. The Chinese maple was first documented in 1929 in Sichuan Province by botanist Joseph Rock while he was doing fieldwork sponsored by the National Geographic Society. (Acer pentaphyllum) Photograph by Marci McMillan/Quarryhill Botanical Garden