| In the absence of an updated Flora, the Hong
Kong Herbarium compiled and published the Check List of
Hong Kong Plants. The first edition was a stencil version,
issued in 1962. The 2nd and 3rd editions of the stencil
version were published in 1965 and 1967, respectively.
The 4th edition was typesetted and issued in 1974. The
5th edition was printed in 1978, and the 6th in 1993.
The arrangement of flowering plants follows the classification
system proposed by the British botanist John Hutchinson.
In 2001 the Hong Kong Herbarium collaborated with South
China Institute of Botany to revise the Check List of
Hong Kong Plants. The new Chinese edition was issued in
January 2002, and the English edition in August 2002.
It recorded 3,136 plant species and varieties of vascular
plants. The arrangement of flowering plants follows the
classification system proposed by Arthur Cronquist in
1988. The arrangement of the gymnosperm
families follows the system proposed by K. Kubitzki in
1990, and that of the ferns and fern allies follows the
system proposed by R.C. Ching (秦仁昌) in 1978.
In 2004, the Hong Kong Herbarium issued a pocket-size version of the Check List of Hong Kong Plants.
The new 7th edition
of the Check List of Hong Kong Plants