Wild vetiver grass distributed in China and its protection and taxonomic problems
中国野生的香根草种及其保护与分类问题

Vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides), a multi purpose grass mainly for soil and moisture conservation and used as hedgerow, has been widely disseminated and applied in the tropics and sub tropics. China's domesticated vetiver was introduced from abroad in the 1950's, while the distribution of the wild variety has existed all long in Guangdong and Hainan of China. An area of up to 6670 hectares of natural vetiver community was found in Wuchuan County, Guangdong of China. This tropical grassland, however, has been severely destroyed due to the effects of human activities and excessive utilization, which has been rapidly dwindled over the past 40 years. A proposal was put forward in this paper for protecting vetiver, as well as the wetland and biodiversity. Currently, since the taxonomic problem of the Vetiveria species is still far from clarification, it is difficult to confirm which species the wild form of vetiver in China belongs to. Anyway, the specimen study in this paper indicates that it is V. zizanioides, not V. nigritana or other species.