Allow me to express my sincere condolences to you and the Kunming Insitute of Botany regarding the passing away of Prof. Wu Zhengyi, the sad news of which I just received. We all know of Professor Wu's innumerable and unparalleled contributions to the fields of plant taxonomy and systematics, floristics, phytogeography, and medicinal botany. From my perspective, however, I am most grateful for his leadership in international cooperative projects such as the monumental "Flora of China" volumes, which helped so much to pave the way toward the wonderful collaborations and collegiality our two institutions now share. We are all "standing on the shoulders of giants" like Professor Wu--meaning that if he and his body of work had not existed, there would be no basis now for our own. He was truly a great man.

Peter W. Fritsch, Ph.D.

Curator and Chair,

Department of Botany California Academy of Sciences