WBG scientists spare no effort to conduct comprehensive study on aquatic plants. An aquatic plant germplasm repository has been constructed at WBG, which is the largest one in the world. 421 species of aquatic higher plant are being conserved at the repository. 

New cultivar of lotus, Wuzhi NO.2	(Photo by WBG)

A series of theories and technologies on spatiotemporal pattern and mechanism of formation of aquatic plants, environmental stress and the response mechanism of aquatic plants, restoration of aquatic vegetation, function optimization of water ecosystems, utilization of economical aquatic plants, wetland landscape design have been developed.　

New cultivars of lotus (Photo by WBG)

More than 200 cultivars of flower-lotus have been cultivated. A new cultivar of lotus, Wuzhi NO.2 has been distributed to 16 provinces in China, its planting areas amounts to 33,333 hectare. Nine vegetation restoration and water quality purification demonstration areas have been established in Three Gorges Reservoir region, Danjiangkou, Suzhou, Xiamen, Kunming, etc.