Fuchsia Flowers, Hengduan Mountains, China, 2002
Photograph by Mark W. Moffett
Vivid fuchsias bloom in China's Hengduan Mountains. Early 20th-century British explorers collected these and thousands of other plants that today are lovingly cultivated in the gardens of England, the United States, and other countries around the world.
Likened by scientists to "islands in the sky," south-central China's steep, isolated peaks help preserve numerous plant and animal species unique to their locales.
