Habitat Characteristics and Community Composition of Loropetalum subcordatum in Maolan Karst Forest

A wild investigation was carried out to study the distribution characteristics and plant composition of Loropetalum subcordatum in Maolan Karst Forest, and the floristic analysis was made．The results showed that: (1) Loropetalum subcordatum community were distributed in limestone secondary shrub and evergreen deciduous broad-leaved forest from the middle of shady slope to the top of mountain, with high altitude and large gradient in distribution area. (2) There were 162 species of vascular plants in the community, belonging to that 73 families and 124 genera. The dominant families were Rosaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Lauraceae, Theaceae, Moraceae, Rutaceae, Rubiaceae, Araliaceae, Caesalpiniaceae and Myrsinaceae. (3) The families and genera of Loropetalum subcordatum community were complex, with tropical elements accounting for 67.57% of the total genera, mainly pantropic and Tropical Asia elements, while temperate elements accounting for 32.43% of the total genera．