Research review of Aspidistra（Asparagaceae）

Aspidistra is one of the most special groups in Liliaceae，with large number of species and varieties of flower structures. It has high ornamental value，medicinal value，and a broad application prospect. On the basis of consulting the relevant literature at home and abroad in recent 20 years，this paper summarized the main research situation of new species discovery，geographical distribution，chemical composition，cultivation and breeding， resource status，etc，of Aspidistra. At the same time，the paper put forward the existing problems and made a prospect，which could provide some reference for future research，utilization and protection of Aspidistra. The foreign and domestic research on taxonomy of Aspidistra rapidly developed，due to the discovery of more new species，the species number of Aspidistra rose from 62 in 2004 to 155 now. But in terms of chemical composition，cultivation and propagation，there was few attentions about other species except Aspidistra elatior Blume.