Abstract: To explore the measures to preserve and exploit the ancient trees in Jishou,the field survey was conducted.The results are shown as follows:(1)there exist 1 013 ancient trees of 60 species,belonging to 29 families,43 genera,of which the largest number species were Liquidambar formosana (250) and Pistacia chinensis (159),taking up 24.7% and 15.7% respectively;(2)the number of Grade I ancient trees is 12(taking up 1.2%),the number of Grade II is 84 (taking up 8.3%),the number of Grade III is 917 (taking up 90.5%),and the oldest tree is 850 years old;(3)the ancient trees mainly exist in two towns,156 in Majingao and 155 in Paihou,taking up 15.4% and 15.3% respectively;(4)the ancient trees are mainly distributed behind the residents houses or in front of the villages(448 trees) and in small forests(238),which take up 44.2% and 23.5% respectively;(5)126 ancient trees are state-owned (12.4%),863 are collective-owned (85.2%),24 are individual-owned (2.4%).According to the survey,protection measures and development of these ancient trees are discussed.

Key words: ancient trees, plant resource, Jishou