This center was established in 1998. It was emerged from the former key laboratory of systematic and evolutionary botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (LSEB), the department of plant taxonomy (including the Herbarium), and the department of paleobotany of the Institute of Botany, and is currently a state key laboratory. The mission of this center is to conduct fundamental research in systematic and evolutionary biology. The research scopes include plant taxonomy, floristics and biogeography, the origins and phylogenies of higher plants, population biology and conservation genetics, Evo-Devo and evolutionary genomics. There are 65 staff members, including two academicians of CAS in the center. The current director is Prof. Song Ge and the Director of the Academic Committee is Academician Deyuan Hong.

The herbarium (PE) with 2.33 million specimens and the national museum of plant history of China hosting 70 thousand plant fossils form an important platform for the center. The center also includes specially equipped laboratories for structural botany, cytology, biochemistry, molecular biology, evo-devo, and greenhouses. Facilities include a scanning electron microscope, a fluorescent microscope, a confocal microscope, automatic sequencers, etc.

In recent years, following the international research development in the field and national needs, the center has continuously adjusted its research directions, improved the construction of the herbarium and the laboratory, obtained voluminous research results, and trained over two hundreds doctoral and master students. It has become a national base for systematic and evolutionary research and education, and an internationally known laboratory in the field.

Currently the center has a total of 65 staff members. Among them are: 2 academicians, 20 research professors, 8 Ph.D supervisors, 7 Asso. Professors. There are 47 graduate students (including 2 postdotoral fellows.

Currently 9 research groups have been designated in the center:
1. Vegetation succession and environmental changes (PI, Chengsen Li)
2. Seed plant taxonomy (PI, Dezhi Fu)
3. Species diversity and conservation biology (PI, Qiner Yang)
4. Phylogenetic reconstruction of seed plants (PI, Zhiduan Chen)
5. Plant molecular systematics, evolution and biogeography (PI, Xiaoquan Wang)
6. Population biology and evolutionary biology (PI, Song Ge)
7. Gene, chromosome and genome evolution (PI, Daming Zhang)
8. Evolutionary and ecological genomics (PI, Yingqing Lu)
9. Plant systematics and evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) (PI, Yinzheng Wang )