Rare and endangered wild plants, being an important component of biological diversity, have become one of the hot issues for conservation biology, and the study of their geographic distribution is of significance to the theories of biodiversity conservation and the mechanisms of their endangerment. In this study, the floristic elements and geographic distribution characteristics of national key protected wild plants in China were analyzed at national scale, based on the information from published literatures and the specimen records mainly from the Chinese Virtual Herbarium. The results indicated that there are 2177 species of protected plants, belonging to 130 families and 484 genera. The flora is characteristic of extremely diversified, old and endemic, and obviously rich in tropical and temperate elements. The geographic distribution of the protected plants is uneven, and concentrates in the southwestern regions and Taiwan of China. Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi, Tibet, Guizhou and Taiwan are the hotspots of protected plant diversity. The protected plants have a pretty wide vertical distribution range, but mainly distribute in lower and middle mountains with an elevation from 800 m to 1600 m. The spatial pattern of the protected plants is unimodal along elevation gradient. This study would provide sound basis for the identification of the priority areas of biodiversity conservation, and the establishment of conservation strategies.