Four new species of Boehmeria (Urticaceae) are described and named: Boehmeria listeri Friis & Wilmot-Dear and B. manipurensis Friis & Wilmot-Dear from the eastern part of the Himalayas, B. leptostachya Friis & Wilmot-Dear from southern China (Yunnan), Thailand and northern Sumatra, and B. subintegra Friis & Wilmot-Dear from Papua New Guinea. The species are illustrated and mapped and their habitat ranges are described, and conservation assessments have been produced for all.

A new species of Lavandula (Lamiaceae) is described from the Western Hajar Mountains of Oman. The species is fully described and illustrated. Habitat details and an assessment of its conservation status are provided.

The new species Cynoglossum vanense (Boraginaceae) from around Lake Van and Hakkâri in eastern Turkey is described and illustrated. Its larger nutlets with relatively long glochids separate it from other known species in subgenus Cynoglossum.

Begonia speculum is described and illustrated as a new species endemic to the San Martín Region of Peru, and compared with Begonia cremnophila Tebbitt and Begonia lutea L.B.Sm. & B.G.Schub. Begonia erythrothrix is described and illustrated as a new species endemic to the Cuzco Region of Peru, and compared with an updated description of Begonia thyrsoidea Irmsch., which is lectotypified. Using International Union for Conservation of Nature criteria, Begonia speculum is considered Vulnerable; B. erythrothrix and B. thyrsoidea are assessed as Data Deficient.

The classification of Schisandra Michx. sect. Sphaerostema (Blume) Nakai is revised, using multivariate statistical analyses as required. Only two species are recognized, viz. Schisandra plena A.C. Sm. and S. propinqua (Wall.) Baill., following reduction of S. axillaris (Blume) Hook.f. & Thorns, to a subspecies of the latter taxon. Four subspecies are recognized in S. propinqua, viz.: subsp. propinqua (N W India and Nepal); subsp. intermedia (A.C. Sm), stat. nov. (NE India, Burma and Yunnan); subsp. sinensis (Oliv.), stat. nov. (central and southern China); and subsp. axillaris (Blume), comb, et stat. nov. (Java and Bali). The biogeographical origin of the vicariant distribution of S. propinqua is discussed. A key is provided for the identification of taxa, with new taxonomic descriptions.

The ‘Hebridean Marsh-orchid’ is a controversial dactylorchid taxon currently regarded as endemic to the island of North Uist in the Scottish Hebrides. Re-evaluation of past taxonomic treatments reveals that none of its three names – Dactylorhiza majalis (Reichenbach f.) P. F. Hunt & Summerhayes subsp. scotica Nelson (1976, 1979), D. majalis subsp. occidentalis (Pugsley) Soó var. ebudensis Wiefelspütz (in Landwehr, 1977), and D. majalis subsp. occidentalis var. scotica (Nelson) R. M. Bateman & Denholm (1983) – has been validly published. We herein legitimize D. majalis subsp. occidentalis var. ebudensis Wiefelspütz ex R. M. Bateman & Denholm, presenting for the first time full details of its lectotype. However, we also note that this nomenclatural clarification has no relevance to determining the most appropriate rank for, and biological significance of, this taxon, which is one of many doubtfully distinct ‘critical’ taxa of dactylorchids that occur in western and northern regions of the British Isles. Taxonomic opinions expressed on these populations to date have been based on sparse, qualitative, and often contradictory data, and most lacked an explicit conceptual framework. We outline a more rigorous analytical protocol.

A new species of Erodium is described from Anatolia. Three new records for the Flora of Turkey area, namely Pilularia minuta Durieu ex A. Braun. Campanula rotundifolia L. and the cultivated Bauhinia variegata L. var. variegata, are given. The occurrence of Viola canina L. is confirmed. Infraspecific variation in Papaver persicum Lindl., Aethionema iberideum (Boiss.) Boiss., Laserpitium petrophilum Boiss. & Heldr., Campanula trachyphylla Schott & Kotschy and Marrubium astracanicum Jacq. is discussed. Descriptions and illustrations of the previously unknown fruits of Gypsophila pulvinaris Rech. fil. and Onosma nigricaule H. Riedl are also given. Some minor changes in the descriptions of Heliotropium greuteri H. Riedl, Onosma tschihalschevii M. Popov and Ballota saxatilis Sieber ex J. & C. Presl are given.

Four new species of Bornean Zingiberaceae are described:- Amomum sceletescens, Hedychium borneense from Sabah, H. lineare which occurs in Sabah, Sarawak and Kalimantan, and Elettariopsis kerbyi from the Gunong Mulu National Park in Sarawak.

Anthemis sheilae A. Ghafoor & T. A. Al-Turki (Asteraceae: Anthemideae), an endemic species closely related to A. scrobicularis Yavin, A. haussknechtii Boiss. & Reut. and A. dicksoniae A. Ghafoor, is described along with an illustration and distribution map.

The genus Colutea (Fabaceae) has been revised in preparation for the Flora of Iran treatment and a synopsis is presented here. In Iran the genus includes four sections, three subsections and nine species. An identification key, notes and distributions are given for the taxa. Two new subsections are described: Colutea sect. Rostrata subsect. Gifana and Colutea sect. Rostrata subsect. Uniflora.

Two new species of Begonia sect. Bracteibegonia, B. curvifolia Ardi and B. ocellata Ardi, are described from West Sumatra, Indonesia. The species are endemic to Sumatra and belong to the IUCN category Data Deficient. A modified identification key to all 11 species of Begonia sect. Bracteibegonia in Sumatra is provided.

The tribe Calenduleae of the Compositae (Asteraceae) has a pronounced centre of diversity in South Africa, particularly in Cape Province. The largest genus, Osteospermum L., contains c.50 species in Africa and southwestern Arabia, including about 40 in Cape Province. Two new species are described here, both narrowly endemic in southwestern Cape Province. Osteospermum australe is confined to lowland coastal limestone areas in Bredasdorp district, whereas Osteospermum burttianum has a restricted distribution in the Langebergen mountains in Heidelberg district.

A new species of Roscoea is described and illustrated. Roscoea megalantha Tosh.Yoshida & R.Yangzom occurs in the Eastern Zone of Bhutan and neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh in India. A distribution map and an IUCN conservation assessment are given. A key to the three species of Roscoea found in Bhutan is provided.

Plesioneuron crassum subsp. chromeanum Takeuchi (Thelypteridaceae) is described as a new subspecies from one of Papuasia's most isolated karst districts. The subspecies is distinguished by bifacially glabrous pinnae with revolute lobes, conspicuously raised aerophores, and glandular-setiferous sporangia. Distributional records for Helicia acutifolia (Proteaceae) and Loranthus odoratus (Loranthaceae) are also reported with the new fern.

Harpullia mabberleyana W.N.Takeuchi (Sapindaceae) is described from historically unexplored environments in Papua New Guinea’s southern ranges. The new species can be instantly recognised by its simple leaves, the only Harpullia ever found with that character. New observations and occurrences are also reported for the rarely collected Harpullia rhachiptera and Lepisanthes mixta.

The genus Boea Comm. ex Lam. is revised. Eleven species are recognised, including the new species Boea morobensis C.Puglisi. A key is provided, all names are typified, and the species are described.

The critically endangered Phyllanthus talbotii Sedgw. (Phyllanthaceae) is endemic to the northern part of the Western Ghats in Goa and Karnataka, India. The species was described in 1921 from collections made in 1883, 1918 and 1919, and then rediscovered in 1969. We report here a new locality, Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary, South Goa district, Goa. The species is lectotypified and a detailed description is provided, including distribution, IUCN threat status, conservation measures and nomenclatural notes.

It is shown that the monotypic genus Whitesloanea (Asclepiadaceae, Stapelieae) is closely allied to Duvalia and Huernia but nevertheless should remain separate from them. The basionym, Caralluma crassa N.E. Br., is lectotypified.

Typhonium praetermissum and T. taylori (Araceae) are described as species new to science from the Northern Territory, Australia. The first is intermediate in character between Typhonium Schott and Lazarum A. Hay. Consequently, Lazarum is reduced to the synonymy of Typhonium and the new combination Typhonium mirabile is made. The new species are illustrated.