A new species, Rhinacanthus flavovirens Amarasinghe & Wijesundara (Acanthaceae), from Sri Lanka, is described and illustrated. It is compared with the closely allied Rhinacanthus nasutus and R. polonnaruwensis. A key to Rhinacanthus species in Sri Lanka is also presented.

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.

Omphalodes luciliae Boiss. subsp. pisidica R.R.Mill subsp. nov. (Boraginaceae, tribe Cynoglosseae) is described from Isparta and Antalya vilayets, Turkey. Its relations with the other subspecies of Omphalodes luciliae are discussed.

The genus Stubendorffia (Brassicaceae) is distinguished from Lepidium solely by the dehiscent vs. indehiscent angustiseptate fruits. By contrast, Winklera is separated from Lepidium by a combination of perennial habit, pinnatisect leaves, yellow flowers, and wingless fruits, characters all of which occur individually and in various combinations within Lepidium. Extensive molecular studies strongly show that Winklera and polyphyletic Stubendorffia are nested within the earlier-published Lepidium and, therefore, the three genera are herein formally united. The new name Lepidium pavlovii and 10 new combinations, L. afghanicum, L. apterum, L. botschantzevii, L. curvinervium, L. lipskyi, L. olgae, L. orientalis, L. patrinoides, L. pterocarpum, and L. silaifolium, are proposed. Lepidium apterum is lectotypified. A complete generic synonymy of Lepidium and an expanded generic description are presented.

A description of the defining characteristics of Gardenia (Rubiaceae) and a revision of the Philippine species distinguished mainly by calyx morphology are presented. A key to five species of Gardenia recognised for the Philippines, full descriptions and illustrations, and a list of names which should be excluded from Gardenia are given. Relevant Philippine names for which holotypes were not indicated or have been destroyed are lectotypified. Two new endemic species, Gardenia ornata K.M.Wong and G. vulcanica K.M.Wong, are described. Gardenia elata Ridl. and G. mutabilis Reinw. ex Blume are newly applied to Philippine species previously enumerated under other names. Gardenia pseudopsidium (Blanco) Fern.-Vill. is considered a doubtful name, to which some authors have referred the endemic G. barnesii Merr.

Xylopia parvifolia (Wight) Hook.f. & Thomson (Annonaceae), based on Patonia parvifolia Wight, is a tree species native to Sri Lanka and India. Unfortunately the widely used name is an illegitimate later homonym. Xylopia patoniae I.M.Turner is here proposed as an avowed substitute. There have been two proposals to lectotypify Patonia Wight. The earliest, and one to be followed, proposed Patonia parvifolia Wight as the lectotype, maintaining Patonia as a synonym of Xylopia. A later proposal to make Patonia walkeri Wight (≡ Diospyros walkeri (Wight) Gürke) the type has to be disregarded.

Croton josephinus Müll.Arg., a member of Croton sect. Medea (Klotzsch) Baill. (Euphorbiaceae), has not been recollected since 1824, nor mentioned in the literature since its original publication in 1873. This species has recently been rediscovered in a campo rupestre area at the ‘Pico 1430 m’ of the Serra de São José, Minas Gerais, after 20 years of field work in the area. In the protologue Croton josephinus was cited as having been collected from São Paulo State. This is likely to have been a simple misattribution of the area where it occurs. Based on the new material collected, a detailed description and an illustration of the species are provided. A lectotype and an isolectotype are designated.

The separation of Thecacoris and Cyathogyne (Phyllanthaceae, formerly Euphorbiaceae) is discussed and it is concluded that they should remain united. A separation of the continental forest species (except Thecacoris viridis (Müll.Arg.) Leandri ex G.L.Webster) awaits molecular investigation. Thecacoris micrantha sp. nov. is described and illustrated. Thecacoris grandifolia (Pax & K.Hoffm.) Govaerts from Cameroon is neotypified. Thecacoris membranacea Pax and T. annobonae Pax & K.Hoffm. are lectotypified and placed in synonymy under T. stenopetala (Müll.Arg.) Müll.Arg. and T. trichogyne Müll.Arg., respectively. Thecacoris manniana (Müll.Arg.) Müll.Arg. is united with T. stenopetala under the latter name. A key to and a synopsis of the West African species is provided.

The Indian Desmos viridiflorus (Annonaceae) was first described as Unona viridiflora by Beddome, but this was a later homonym of a species from South America. The correct citation of the species is therefore Desmos viridiflorus Saff. (1912). Unona viridiflora Bedd. is lectotypified.

A new species of Diplycosia (Ericaceae), Diplycosia bartolomei Ferreras & Argent, presently known only from Mt. Mingan in the border region between Aurora and Nueva Ecija provinces in Luzon, Philippines, is described. Comments on possible relationships and differences from other Philippine species are given.

The seed coat morphology of 50 species of Campanulaceae sensu stricto, representing all 10 South African genera, was studied by scanning electron microscopy to gauge its usefulness in the diagnosis of genera or to support clades. Possible correlations with life form (annual, herbaceous and woody perennial) and ecological requirements such as fire response, rainfall requirements, bedrock and soil preferences, as well as habitat (e.g. fynbos, strandveld, renosterveld, grassland and karoo), were also investigated. Patterns of variation are described and interpreted as conforming to two seed coat types: reticulate (Type 1) and striate/wavy (Type 2). Type 1 seeds are further divided into eight subtypes. Some general trends emerged; for example, Type 1 seeds occur in all major clades of wahlenbergioids, Type 1A with a smooth coarsely reticulate surface being predominant in fynbos taxa, all of which are woody perennials. Several of the Type 1 seeds, together with Type 2 seeds, also occur in species with wider ecological amplitude, for example in karoo, strandveld or montane grasslands. In Siphocodon there is remarkable disparity in seed type between species. These variations in seed type generally appear to accord with current knowledge of climatic changes and soil evolution during the Tertiary of South Africa, and may be useful indicators of generic emergence and mosaic speciation in the major lineages of wahlenbergioids. However, it was concluded that seed coat types do not correlate closely enough with specific ecological requirements or life forms to be of unequivocal predictive value. Also, apart from Merciera and Treichelia, they are of limited use as a diagnostic character for genera, but are useful for distinguishing species.

A new species of Begonia (Begoniaceae), Begonia gorgonea Tebbitt, is described from Cajamarca Province in northern Peru. This species is allied to a group of Andean species that are currently classified in Begonia sect. Knesebeckia. An identification key to this species group is provided, and the IUCN conservation category of VU D2 is proposed for the new species.

‘Uruq Bani Ma‘arid in Saudi Arabia is an Important Plant Area (IPA) in the Arabian Peninsula. This paper describes the flora of ‘Uruq Bani Ma‘arid, provides an up-to-date botanical checklist of the area, and gives background information on the geology and fauna. It designates the locality as an IPA due to the highest known levels of plant species diversity in the Empty Quarter and the presence of endemic Arabian taxa. In addition to conservation assessments, this study discusses socio-economic issues, threats to biodiversity conservation on ‘Uruq Bani Ma‘arid, and the future research required to build upon these preliminary studies. A new combination is made for Fagonia schweinfurthii.

This study analysed phytogeographic patterns of several Atlantic Forest areas in southeastern Brazil, including forest areas in the Espinhaço Range, to identify species with congruent distribution patterns and possible environmental factors that might influence these. A total of 54 floristic surveys, predominantly from semideciduous woodland sites but also including some rainforest areas, were compared using UPGMA and DCA methods as well as Jaccard analyses. The former identified four main groupings: group 1 included forests located throughout the Espinhaço Range; group 2 was formed by forest areas in the Rio Jequitinhonha basin; group 3 was formed by three distinct subgroups, one (3.1) predominantly of forest areas pertaining to the Alto Rio Grande basin, another (3.2) of upland forests of the Quadrilátero Ferrífero, and a third subgroup (3.3) of upland forests of the Serra da Mantiqueira; and group 4 encompassed forest areas in the Rio Doce, Rio Paraíba do Sul, Rio Itanhém and Rio Itapemirim basins. The prevailing relief in these basins has influenced rainfall and seasonality in these areas which, in turn, have exerted a major influence on the composition of the semideciduous forests. Geographic proximity and altitude, although important factors, play a minor role in the phytogeographic patterns analysed. Despite the floristic heterogeneity of the Espinhaço Range forests, there are physiognomic and floristic affinities among the forests within the campos rupestre vegetation. These are due to the high altitude and features of the soil.

Study of relevant types has led to the conclusion that Gagea kunawurensis (Royle) Greuter (Liliaceae) is the correct name for what has recently been known as G. stipitata Merckl. ex Bunge; that G. gageoides (Zucc.) Vved. is the correct name for G. persica Boiss., and that G. kashmirensis Turrill should be reduced to synonymy of G. tenera Pascher. Anatomical and morphological data are presented for these and the related species Gagea dschungarica Regel and G. afghanica A.Terracc., and a key given to allow their discrimination.

This study describes the structure of the arboreal plant community in a cerradão fragment located at the Serra de Caldas Novas State Park, Goiás, central Brazil. It also compares the collected data with information from 10 other cerradão sites on dystrophic and mesotrophic soils. All trees of 4.77 cm or more diameter at breast height, in twenty-five 20 m × 20 m plots, were surveyed. Soil samples were analysed to determine the availability of nutrients. The vegetation had a discontinuous canopy, with a high density of small and medium-sized trees, and the soil was classified as dystrophic according to nutrient availability. Under ordination using Detrended Correspondence Analysis, species characteristic of the study site, such as Sclerolobium paniculatum and Emmotum nitens, were positioned in the central portion, while cosmopolitan species formed distinct groups, separated along the two axes. The community showed a low level of similarity in comparison to cerradões reported in the literature in other parts of Brazil, having more than 50% similarity only with three geographically close sites.

Jabal Aja’ in Saudi Arabia is an Important Plant Area (IPA) in the Arabian Peninsula. This paper describes the flora of the Jabal Aja’ area and provides an up-to-date botanical checklist. It designates the site as an IPA due to the presence of endemic and biogeographically relict species and the function of the site as a bioclimatic refuge. In addition to these conservation assessments, this study discusses socio-economic issues, threats to biodiversity conservation on Jabal Aja’, and the future research required to build upon these preliminary studies.

Pedicularis ser. Tenuirostres Maxim. (Orobanchaceae) is demonstrated to be the correct name for the group usually referred to as P. ser. Pectinatae Prain. The series is here revised and 12 species are accepted. Its species are centred in the NW Himalaya, particularly Pakistan where there is much local infraspecific variation. Two species are excluded from the series: Pedicularis rhynchotricha P.C.Tsoong from China (Xizang) is placed in P. ser. Rhynchotrichae R.R.Mill and P. birmanica Bonati is confirmed as a member of P. ser. Brevifoliae (Prain) Bonati. One new species of Pedicularis ser. Tenuirostres is described: P. yamazakiana R.R.Mill from Nepal, which was formerly confused with P. pectinata subsp. palans Prain. Pedicularis jainii Aswal & Mehrotra is demonstrated to be a superfluous name for P. pyramidata Royle ex Benth. Pedicularis kashmiriana var. ornata Pennell is considered to be indistinguishable from P. pyramidata although P. kashmiriana var. kashmiriana is a recognisable taxon. An IUCN conservation assessment is proposed for Pedicularis rhynchotricha and for each taxon within P. ser. Tenuirostres.

The limits of Pedicularis L. ser. Megalanthae (Prain) Bonati (Orobanchaceae) are revised. The series, typified by Pedicularis megalantha D.Don, is restricted to seven species chiefly inhabiting the eastern Sino-Himalayan region. Authorship of the name Megalanthae at series rank is ascribed to Bonati (Mém. Soc. Bot. France 18: 13, 1910) because the groups recognised by Prain in 1890, that have been traditionally regarded as series, are in fact rankless. Two species of the NW Himalayan region, Pedicularis bicornuta Klotzsch and P. elephantoides Benth., are removed from P. ser. Megalanthae as they differ significantly from the eastern species in their floral morphology. These species are considered sufficiently distinct to warrant recognition as the new series Pedicularis ser. Bicornutae R.R.Mill. This new series is provisionally assigned to Pedicularis sect. Phanerantha H.L.Li. Pedicularis bicornuta, whose holotype is destroyed, and P. eximia G.Watt are lectotypified. The recently published Pedicularis bicornuta var. adenocalyx R.R.Mill includes the lectotype and much, but not all, material previously assigned to P. eximia.

A new species of Vaccinium section Bracteata (Ericaceae), Vaccinium nagamasu Argent, presently known only from the type specimen from around the summit of Mt. Rasam c.10 km south of Lake Diatas, West Sumatra, Indonesia, is described. Its distinctive characters are discussed and comments made on the differences between this and other related species.