As part of ongoing molecular phylogenetic work on the large Gesneriaceae genus Cyrtandra, new insights into the taxonomy and relationships of the Cyrtandra of Japan, Taiwan and Batan Island in the northern Philippines have emerged. Cyrtandra umbellifera is confirmed as a species with a distribution that includes both Taiwan and Batan Island. Cyrtandra yaeyamae is found to be distinct from the widespread C. cumingii, with a distribution that includes both the Ryukyu Islands in Japan and Batan Island.

Scaligeria assyriaca Freyn. & Bornm. is reassessed and transferred to Korshinskya Lipsky (Umbelliferae), thus extending the distributional range of the genus westwards. Korshinskya is compared with allied genera Astomaea, Elaeosticta, Physospermum and Scaligeria.

A new variety of Agalmyla tuberculala Hook. f. is described; it extends the range of the species from Mt Kinabalu, Sabah, to Mt Murud, N Sarawak. Five new species and four new varieties of Cyrtandra are described from Mt Kinabalu; there are also two new species of Cyrtandra from Sarawak.

The assemblage of specimens from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and western Venezuela that had been determined as a variable species, Hiraea cephalotes Triana & Planch. (Malpighiaceae), was found to comprise seven species in addition to H. cephalotes (Colombia, Ecuador). Six are newly described: Hiraea amazonica C.E.Anderson (Brazil), H. angustipetala C.E.Anderson (Ecuador), H. breteleri C.E.Anderson (Venezuela), H. ecuadorensis C.E.Anderson (Ecuador), H. escobariae C.E.Anderson (Colombia), and H. peruviana C.E.Anderson (Peru). Hiraea spruceana var. mortoniana J.F.Macbr. is elevated to the rank of species as H. mortoniana (J.F.Macbr.) C.E.Anderson (Peru). The name Hiraea spruceana Nied. is confirmed as a synonym of H. cephalotes. All eight species are characterised by having the flowers borne in axillary, multiflowered umbels. All but one have styles with a blunt apex; in Hiraea amazonica the apex of the styles is drawn out into a short spur. All species are illustrated.

A new species from Thailand, Begonia bella Phutthai (Begoniaceae), is described and illustrated. It belongs in Begonia sect. Parvibegonia and is a narrow endemic in Phangnga province. Its IUCN category is considered to be ‘Vulnerable’.

The new species Gyrocheilos orbiculatum D.J.Middleton (Gesneriaceae) is described and illustrated.

The new species Caulokaempferia larsenii (Zingiberaceae) from northern Thailand is described and illustrated.

A new species of Begonia (Begoniaceae) is described from Khammouan Province in Laos. The new species, Begonia cladotricha M.Hughes, belongs in Begonia sect. Diploclinium, and is unusual amongst Asian Begonia in having basally branched hairs on all vegetative parts of the plant.

Viscum sahyadricum (Santalaceae) from the Western Ghats of India is here described as a new species with description, illustrations and notes.

Begonia mayasiana L.B.Sm. & B.G.Schub. is shown to be synonymous with Begonia albomaculata C.DC. An emended description and lectotypification of Begonia albomaculata is provided, and the species is recorded from the Peruvian regions of Amazonas, Loreto, San Martín, Huánuco and Ucayali; the Brazilian state of Acre; and the Ecuadorian province of Pastaza. The use of the name Begonia albomaculata in the Flora of Ecuador and related publications is a misapplication, and the specimens cited there represent an undescribed taxon closely related to Begonia tiliifolia C.DC., described in a companion paper in this volume. Taxonomic study of Begonia albomaculata prompted a re-evaluation of related Andean species. As a result, two further new species were identified, and Begonia longimaculata Irmsch. and Begonia maynensis A.DC. were found to be conspecific. The two new species are described as Begonia chemillenensis Moonlight sp. nov. and Begonia scorpiocaulis Moonlight & Tebbitt sp. nov., and are known only from the Pasco and Huánuco regions and the Madre de Dios region of Peru, respectively. Begonia longimaculata Irmsch. is newly treated here as a synonym of B. maynensis A.DC.

Eighty one species of larger fungi are recorded from Mediterranean Turkey, many of which are noted for the first time either for Turkey as a whole or the southern region. Notes on the distribution, where appropriate, are added especially for the most significant collections. All the major families of agarics are included in addition to some gasteromycetes, members of the Polyporales, and a few ascomycetes.

Campylanthus parviflorus Hjertson & Miller from Somalia is described. The status of Campylanthus incanus A.G. Miller and Campylanthus incanus var. anisotrichus A.G. Miller, also from Somalia, in relation to the new species is discussed, and it is concluded that a change in rank of the latter is necessary. The new combination Campylanthus anisotrichus (A.G. Miller) Hjertson & A.G. Miller is made, and an amplified description of this species is given.

Two new infraspecific taxa of Begonia micranthera Griseb. are described. Begonia micranthera subsp. albonervia Tebbitt is described and illustrated as a new subspecies native to the Andes of southern Bolivia (Chuquisaca, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz Departments). Begonia micranthera subsp. micranthera var. flava Andrada & Bulacio is newly described from Argentina's Jujuy Province. Begonia micranthera var. rhacophylla Irmsch. is raised to subspecies and newly recorded from Bolivia. Begonia micranthera var. hieronymi (Lindau) L.B.Sm. & B.G.Schub. is recognised as B. micranthera subsp. rhacophylla var. hieronymi (Lindau) L.B.Sm. & B.G.Schub. The type collection of Begonia micranthera var. foliosa L.B.Sm. & B.G.Schub. is newly recognised as a hybrid between B. micranthera Griseb. subsp. micranthera and B. micranthera subsp. rhacophylla (Irmsch.) Tebbitt. Begonia micranthera var. fimbriata L.B.Sm. & B.G.Schub. is newly synonymised with B. cinnabarina Hook. Begonia cinnabarina is newly recognised from Argentina and is lectotypified. Begonia micranthera subsp. micranthera var. nana L.B.Sm. & B.G.Schub. is also lectotypified. A key, diagnoses and illustrations are provided for all the recognised infraspecific taxa of Begonia micranthera.

Several papers dealing with Orchidaceae from Atlantic Central Africa have recently been published. However, orchid distributions in this area remain poorly known. Over the last decade, we have conducted an intensive fieldwork programme in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. This has enabled us to collect 22 taxa that are new national records. Ten taxa are new records for Cameroon, eight for Equatorial Guinea and four for both countries. One of these taxa is also a new record from Nigeria. Fifteen taxa are endemic to the Lower Guinea area and six were previously known only from the type locality.

The new species Streptocarpus lilliputana (Gesneriaceae), collected on the Pondoland coast, South Africa, is described. Although its alliances are not obvious in terms of corolla morphology and rosulate habit, it approaches S. gardenii and its allies. The pollen and stigma of S. lilliputana differ markedly from the stenopalynous grains and bilobed stigmas of the other South African rosulate species. Streptocarpus lilliputana is exceedingly rare and is a further endemic from the Pondoland centre.

Lower montane rainforest and upper montane forest on the slopes and summit of Gunung Sinombayuga, Dumoga Bone National Park, North Sulawesi, were described by general botanical collection and quantitative sampling. The lower montane forest was dominated by the families Fagaceae, Myrtaceae, Icacinaceae and Escalloniaceae. The upper montane forest, dominated by Fagaceae and Cunoniaceae, represented 75-year-old coppice regeneration. It was less diverse than the lower montane forest and lower in stature, with a smaller basal area per hectare and a higher proportion of multi-stemmed trees. The tree flora of the montane forest is poorly known, and rich in undescribed species.

Sarcostemma arabicum Bruyns & Forster (Asclepidaceae) is described from the Arabian Peninsula. Comparisons are made to S. socotranum Lavranos and S. viminale (L.) R. Br.

Curcuma cinnabarina and C. eburnea (Curcuma subg. Ecomatae, Zingiberaceae), two new species from Thailand, are described and illustrated here. They are compared with the morphologically closest species Curcuma rubrobracteata and C. pierreana, respectively. Detailed descriptions, colour plates, and information on their distribution, ecology, phenology and uses are also provided. Preliminary IUCN conservation assessments of these species are proposed.

The European species Wahlenbergia hederacea (L.) Rchb. (Campanulaceae) is molecularly distant from the remainder of the wahlenbergioids, and its inclusion with them renders the tribe Wahlenbergieae Endl. (1838) non-monophyletic. Additional support for this conclusion may be derived from its gross morphological characteristics, which are essentially campanuloid. However, although not strictly identical to that of Wahlenbergia Schrad. ex Roth, the capsule dehiscence mechanism of W. hederacea is still fundamentally wahlenbergioid and differs from the majority of campanuloids. Several genera such as Feeria and Jasione, which are intermediate between typical wahlenbergioids and typical campanuloids, have similar capsule characteristics, and it is postulated that Wahlenbergia hederacea, together with these ‘transitional’ genera, are all relatively ancient components of a campanulaceous palaeoflora of the early Tertiary of Eurasia. The wahlenbergioid type of dehiscence is considered to be a plesiomorphic character whereas the diverse campanuloid types of dehiscence mechanisms are derived under conditions of intense selection. It is suggested that Wahlenbergia hederacea is probably most closely related to, and ancestral to, the rapunculoid lineages of Campanula s.l. that subsequently evolved over much of Eurasia and North America. Consequently, Wahlenbergia hederacea should be classified in the Campanuloideae and the new generic name Hesperocodon Eddie & Cupido gen. nov. is proposed.