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.

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 combination Microchirita cristata (Dalzell) D.J.Middleton is made.

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.

A new species of Gentiana (Gentianaceae), G. khammouanensis Hul, is described and illustrated.

Begonia albomaculata as circumscribed in the Flora of Ecuador and related publications is shown to be a misapplied name and represents an undescribed species. This is described as Begonia botryoides Moonlight & Tebbitt sp. nov., and is recorded from the Pichincha, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Napo, Cotopaxi, Azuay and El Oro provinces in Ecuador, and the Antioquia and Chocó departments of Colombia. The taxonomic study of this species prompted a re-evaluation of related species. It was subsequently found that the Central American material previously included in Begonia tiliifolia C.DC. is distinct from the type and other South American material of this species and represents an undescribed species. This is described as Begonia boreoharlingii Tebbitt & Moonlight sp. nov., and is recorded from the Limón province in Costa Rica, and the Bocas del Toro and Coclé provinces in Panama. Four species, Begonia tiliifolia C.DC., Begonia harlingii L.B.Sm. & Wassh., B. botryoides and B. boreoharlingii, are placed in the informally named Begonia tiliifolia group. A key, descriptions, illustrations and distribution maps are provided for the members of the Begonia tiliifolia group, and its sectional classification is discussed.

Eight species of Thesium are newly described, 3 apparently confined to Zambia, 3 to Zimbabwe and one to Mozambique, with another ranging from Zambia and Zimbabwe west to Botswana, Angola and Namibia.

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.

A new species, Amomum vermanum from NE India, is described and illustrated.

The new species Ornithoboea grandiflora D.J. Middleton and new variety Ornithoboea maxwellii var. minutiflora D.J. Middleton are described.

Two new species of Begonia (Begoniaceae), Begonia gambutensis Ardi & D.C.Thomas and Begonia siregarii Ardi & D.C.Thomas, are described from material collected on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Both species belong to Begonia section Petermannia. A key to the species in the provinces North Sulawesi and Gorontalo is provided.

Recent studies in the palaeotropics indicate that Rapanea cannot be maintained as a separate genus from Myrsine (Myrsinaceae). Based on the latest evidence from comparative morphology, Papuasian Rapanea are thus transferred to Myrsine. The nomenclatural adjustment provides a foundation for future additions to the enlarged genus, previously represented by only three of the required binomials.

After the establishment of a complete set of Myrsine names for eastern Malesia, M. warrae W.N.Takeuchi & Pipoly is added to the redefined conspectus. The new plant is distinguished by large leaves, rostrate fruits, and an apparent restriction to ultrabasic substrates.

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 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.

A new species of Agapetes (Ericaceae) from Thailand is described and illustrated.

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 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.

A heterogenic system of incompatibility is described in Coprinus bisporus which involves two alleles at two loci, in addition to the unifactorial homogenic incompatibility locus already described for this two-spored species. The patterns of non-allelic heterogenic incompatibility found in C. bisporus are used to predict those expected in species with bifactorial homogenic incompatibility. This type of heterogenic incompatibility could lead to speciation.