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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This work aims to characterise the morphology and anatomy of roots, stems and leaves of Calolisianthus species (Gentianaceae – Helieae) to assist in the taxonomy and understanding of some adaptive responses to high luminosity, prolonged water deficit and nutritional stress in their environment. Samples of Calolisianthus speciosus and C. pendulus were collected in campo rupestre (rocky land) and samples of C. amplissimus were collected in cerrado (savanna) areas in southeastern Brazil. The roots have a cortex with Arum-type arbuscular mycorrhizae. The three species have winged and square stems and in Calolisianthus amplissimus the stem is hollow. Calolisianthus pendulus and C. speciosus have a pair of conspicuous extrafloral nectaries at the leaf base, which are absent in C. amplissimus. Calolisianthus pendulus has a dorsiventral mesophyll and a round leaf margin with parenchymatic cells. Calolisianthus amplissimus has a homogeneous mesophyll and a leaf margin with collenchyma. Calolisianthus speciosus leaves have a homogeneous mesophyll and a margin with sclerenchyma and collenchyma. Our results demonstrate that some anatomical characters are useful for the identification of Calolisianthus species and might be used to elucidate evolutionary relationships among Calolisianthus and their adaptive responses.