Kilimanjaro is experiencing the consequences of climate change and multiple land-use pressures. Few paleoenvironmental and archeological records exist to examine historical patterns of late Holocene ecosystem changes on Kilimanjaro. Here we present pollen, phytolith, and charcoal (>125 μm) data from a palustrine sediment core that provide a 3000-year radiocarbon-dated record collected from a wetland near the headwaters of the Maua watershed in the alpine and ericaceous vegetation zones. From 3000 to 800 cal yr BP, the pollen, phytolith, and charcoal records show subtle variability in ericaceous and montane forest assemblages with apparent multicentennial secular variability and a long-term pattern of increasing Poaceae and charcoal. From 800 to 600 cal yr BP, montane forest taxa varied rapidly, Cyperaceae abundances increased, and charcoal remained distinctly low. From 600 yr cal BP to the present, woody taxa decreased, and ericaceous taxa and Poaceae dominated, with a conspicuously increased charcoal influx. Uphill wetland ecosystems are crucial for ecological and socioeconomic resilience on and surrounding the mountain. The results were synthesized with the existing paleoenvironmental and archaeological data to explore the high spatiotemporal complexity of Kilimanjaro and to understand historical human-environment interactions. These paleoenvironmental records create a long-term context for current climate, biodiversity, and land-use changes on and around Kilimanjaro.

Six new species of Vaccinium, identified as new to science by the late George Argent while compiling a revision of Vaccinium sect. Orianthe for New Guinea, are described and illustrations provided.

Rigiolepis and Vaccinium of Borneo are revised, and their characteristics are discussed. Brief comments on distinguishing Vaccinium and Rigiolepis from related genera in the Ericaceae are made. Vaccinium sect. Bracteata is now considered the only section of Vaccinium occurring in Borneo. The chief reason for reinstating Rigiolepis as a genus is the distinctive 10-locular ovary whose structure has been overlooked in recent studies, while the supporting characters of multiple axillary flower buds, flower size, anther shape and fruit colour provide for easy recognition. New keys are provided to all 42 species, and all accepted taxa are described. Ten taxa are new to science and 17 new combinations are made. An addendum gives the combinations to be used for the two species of Rigiolepis presently known to occur outside Borneo.

Rhododendron stanleyi S.James & Argent is described as a new species from Mount Yule, Central Province, Papua New Guinea. Its morphological position in the subgenus is discussed and the differences given from the most closely similar species. A note on the habitat and conservation assessment is also provided.

A new species, Diplycosia kalimantanensis P.Wilkie & Argent (Ericaceae), collected on an expedition to Gunung Besar in the Meratus mountains, South Kalimantan, is described and illustrated, and a conservation assessment provided.

Diplycosia mekonggaensis Argent & Widjaja (Ericaceae, Gaultherieae) is described and illustrated as a new species from the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Diagnostic characters are given and comparisons with related species are made.

A new species, Rhododendron pseudomaddenii A.A.Mao & M.Bhaumik (Ericaceae), is described and illustrated from India.

A new species of Vaccinium section Bracteata (Ericaceae), Vaccinium utteridgei Argent, presently only known from the type locality in Papua (West New Guinea), Indonesia, is described. Its distinctive characters are discussed and comments made on the differences between this and related species.

New taxa and records of Diplycosia (Ericaceae) from recent expeditions to Sulawesi are described. Diplycosia balgooyi Argent, D. gallowayana Argent, D. glaucicaulis Argent, D. hendriana Argent and D. supyanii Argent are described as new species. Diplycosia minutiflora Sleumer var. glandulifera Argent is described as a new variety and the new combination D. capitata Sleumer var. crassiramea (Sleumer) Argent is made. A key to all the known species of Diplycosia from this island is provided, together with short descriptions of the previously described species.

The new species Rhododendron mechukae A.A.Mao & A.Paul (Ericaceae) is described from India.

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.

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.

Variation among 19 phenological features taken from 48 species of Vaccinium (Ericaceae), both in vivo and in vitro as well as from existing literature, were subjected to several clustering strategies. Our results suggest three distinct phenological clusters that reflect the ability of these taxa to tolerate frost, namely a ‘Tropical’ group of 16 taxa which tolerate no or very little frost; a ‘Temperate’ group whose 17 members tolerate some frost; and finally a ‘Boreal-Arctic’ group whose 15 taxa are winter hardy.

Soil samples were collected from the original land surface beneath an experimental earthwork, constructed in 1963 at Morden Bog, Dorset, England, and excavated in 1996. Large numbers of seeds of Calluna vulgaris, Erica cinerea and E. tetralix germinated from the samples, but other species present in the original flora, including Ulex minor and several grasses, were absent. The results confirm the previously-documented longevity of Calluna and E. tetralix, and for the first time demonstrate similar longevity in E. cinerea.

Three new species of Agapetes (Ericaceae) from Arunachal Pradesh, India are described and illustrated with critical comments: Agapetes arunachalensis D.Banik & M.Sanjappa (Agapetes ser. Graciles subser. Parvifoliae), Agapetes dalaiensis D.Banik & M.Sanjappa (Agapetes ser. Agapetes subser. Agapetes) and Agapetes siangensis D.Banik & M.Sanjappa (Agapetes ser. Graciles subser. Longifoliae).

This study addressed the difficulty of germinating drupelets (hereafter seeds) in the multi-seeded stony dispersal units (drupes) of Leptecophylla tameiameiae (Ericaceae). Embryos in fresh seeds were 77% the length of the endosperm, and seeds inside the intact drupes imbibed water. We monitored germination at 15/6, 20/10 and 25/15°C for 162 weeks, after which each drupe was cut open and ungerminated seeds counted. Drupes contained 1–6 seeds, and the total number of seeds in all treatments and controls was 1977, with 20, 29, 25, 18, 7 and <1% of them occurring in one-, two-, three-, four-, five- and six-seeded drupes, respectively. The percentage of seeds germinating in one-, two-, three-, four-, five- and six-seeded drupes was 74, 66, 65, 72, 56 and 0, respectively. Neither warm nor cold stratification for 6 or 12 weeks significantly increased germination percentages, compared to controls incubated continuously at 25/15°C for 162 weeks, where 72% of the seeds in the drupes germinated. At 25/15°C, 24–49 weeks were required for 20% of the seeds to germinate. Warm followed by cold stratification did not promote germination, and there was no widening of the temperature range for germination. Like seeds of other species known to have deep physiological dormancy (PD), those of L. tameiameiae required extended periods of time (16 to ≥162 weeks) to come out of dormancy and germinate, gibberellic acid (GA3) did not promote germination and excised embryos failed to grow. Thus, we conclude that seeds of L. tameiameiae have deep PD. However, unlike seeds of other species with deep PD, those of L. tameiameiae required an extensive period of warm rather than of cold stratification to come out of dormancy. It is suggested that a subtype a (seeds require a long period of cold stratification to come out of dormancy) and a subtype b (seeds require a long period of exposure to warm stratification to come out of dormancy) of deep PD be recognized in the Nikolaeva formula system for classifying seed dormancy.

Two new species of Gaultheria (Ericaceae) from India, G. akaensis and G. lohitiensis, are described and illustrated.

New species of Ericaceae recently collected in Papua New Guinea necessitate a re-evaluation of the status of Agapetes subgenus Paphia section Paphia. The combination of molecular and morphological data confirms that Agapetes, currently a genus of about 100 species from Fiji, New Caledonia and Queensland to mainland SE Asia, and most diverse in the latter area, cannot be maintained in its current circumscription. Various taxonomic solutions that do justice to our current knowledge of the morphology and relationships of the two main parts of the genus are discussed. The reinstatement of Paphia does least violence nomenclaturally. All 23 taxa recognized in Paphia are listed, 14 new combinations of Agapetes from the New Guinea–SW Pacific area are made in Paphia, three new species are described (P. megaphylla, P. vulcanicola and P. woodsii), and an incompletely known taxon is characterized. A key to all taxa is presented. In Dimorphanthera, five new species are described (D. angiliensis, D. anomala, D. antennifera, D. cratericola and D. inopinata), three reduced to synonymy, one reduced to a variety and one variety recognized as a species (D. continua). A key to the 87 taxa currently recognized in the genus is presented.

Vaccinium oscarlopezianum (sect. Bracteata Nakai) (Ericaceae), known only from two sites in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Luzon, Philippines, is formally described.

Rhodothamnus sessilifolius P.H. Davis (Ericaceae) was until recently known only from two gatherings from NE Turkey, and had not been seen since 1960. The type locality was re-found in 2000, together with two new populations. An emended description of this rare species is provided, including details of the first fruiting material and seeds to have been collected, and notes on its ecology.