Anthemis sheilae A. Ghafoor & T. A. Al-Turki (Asteraceae: Anthemideae), an endemic species closely related to A. scrobicularis Yavin, A. haussknechtii Boiss. & Reut. and A. dicksoniae A. Ghafoor, is described along with an illustration and distribution map.

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

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.

Cyrtandra phoenicolasia, C. hottae and five new species constitute a group distinguished by a suite of characters including setose vegetative parts, deeply divided calyx, small white corolla marked on the lower lip with yellow to brown, unilateral disc, ovary constricted at base, and fruit small. All species are fully described and an identification key provided.

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.

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.

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

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

A new species, Amomum vermanum from NE India, 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.

The state of systematics, for convenience here divided into taxonomy (the delimitation, description and inventory of species) and phylogeny reconstruction, is evaluated. Molecular systematics may seem overemphasized, but the resulting gains made in our understanding of relationships in a relatively short time are very considerable. Although morphological data currently play only a limited role in detecting large-scale phylogenetic pattern, the analysis by Wortley et al. of the role morphology has played in the past is not easily interpreted. At species level, it is unclear what effect molecular techniques will have on our understanding of species limits, but it is likely to be considerable. Although taxonomy is both essential and underfunded, there seems little point in asking for more money until we can justify the limits of the species we describe more clearly and until we have cleared up the impediments that so much slow the practice of taxonomy. Business cannot remain as usual if any of the grand inventory projects we have started are to be finished within a reasonable time, or even to be of much use when they are.

Three new species of Bhutanese orchids, Aphyllorchis sanguinea, Cheirostylis sherriffii and Hetaeria pelota, and one new Sikkimese species, Lecanorchis sikkimensis, are newly described. Their generic placement and affinities are discussed. A new combination in Cheirostylis is made for the Taiwanese Zeuxine tabiyahanensis Hayata. Records of five orchid species new to Bhutan are also presented.

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

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.

The following new species and subspecies are described: Carex burttii Noltie, C. griersonii Noltie, C. nigra (L.) Reich, subsp. drukyulensis Noltie, C. schlagintweitiana Boeck. subsp. deformis Noltie, C. speciosa Kunth subsp. dilatata Noltie, C. speciosa subsp. pinetorum Noltie, C. laeta Boott subsp. gelongii Noltie. The new combination C. fusiformis Nees subsp. finitima (Boott) Noltie is made. C. sikkimensis C.B. Clarke is reduced to the synonymy of C. fucata Boott ex C.B. Clarke, and C. praelonga C.B. Clarke to that of C. teres Boott. Notes are provided on C. notha Kunth, C. inclinis C.B. Clarke, C. inanis C.B. Clarke and C. alopecuroides D. Don ex Tillooh & Taylor. C. fastigiata Franch. and C. radicatis Boott are reported new to Bhutan and C. montis-everestii Kük. new to Sikkim. Lectotypes are designated for C. fucata, C. sikkimensis, C. teres, C. praelonga, C. setigera γ humilis, C. inanis. C. fusiformis, C. finitima, C. alopecuroides, C. chlorostachys D. Don ex Tilloch & Taylor and C. alopecuroides var. chlorostachya C.B. Clarke. A phytogeographical checklist is provided for species occurring in the Flora of Bhutan area.

The genus Colutea (Fabaceae) has been revised in preparation for the Flora of Iran treatment and a synopsis is presented here. In Iran the genus includes four sections, three subsections and nine species. An identification key, notes and distributions are given for the taxa. Two new subsections are described: Colutea sect. Rostrata subsect. Gifana and Colutea sect. Rostrata subsect. Uniflora.

The new species Onosma griersonii R. R. Mill (Boraginaceae) is described from Bhutan. The species belongs to O. sect. Maharanga (DC.) C. B. Clarke.