An analysis was made of the floristic composition of 98 areas of cerrado and Amazonian savanna, encompassing most of the area of such vegetation in Brazil. A total of 534 species of trees and large shrubs were recorded for these areas, of which 158 (30%) occurred at a single site only. Such unicates and taxa without determinations to specific level were excluded from the study since they provide no basis for comparison. The data were analysed by three techniques of multivariate analysis: (a) a divisive hierarchical classification by Two-way Indicator Species Analysis (TWINSPAN). (b) an agglomerative hierarchical classification by UPGMA (Unweighted Pair-Groups Method using Arithmetic Averages) using the Sørensen Coefficient of Community (CC) as a measure of similarity, and (c) an ordination by Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA). The results from all three methods showed great similarity, demonstrating a strong geographic pattern in the distribution of the flora of the cerrado biome and allowing the recognition of southern (Sâo Paulo and S Minas Gerais), southeastern (largely Minas Gerais), central (Federal District, Goiás and parts of Minas Gerais), central-western (largely Mato Grosso, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul) and northern groups (principally Maranhão, Tocantins and Pará), as well as a disjunct group of Amazonian savannas. Soil type (mesotrophic or dystrophic) is an important factor in determining floristic composition. The study demonstrated that cerrado vegetation is extremely heterogeneous: none of the 534 species occurred at all sites and only 28 species were present at 50% or more.

The circumscription of Gymnocarpos (Caryophyllaceae) is extended to include the genus Lochia. Eight species are recognized: G. decandrus in the Canary Islands, northern Africa and southwestern Asia, G. parvibractus in Somalia, G. argenteus and G. mahranus in the mainland of Yemen, G. dhofarensis in Yemen and Oman, G. rotundifolius in Oman, G. kuriensis on Abd al-Kuri and Socotra, and G. bracteatus on Socotra. A phylogenetic analysis of Gymnocarpos is presented and the biogeography of the genus is discussed. The analysis suggests that G. mahranus and G. parvibractus, and G. kuriensis and G. rotundifolius, are pairs of vicarious sister species. G. argenteus, G. dhofarensis, G. mahranus and G. rotundifolius are species new to science. New combinations are G. bracteatus, G. kuriensis and G. parvibractus. G. decandrus is lectotypified. G. przewalskii, a species from China and Mongolia, is excluded from Gymnocarpos and would probably best be treated as a genus of its own.

A revision of the perennial Papaver L. sects. Pilosa Prantl and Pseudopilosa M. Popov ex Giinther is presented. Sect. Pilosa is considered to contain one species with five subspecies: P. pilosum Sibth. & Sm. subsp. pilosum, subsp. glabrisepalum Kadereit subsp. now, subsp. strictum (Boiss. & Balansa) Wendt ex Kadereit comb, et slat, now, subsp. spicatum (Boiss. & Balansa) Wendt ex Kadereit comb, et star, now and subsp. sparsipilosum (Boiss.) Kadereit comb, et stat. now The species is distributed in W Turkey. Sect. Pseudopilosa contains three species with five subspecies: P. rupifragum Boiss. & Reut., P. allanticum (Ball) Coss. subsp. atlanticum and subsp. mesatlanticum (Maire) Kadereit comb, et stat. now, P. lateritium K. Koch subsp. lateritium and subsp. inonanthum (Trautv.) Kadereit comb, et stat. now Whereas P. rupifragum and P. atlanticum are found in S Spain and NW Africa, P. lateritium grows in NE Anatolia, Georgia and the Caucasus Mts.

The taxonomy and nomenclature of the most common, closely related brambles of the Mediterranean area are treated. These include R. ulmifolius Schott (R. discolor, R. rustieanus, R. inermis) and Rubus sanctus Schreber (R. sanguineus, R. dalmatinus, R. anatolicus) (Rosaceae). The species are illustrated, the types are given, and variability, synonymy and distribution is indicated. Fifteen names are lectotypified.

Recent study of floral diversity within Australian Rhododendron (Ericaceae) has resulted in the recognition of two species, R. lochiae F. Muell. and R. notiale Craven, sp. nov. Both species are described and illustrated, and their distributions mapped. An identification key is provided.

Material from Afghanistan previously referred to Ferula lehmannii Boiss.

(Umbelliferae) is shown to belong to a closely related endemic species, F. hedgeana Pimenov & Kljuykov. sp. nov.

Amomum roseisquamosum (Zingiberaceae) is described from Sarawak, Borneo. This new species is related to A. borneense and A. epiphyticum of Smith's (1989) Group V for Bornean species, sharing an epiphytic habit, crested anther-thecae and flattened fruits, but differs in having white flowers, a shorter corolla tube equal to the calyx tube, and lateral petals connate to the labellum. The systematic position is discussed.

On morphological and anatomical evidence the Afghan endemic Scaligeria gongylotaxis Rech.f. is shown to be distinct from Scaligeria sens. str. and related geophytic genera. The taxon is considered to be best treated as a separate monotypic genus, here named Gongylotaxis Pimenov & Kljuykov, and the species renamed as Gongylotaxis rechingeri Pimenov & Kljuykov nom. nov.

A new species of Tylophora, T. corollae Bullock ex Meve & Liede (Asclepiadaceae), is described from Ethiopia. This delicate twiner is characterized by yellow, shield-shaped corona lobes with apical appendages.

The non-twining shrub up to lm high, T. fleckii (Schltr.) N.E. Br., so far known to be endemic to Namibia, is for the first time recorded from NE Africa. The interesting biogeographical implications resulting from the extraordinary gap of 4500km in its distribution are discussed.

Critical discussions are presented concerning two species complexes within Galium L. (Rubiaceae). the G. acutum Edgew. and G. asperifolium Wall, groups, with special reference to the E Himalayas. In the G. acutum group, two new species, G. megacyttarion R.R. Mill sp. nov. and G. rebae R.R. Mill sp. nov., are described and G. himalavense Klotzsch & Garcke is reduced to a variety of G. acutum, necessitating a new combination. Within the G. asperifolium group, G. craticulatum R.R. Mill sp. nov. is described, and G. asperifolium and G. sikkimense Gand. regarded as distinct species. The typification of several epithets (G. blinii Lev., G. bodinieri Lév., G. cavaleriei Lév., G. comari Lév. & Vaniot, and G. esquirolii Lév.), which all antedate G. sikkimense, is discussed. Only G. cavaleriei poses a potential threat but it is here maintained separate from G. sikkimense. Brief notes on G. asperifolium sensu stricto and supposedly allied plants of south India (G. asperifolium var. pilosissimum Cufod.) are given.

Haemanthus grandifolius Balf.f., a Socotran endemic, has been found flowering for the first time and is shown to be better placed in the genus Ledebouria (Hyacinthaceae); the new combination Ledebouria grandifolia (Balf.f.) A.G. Mill. & D. Alexander is made and an expanded description given.

The taxonomy of Cortinarius subgen. Phlegmacium sect. Phlegmacium in Europe is emended to include 17 species, classified in three subsections: Subsect. Triumphantes: C. saginus ( = C. subvalidus), C. triumphans (=C. crocolitus). C. varius (here neotypified). C. variiformis ( = C luteocingulatus), C. tiliae sp. nov., C. pini sp. nov. and C. norrlandicus; Subsect. Arguti: C. argutus (here neotypified), C. fraudulosus var. fraudulosus. C. fraudulosus var. rosargutus comb, nov., C. paracephalixus ( = C. rioussctiae) and C. herculeus: Subsect. Vulpini: C. vulpinus ( = C. rufoalbus. C. fluryi). C. pseudontlpimts, C. maculosus, C. caligatus (=C. crustulinus) and C. aremoricus. Species descriptions are provided, with emphasis on formerly little studied micromorphological characters. Most species are well delimitated and normally easily distinguished from closely related taxa. Their diagnostic characters are presented. The circumscription of a number of the species deviates from the one most frequently used, and many taxa are synonymized. Altogether, 18 species names which have been in use after 1900 are reduced to synonyms. The delimitation of the section towards the neighbouring sect. Phlegmacioides (= Variecolores) is discussed, as well as the typification of the name Phlegmacium.

Selected old Taraxacum (Compositae) names, either neglected or commonly misinterpreted in the literature, are evaluated on the basis of authentic material. Taraxacum dissectum (Ledeb.) Ledeb. is shown to be confined to SC Siberia and conspecific with T. baicalense Schischk. T. lyratum (Ledeb.) DC. is confined to the Altai: it is absent from N America. T eriupodum DC. and T. wattii Hook.f. proved to belong to a single sexual widely distributed species. Taraxacum parvulum [Wall, ex] DC. is shown to be conspecific with T. himalaicum Soest.

Subfossil oospores of Characeae from two Late-glacial sites, Sniddle Moss and Thieves' Moss, in the Ingleborough Region of West Yorkshire, were examined under light and scanning electron microscopes. An attempt was made to identify tentatively the characean species based principally on features of the oospore wall. Doubt attaches to one of the two species of Nitella recognized (N. flexilis, N. opaca?), one Chara species was attributed to the C. vulgaris complex, and other oospores belonging to the latter genus were placed in groupings based on oospore characters.

Type studies and illustrated descriptions are given of the tropical African Lactarius (Russulaceae) species described by Hennings (1902) and Beeli (1927–1936) which were not included in Heim's monographs (1938, 1955). L. badius Verbeken nom. nov., L. russulaeformis (Beeli) Verbeken comb. nov. and L. kalospermus (Beeli) Verbeken & Walleyn comb. nov. are proposed. L. congolensis Beeli is shown to be an earlier name for both L. craterelloides R. Heim & Gooss.-Font. and L. unicolor Gooss.-Font. & R. Heim which are identical, L. russulaeformis is an earlier name for L. pellicularis R. Heim, L. annulatoangustifolius (Beeli) Buyck is an earlier name for L. pandani R. Heim, and both L. pandani f. intermedius and L. pandani f. pallidus are concluded to be synonyms of L. pelliculatus (Beeli) Buyck. L. zenkeri (Henn.) Singer is neotypified and L. goossensiae Beeli and Lactarius sesemotani (Beeli) Buyck are lectotypified. Finally, Lentinus clitocyboides Henn. is not based on Lactarius, as suggested by Pegler (1983), but on Russula.

Bulbostylis somaliensis Lye (Cyperaceae) is described from Somalia. It is closely related to B. hispidula (Vahl) R. Haines, but differs in its smaller achenes as well as in the shape and surface structure of the achenes. The major diagnostic characters are the non-triangular achene and the outermost cells to the pericarp, which have several papillae in each cell. Three subspecies are distinguished, viz. subsp. somaliensis, subsp. confusa Lye and subsp. microcarpa (Chiov.) Lye.

Two new species of gentian, Gentiana wangchukii E. Aitken & D.G. Long sp. nov., endemic to Bhutan, and Gentianella urnigera E. Aitken & D.G. Long sp. nov., from East Nepal, Sikkim, Central and Northern Bhutan and Yunnan, China, are described. Their generic placement and differences from allied species are discussed. The new combination Lomatogonium himalayense (Klotzsch) E. Aitken comb. nov. is made and this name is applied to plants previously ascribed to L. carinthiacum (Wulfen) Reichenbach from the East Himalaya; the basionym Pleurogyne himalayensis Klotzsch is lectotypified and epitypified. The genus Tripterospermum is reviewed in the Flora of Bhutan area and two species are recognized: T. volubile (D. Don) Hara and T. nigrobaccatum Hara. Within T. volubile, two subspecies are recognized: subsp. volubile and subsp. longipes E. Aitken & D.G. Long subsp. nov. T. luteoviride (C.B. Clarke) Murata, in the past treated as a distinct species, is placed in synonymy of subsp. volubile.

The typification of Rivca ornata (Roxb.) Choisy (Convolvulaceae), based on Lettsomia ornata Roxb., is discussed. R. ornata is shown to have been frequently (though not consistently) misapplied to a taxon from S India and Sri Lanka which has also been called Convolvulus candicans Roth ex Roem. & Schult., nom. illegit.; it is here newly described as R. wightiana R.R. Mill. Lettsomia ornata was based on a specimen of a plant introduced to Calcutta Botanic Garden from Uttar Pradesh. This is synonymous with Rivea ornata var. griffithii C.B. Clarke, not Clarke's ‘typical variety’ which Prain formally named var. typica. Lectotypifications are proposed for two species names in Argyreia Lour. Calystegia hederacea Wall., Convolvulus arvensis L. and Dichondra repens J.R. & G. Forst. are recorded from Bhutan for the first time.

The following new species and new combinations are proposed for plants occurring in Bhutan or adjacent parts of India or China (Xizang): Catunaregam longispina (Link) Tirveng., Galium hoffmeisteri (Klotzsch) Ehrend. & Schönb.-Tem. ex R.R. Mill, Leptodermis amoena Springate, L. ludlowii Springate, Oldenlandia erecta (Manilal & Sivar.) R.R. Mill, Ophiorrhiza longii J.R.I. Wood, Psydrax kingii (Hook.f.) Bridson & Springate. Rubia hispidicaulis D.G. Long. A description of Psydrax kingii is provided. A lectotype is designated for Neanotis gracilis (Hook.f.) W.H. Lewis. Notes are provided on Leptodermis lanceolata Wall., L. kumaonensis R. Parker and L. stapfiana Winkler. The correct author citation of Rubia manjith is discussed.