After the rearrangement of the system of Euphorbia subg. Esula Pers., E. sect. Chylogala (Fourr.) Prokh. contains four species: E. alaica (Prokh.) Prokh. (mountains of Middle Asia), E. heteradena Jaub. & Spach (Southwest Asia), E. retusa Forrsk. (deserts of North Africa and Southwest Asia) and E. serrata L. (West Mediterranean). This group is revised here. Special attention is given to E. alaica, a poorly known species from Kyrgyzstan and Tadjikistan. Lectotypes are designated for the names Euphorbia coriacea K. Koch, E. megalantha Boiss. and E. megalantha var. denticulata Boiss.

Tetroncium magellanicum (Juncaginaceae) was described by Willdenow in 1808, based on material collected by Commerson at the Strait of Magellan during Bougainville's voyage around the world. Type material of this species was traced and a lectotype for the name is designated. A description of the species and notes on its ecology and conservation status are provided. For the first time, a detailed map showing the known distribution area of T. magellanicum is presented.

Monanthes subrosulata (M. sect. Sedoidea )from La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain, is described as a species new to science and illustrated. Special attention is paid to the morphological characteristics that differentiate it from the other species of the section (M. anagensis and M. laxiflora), as well as from M. muralis (M. sect. Monanthes).

Compilation of the nomenclatural checklist of Rosaceae for volumes 16 and 17 of Atlas Florae Europaeae resulted in nomenclatural and taxonomic adjustments presented here. The synonymy of Cotoneaster bullatus is verified; the name C. tomentellus is shown to have been validly published in 2009 instead of 1961. Cotoneaster marianus, an alleged endemic to Macedonia, is a synonym of C. parnassicus from Greece. The new combination Sorbaronia mitschurinii is proposed to reflect the intergeneric hybrid origin of Aronia mitschurinii, an apomictic species of cultigenous origin (Aronia melanocarpa × Sorbus aucuparia). The name Crataegus chrysocarpa var. rotundifolia J. B. Phipps & Sennikov is proposed to replace the illegitimate C. chrysocarpa var. phoenicea E. J. Palmer, and the illegitimate C. horrida Medik. ex Cinovskis 1971 is added to its synonymy. The new name Crataegus chrysocarpa var. phoeniceoides J. B. Phipps & Sennikov is proposed for C. chrysocarpa var. phoenicea J. B. Phipps, nom. illeg., non E. J. Palmer. The name Sorbus tauricola Zaik. ex Sennikov is validly published with a new description and type designation. The lectotype of Cotoneaster bullatus and the neotypes of C. moupinensis f. floribundus and Mespilus rotundifolia are designated.

A new species of Trisetum Pers. (Poaceae, Aveneae), T. tamonanteae Marrero Rodr. & S. Scholz, from Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain, is described. We discuss its affinities to related taxa, and provide information about its habitat and ecology, noting its possible ability to reproduce vegetatively by pseudoviviparism, as well as the conservation status of its populations. This is the first reference to Trisetum s. str. for the Canary Islands and the whole of Macaronesia.

Three new subspecies, Hieracium sparsum subsp. cholomonense, H. transiens subsp. levimaculatum and H. bohatschianum subsp. onosmoidiforme, all from Mt Cholomon, Chalkidiki, Central Makedonia, Greece, are described and illustrated.

Of the seven species of Dysphania sect. Botryoides recognized from Asia, the Mediterranean and Central Asian D. botrys is widespread in the area and D. nepalensis is widespread in the Hindu Kush, Himalaya and China. They are sympatric only from the E Hindu Kush and Pamir to NW Himalaya. Dysphania schraderiana from East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula has a restricted area in NW Pakistan, and the recently described D. bhutanica is known from Bhutan and China (Xizang). Two species are described here as new to science and illustrated: D. kitiae from China (Gansu) and D. himalaica from high altitudes in N India, Nepal and China (Xizang). Dysphania tibetica, also from high altitudes in N India to China (Xizang), is transferred from Chenopodium to Dysphania. Dysphania kitiae has narrowly lobed leaves, the back of the perianth lobes with a forward-projecting tooth near the apex and seeds with an undulate testa; D. himalaica is characterized by vertical seeds, previously almost unknown in this section; and D. tibetica has a very dense indumentum and the ultimate branchlets of its inflorescence are sterile. Descriptions for all recorded species are provided, a key to them is presented and distribution maps for D. botrys, D. himalaica, D. nepalensis and D. tibetica are given. A lectotype for C. foetidum (≡ C. schraderianum, D. schraderiana) is designated.

The Indian endemics Gymnema khandalense and G. kollimalayanum are proposed as new synonyms of G. latifolium, and lectotypification for G. khandalense is provided. The description of G. latifolium, which is of wide distribution in Bangladesh, S China, India, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, is emended with regard to coronal structures. A chromosome number is also provided for the first time. A (reduced) gynostegial corona for G. latifolium could be confirmed, putting the utility of corona characters for the separation between the genera Gymnema and Marsdenia into question. As a consequence of the reconsidered status of G. latifolium, this species and its synonyms need to be removed from the Indian Red Data List.

Schismatoglottis scintillans Scherberich & P. C. Boyce sp. nov., a taxonomic novelty with horticultural potential, is described from Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Schismatoglottis scintillans belongs to the Calyptrata Group by the presence of hapaxanthic shoot modules, but differs from all species hitherto described for this Group by the combination of refractive variegated leaf blades, a pistillate flower zone extensively adnate to the spathe, a staminate flower zone only half exserted from the lower spathe portion, and a bullet-shaped appendix basally abruptly wider than the adjacent top of the staminate flower zone. The new species is keyed out and illustrated from living plants.

Two taxonomically novel Aridarum species are described from Kalimantan Barat, Indonesian Borneo: A. hippocrepis P. C. Boyce & S. Y. Wong and A. uncum P. C. Boyce & S. Y. Wong. Together with A. rostratum Bogner & A. Hay (also Kalimantan Barat) these form a morphologically distinct group of unistaminate Aridarum species, here informally dubbed the Aridarum Rostratum Complex, differing from those of the (also unistaminate) Burttii Complex by the inflorescence pendent on an arching to pendent wiry peduncle, by staminate flowers lacking a distally expanded connective, the presence of horseshoe-shaped interstice staminodes that expand laterally post pistillate anthesis and prior to staminate anthesis, by the spathe limb hardly opening at pistillate anthesis and deliquescing acroscopically during staminate anthesis, and by the narrowly campanuliform (not salverform) persistent lower spathe. The Rostratum Complex is further differentiated by leaf blades lacking the adaxially conspicuously raised primary lateral veins that are a characteristic of the Burttii Complex. Recognition of these two new species takes the genus Aridarum to 14 accepted species. An emended species description of A. rostratum is presented and a key to species of the Rostratum Complex is provided. All species are illustrated from living plants, and a comparative plate of the spadices of the three species assigned to the Rostratum Complex is also provided.

A new species from the Indian eastern Himalaya, Miliusa codonantha, is described and illustrated. It chiefly differs from M. macrocarpa, its most morphologically similar species, in having smaller flowers and considerably fewer stamens and carpels per flower. In addition, a new combination is made for another species of Miliusa also occurring on the Indian subcontinent: M. dioeca (basionym: Uvaria dioeca). The two species as well as M. macrocarpa are placed in the previously recognized M. campanulata group. The names U. dioeca and its heterotypic synonym M. wallichiana are lectotypified.

Nepenthes ramos Jebb & Cheek, sp. nov. is described and illustrated from Surigao Province, Mindanao, Philippines, and placed in the N. alata Blanco group. An updated key to the species of the group is provided. The new species is characterized by the subcylindric upper pitchers which are more or less equally wide at base and apex, only slightly and gradually constricted in the middle and lacking in fringed wings, and by the lower surface of the lid having a well-developed basal appendage almost lacking glands, the lid surface having dimorphic nectar glands, large perithecoid glands along the midline and much smaller non-perithecoid but bordered glands on the rest of the lid. The species is assessed as Critically Endangered using the IUCN 2001 standard. Logging and open-cast mining are thought to be threats to this species.

The history of the name Wisteria japonica is discussed and an assessment is made of the availability of prospective original material from Siebold and Bürger's collections at Leiden (L) and Munich (M). The lectotype chosen in 1912 from among the Siebold collections at Leiden (L) is confirmed as such.

Dryopetalon stenocarpum is described and illustrated, and its distinguishing characters from the other species of the genus, especially D. paysonii, are discussed.

Three new species of Buxus endemic to the serpentine areas of Sierra de Nipe and Sierra del Cristal, northeastern Cuba, are described. Morphological descriptions including pollen and leaf anatomy are provided as well as sequences of the plastid trnK-matK and trnL-trnF regions, serving as molecular descriptions. The substitutions were evaluated to find suitable characters for a molecular diagnosis that complements the morphological diagnosis. Using the newly described species of Buxus as an example, prospects and pitfalls of DNA characters to support species diagnosis are discussed. Furthermore, an assessment of the distribution, habitat, ecology, and conservation status of the three newly recognized endemic species is provided.

Acaciella angustissima is recorded for the first time from Cuba. In its native range, it is widespread from the southern USA across Mexico, Central America and the Andes to Argentina. In Cuba, it has been found near Camagüey city, in anthropogenic habitats, indicating recent unintentional introduction. The Cuban plants match the typical variety, A. angustissima var. angustissima.

Willdenow published the name Chenopodium quinoa basing it on a living specimen cultivated in Berlin. Herbarium specimens collected by Humboldt and Bonpland in South America were acquired by Willdenow only later. The discovery of this species by Europeans, its first naming by Feuillée, and the early collections brought back by the expedition lead by Ruiz are discussed. In addition a lectotype is chosen for C. quinoa.

This is the first of a new series of miscellaneous contributions, by various authors, where hitherto unpublished data relevant to both the Med-Checklist and the Euro Med (or Sisyphus) projects are presented. This new series merges the well-known Med-Checklist Notulae and the Euro Med Notulae into one. The first instalment deals with the families Amaranthaceae, Boraginaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Compositae, Euphorbiaceae, Fagaceae, Labiatae, Leguminosae, Rosaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Umbelliferae and Gramineae. It includes new country and area records, taxonomic and distributional considerations for taxa in Bromus, Buglossoides, Carduus, Centaurea, Cotoneaster, Daucus, Dianthus, Euphorbia, Hieracium, Melica, Onobrychis, Pilosella, Ptilotus, Silene, Stachys, Verbascum and Xanthium and the validation and typification of names in Helictotrichon, Hieracium, Pilosella and Quercus.

Altogether 70 taxa are discussed in this contribution towards a critical floristic checklist of the Albanian flora. Of these, 21 taxa are reported as new for the country based on the authors' own field observations and collected specimens and on the revision of relevant material in European herbaria; 17 taxa are deleted from the flora and the reasons for their deletion are provided; and 32 taxa are confirmed as occurring in Albania and/or their status is amended. Revised categories for the occurrence of 18 alien taxa are given. In agreement with Parnell, Sempervivum jakucsii is treated as conspecific with S. ciliosum.

Flower anatomy and embryology of Lophiocarpus polystachyus was studied, based on over one thousand slides left by Theo Eckardt and prepared from material of a wild source in South Africa chiefly in the 1970s. The all bisexual flowers of the polytelic inflorescences possess a well-developed nectary, are promoted on the abaxial side, have a perianth of five tepals. a 4-merous or, more rarely, by fusion of two adaxial stamens, 3-merous androecium, a somewhat stipitate, unilocular gynoecium of two fused carpels with one basally inserted ovule. Wall formation of the introrse and tetrasporangiate anther conforms to the Monocotyledonous type. Meiosis of the microsporocytes during which 9 bivalents are visible leads after simultaneous delimitation of the microspores to tetrahedral and decussate pollen tetrads. The tricolpate pollen is 3-celled when shed. The ovule is campylotropous, bitegmic and crassinucellate, as is common in the Centrospermae. Embryo sac development is of the monosporic, Polygonum type. Embryogenesis follows the Caryophyllad type of Johansen. The fruit is a 1-seeded drupe. The flower anatomy of Lophiocarpus confirms an affinity to the Phytolaccaceae s.l. and its distance from the Chenopodiaceae because of the missing gynophore in the latter. A comparison with the embryological data for Corbichonia does not corroborate an intimate relationship of the two genera.

This study elucidates cytological aspects of the complex genus Tamarix (Tamaricaceae). Chromosome counts were performed and meiotic behaviour recorded on 30 accessions belonging to 15 taxa and three putative hybrids from different parts of Iran. Karyotype data were analysed in five species. Both gametic and somatic chromosome counts showed most species are diploid (n = 12 and 2n = 24), but polyploidy (n = 24 and 2n = 36) was found in six taxa. All the studied species showed predominance of submetacentric chromosomes and a lower proportion of metacentric pairs. The chromosomes in studied species were found to be small with a mean chromosome length of 1.05 to 2.8 µm. Karyotype analyses showed different formulas from 12sm to 7m 5sm. Pollen viability in most species was more than 79 %, with low viability (28.5 %) observed only in T. cf. kermanensis, as a triploid taxon. This study reveals that polyploidy and hybridization could be important reasons for taxonomic complexity in Tamarix. Hybridization and the high chance of establishing hybrids by vegetative reproduction are major adaptive mechanisms in the successful growing, dispersal and probable rapid evolution of this genus in its native range. Furthermore these mechanisms could facilitate the spreading of Tamarix species outside their native range as aggressive invasive plants.

The book reviews published in Willdenowia 42: 143–144. 2012 on McPherson & al., Sarraceniaceae of South America and McPherson & Schnell, Sarraceniaceae of North America are authored by Nils Köster, Berlin, BGBM. The editor apologizes to this author and the readers that his name was inadvertently deleted during editing.