Geranium L. sect. Ruberta Dumort. and section Unguiculata (Boiss.) Reiche (Geraniaceae) consists of 10 and two species, respectively. The highest diversity of section Ruberta is located in Macaronesia with seven species, four of them endemic. Additionally, two species are endemic to Turkey, another is restricted to southern Spain and Morocco, and three are naturalized in many temperate regions of the world but are native to Europe and adjacent areas of Africa and western Asia. Section Unguiculata is mainly found on the Balkan Peninsula, although one species reaches eastward to the mountains of southern France. Geranium sect. Ruberta is characterized by its actinomorphic flowers (only G. palmatum Cav. has slightly zygomorphic flowers) and its petals with a bicarinate and well-developed claw. This broader concept of the section Ruberta, which includes section Lucida R. Knuth, permits the unequivocal inclusion of all species, unlike the previous proposal to separate these species into two sections. The species of section Unguiculata are characterized by the clearly zygomorphic flowers and petals with a smooth claw. In contrast with some regional treatments, I have synonymized G. eginense Hausskn. & Sint. ex R. Knuth and G. elamellatum Kokwaro to G. purpureum Vill. and G. kikianumKit Tan & Vold to G. macrorrhizum L.Anewkey is provided as well as new and detailed descriptions. Each species is illustrated and mapped, and 43 lectotypes and three neotypes are designated.

A taxonomic revision of the Briza complex was carried out, including the genera accepted by past authors as subgenera or sections of Briza s.l. (Briza L., Calotheca Desv., Chascolytrum Desv., Lombardochloa Roseng. & B. R. Arrill., Microbriza Parodi ex Nicora & Rúgolo, and Poidium Nees) as well as other related genera (Brizochloa V. Jirásek & Chrtek, Erianthecium Parodi, Gymnachne Parodi, and Rhombolytrum Link). As a result of the morphological analysis presented here, confirmed by other studies with molecular data, Briza is accepted with three Eurasian species, Brizochloa is accepted with one species, and a new circumscription for the genus Chascolytrum is proposed. This new circumscription includes all the accepted South American species that were previously assigned to the other genera cited above. Descriptions and illustrations of three species and one variety of Briza, one species of Brizochloa, and 22 species and two varieties of Chascolytrum are provided, as well as IUCN conservation status for most species. A new status is proposed for Briza media f. caucasica Marcow.: Briza media var. caucasica (Marcow.) Essi, Longhi-Wagner & Souza-Chies. The following name is newly transferred: Chascolytrumrufumvar. sparsipilosum(Roseng., B.R.Arrill. & Izag.) Essi, Longhi-Wagner & Souza-Chies [≡ Briza rufa var. sparsipilosa Roseng., B. R. Arrill. & Izag.]. Keys for genera and species are also provided. Lectotypifications are provided for Briza neesii Döll and Briza triloba Nees.

Prestonia R. Br. (apocynoids, Echiteae) comprises ca. 58 species, which are lianas with eglandular leaves, axillary or terminal cymose inflorescences, sepals with a single colleter, flowers usually with an annular corona around the mouth and/or free corona lobes, follicular fruits, and truncate seeds that are comose at themicropylar end. Three infrageneric classifications have been proposed in the last 110 years, all of them based only on morphological characters and none of which have been tested with molecular data. In the present study, based on the analyses of 62 nuclear and 258 chloroplast sequences from 65 species, we test the monophyly of Prestonia as well as the infrageneric classifications proposed for the genus. Prestonia was shown to bemonophyletic, but the infrageneric sections proposed by Schumann, Woodson, and Pichon are all non-monophyletic. We propose a new infrageneric classification for Prestonia, recognizing six sections: Coalitae Woodson, Denticulatae J. F. Morales, M. E. Endress & Liede, Exsertae J. F. Morales, M. E. Endress & Liede, Haemadictyon (Lindl.) Baill., Mollis J. F. Morales, M. E. Endress & Liede, and Prestonia. A key to the sections is provided. Prestonia pickelii Markgr. is removed fromthe synonymy of P. quinquangularis (Jacq.) Spreng. and resurrected as an accepted species. We provide a brief overview of the prolific groundbreaking work of Robert E. Woodson and Marcel Pichon in the Apocynaceae and Prestonia, and respectfully pay homage to their invaluable contributions to our knowledge of the family.

We investigate whether the Amotape—Huancabamba zone in the Andes acts as a barrier or corridor for plant species migration. We test this hypothesis based on data on trees, shrubs, and herbs collected in dry inter-Andean valleys (DIAVs) of Ecuador. We found that 72% of the species cross the Amotape—Huancabamba zone in a north—south direction and 13% of the species cross the Andes in an east—west direction. Southern DIAVs concentrate the highest numbers of endemic species. At the regional level we found that 43% of the species are exclusively Andean, while the remaining 57% are found in the Pacific lowlands, the Caribbean, and Mesoamerica. These results showing many species crossing the Amotape—Huancabamba zone in a north—south direction and also frequently found in neighboring lowland and highland ecosystems suggest that the Amotape—Huancabamba zone acts as a corridor for species migration of dry inter-Andean flora.

The Species Plantarum Programme: Flora of the World (SPPFW) has been in existence for slightly more than two decades and during this time published basic taxonomic information for just over 1000 species, in 11 families. While an admirable initiative, at this pace it will take about 350 years to reach completion. At the 10th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which was held in Nagoya, Japan, in October 2010, the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) was updated for the period up to 2020 (the first phase of the GSPC had been adopted in 2002). The first target of the Strategy aims to produce an online flora for all known plants of the world by 2020, in about three years therefore. Governments that are parties to the CBD are due to report over the next few years on progress with achieving all of the 16 GSPC targets, including this challenging first target. While many individual countries have initiatives to prepare online digital floras of their own territory, it is recognized that the achievement of the World Flora target relies on the achievement of an international initiative, rather than having e-floras for each country. For that reason, in 2012 an international project was launched, which was welcomed by the CBD, to take forward this initiative. A World Flora Online (WFO) Consortium was subsequently established, now including 38 organizations and institutions worldwide, to take forward the achievement of this target. Although the SPPFW and WFO may be deemed to have similar objectives, the timeframe available to produce e-floras for countries that are parties to the CBD, and by implication for the world, will mean that conducting original monographic work toward refining and improving existing classifications will in many instances have to be either curtailed or brought to a swift conclusion. Without the necessary global support and funding, the slow progress of the SPPFW has clearly illustrated that producing a WFO is a very ambitious target to reach in less than a decade. Governments, plant taxonomists, botanical institutions, funding agencies, global initiatives, and stakeholders have not pooled resources to make a revision-driven World Flora—the SPPFW—a reality. Target 1 of the 2020 GSPC will, of necessity not be met through exclusively original work, but instead will need to rely on the synthesis of existing information, while identifying and attempting to fill significant taxonomic and geographical gaps. The implications for the SPPFW, as countries work toward achieving Target 1 of the GSPC, are discussed.