The morphology of the Italian-Balkanic populations of the Centaurea rupestris group was studied in order to clarify the taxonomy. The names C. ceratophylla, C. arachnoidea, C. adonidifolia, C. dichroantha, C. rupestris var. inermis are lectotypified. The taxonomic status of C. adonidifolia was re-evaluated and a new combination is suggested: C. arachnoidea subsp. adonidifolia (Rchb.) F. Conti, Moraldo & Ricceri, comb. & stat. nov. The new taxa here described include C. ceratophylla subsp. danielae F. Conti, Moraldo & Ricceri, subsp. nova and C. arachnoidea subsp. montis-ferrati Ricceri, Moraldo & F. Conti, subsp. nova.

Extensive surveys on wood-rotting fungi were recently carried out in Hainan Province, southern China. Around 2500 specimens of poroid wood-inhabiting fungi were collected during ten field trips, and 235 polypores were identified. Four species, Grammothelopsis asiatica Y.C. Dai & B.K. Cui, Inonotus latemarginatus Y.C. Dai, Perenniporia hattorii Y.C. Dai & B.K. Cui and Wrightoporia austrosinensis Y.C. Dai, are described and illustrated as new. Of the 235 species, 99 were found from the province for the first time.

Peniophora junipericola is a decayer on dead junipers (Juniperus communis). It is locally-common near the shores of the Baltic Sea. The aim of the present study was to characterise its habitat requirements by measuring the diameter of the substrate, as well as the stage of decay and the pH values of the infested twigs. Precipitation at the localities where P. junipericola is present was also taken into account. The results of the study show that the fungus can grow on thin and thick juniper branches as well as on hard, newly dead ones and on twigs more or less decayed. Most of its habitats are situated close to the sea.

Field investigations on wood-rotting fungi in Jiangxi Province, eastern China, were made in 2005–2009, and nearly 600 specimens were collected by the authors. Based on the collected materials 149 poroid wood-rotting fungi were identified, and this paper provides a checklist of our results. Substrates and collecting data are provided for each species. Phellinus tenuiculus B.K. Cui sp. nova is described and illustrated. It is characterized by an annual growth habit, resupinate and very thin basidiocarps, lack of setae, and by ellipsoid, yellowish brown and fairly thick-walled basidiospores, which are usually collapsed when mature.

The infrageneric classification of Hybanthus subgen. Ionidium (Violaceae) is unclear and needs to be redefined. In the present study, it is proposed to be separated into five clearly distinct sections, based on the leaf micromorphology, according to the presence or absence of different trichomes and papillae. Scanning electron microscopy provided evidence supporting changes in the systematics of Hybanthus subgen. Ionidium. Five well-defined leaf micromorphological types were identified for the South American species studied. Additionally, three new sections are established in this study: Hybanthus sect. Ionidium, Hybanthus sect. Parviflorae and Hybanthus sect. Pombaliae. Hybanthus atropurpureus is designated as the lectotype of Hybanthus sect. Micranthae.

The Periodic Acid-Schiff (PAS) reaction was used to test for the presence of starch, and Sudan black was applied to detect neutral lipids (lipid drops) during anther development in Ipomoea cairica. Starch was observed in sporogenous and anther wall cells. Prior to meiosis in microspore mother cells (MMCs), starch was not evident, although small lipid drops appeared. A substantial amount of starch accumulated in the epidermal and endothecium cells, but starch and lipid drops were not identified in the tapetum. At the tetrad stage, starch appeared in microspores, and the amount of starch remained constant in anther cells. Early in the microspore stage, the tapetum degenerated, starch remained in the microspores, and lipid drops were completely lost. A large and conspicuous vacuole was formed in the microspores and lipid drops reformed in the cells at the late microspore stage. Following microspore division, the vegetative cell of bicellular pollen grains was filled with starch and lipid drops, and the inner middle layer degenerated. Finally, at anthesis, lipid drops and starch constituted the stored nutritive material in the mature pollen.

Ovule morphology, megasporogenesis and megagametogenesis of ten species of Oxalis were examined. The ovule is anatropous, bitegmic and the integuments form a zig-zag micropyle. The type of female gametophyte development is variable in the studied species. The majority of them have a monosporic Polygonum-type female gametophyte. Two of the studied species show binucleate dyad members, so they have a bisporic Allium-type female gametophyte. Only O. articulata follows tetrasporic Adoxa-type development of the megagametophyte. This is the first report of a tetrasporic female gametophyte in Oxalidaceae. The endosperm is nuclear, and development of the embryo corresponds to the Solanad type.

A new species, Gastrodia albida T.C. Hsu & C.M. Kuo (Orchidaceae), is described and illustrated from Taiwan. Gastrodia albida is closely related to G. theana but differs by having a perianth tube indistincy striate outside, larger and oblong-ovate petals, narrower lip with truncate base, and by the absence of a rostellum. Gastrodia albida is predicted to be self-pollinated based on the morphological and ecological features.

Scutellaria anatolica M. Cicek & O. Ketenoglu, sp. nova (Lamiaceae) is described from south Anatolia, Turkey, and illustrated. It belongs to the section Lupulinaria subsection Lupulinaria and resembles S. bicolor, but differs by its ascending-erect stems, smaller triangular-ovate and sessile median cauline leaves, and smaller lanceolate bracts with acute apex, equalling or shortly exceeding the calyx at anthesis.

Vicia garinensis Dehshiri (Fabaceae : Vicieae), sp. nova of subgen. Vicilla is described and illustrated from the Hamadan province, west of Iran. It is similar, and probably most closely related to V. multijuga.

Microlepia ravenii S.-J. Moore (Dennstaedtiaceae, Pteridophyta), a new species from northern Vietnam, is described and illustrated. It is morphologically similar to M. marginata and M. hookeriana but differs in having cuneate and not auriculate bases of lower pinnae, cartilaginous and alternatively crenate and denticulate margins of pinnae, and a glabrous undersurface of pinnae.