This paper analyses biogeography and ecology in the grass Simplicia, endemic to New Zealand, with respect to tectonic geology and to distributions in other groups of plants and animals. There are disjunctions and phylogenetic breaks at the Oparara basin (north-west Nelson), the Western Province–Eastern Province tectonic boundary, the Alpine fault and the Waihemo fault zone (Otago). Distribution boundaries at these localities recur in many other taxa and coincide spatially with important fault zones. General aspects of distribution and evolution in Simplicia are addressed, using a set of critical questions posed by McGlone (2015) as a conceptual framework. The biogeographic evidence suggests that the divergence of Simplicia and of its species took place by vicariance, and that this was mediated by tectonics. All individual plants of Simplicia have dispersed to their present locality, but there is no evidence that chance dispersal with founder speciation has occurred in the genus. Trends in these grasses, such as spikelet reduction, are global and have evolved in many different environments over tens of millions of years. This suggests that non-random mutation has been more important than environment and natural selection in directing the course of evolution.

We identified biogeographical districts in the Páramo biogeographic province, in the north-western Andes of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, including the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia, above 3000 m ASL. We applied a parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE) to 8418 distributional data of 4644 vertebrate and angiosperm species, distributed in the north-western Andes and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Areas analysed were selected according to the hypotheses of several authors. We obtained a single most parsimonious cladogram, which shows 10 groups of areas (southern Ecuadorian, central Ecuadorian, northern Ecuadorian, Venezuelan, Los Picachos, Sierra Nevada, Santa Inés-Sonsón, Paramillo del Sinú, Cordillera Oriental and Quindío) and a single isolated area (Farallones de Cali). We propose that these areas conform 11 biogeographical districts. The biogeographical districts obtained adjust to the ‘cordilleran pattern’, where páramos of each cordillera are linked together. This study supports the hypothesis that during different glacial periods, páramos of these cordilleras were connected and, subsequently, separated during interglacial periods.

This paper presents a revision of Uvaria L. (Annonaceae) in continental Asia and outlying islands, north of the Thailand–Malaysia border, on the basis of a combination of new morphological analyses and recent phylogenetic data. Two new taxonomic groupings are defined within the genus in Asia on the basis of detailed morphological character analysis in ∼1800 specimens. Stamen and carpel structure are shown to be significantly more informative than calyx and corolla characters for subgeneric differentiation, and reliably discriminate basal and derived radiations when mapped onto recent molecular phylogenies for the genus in Asia. Thirty-three species and species varieties are recognised within Uvaria in continental Asia, incorporating taxa formerly assigned to Anomianthus Zoll., Cyathostemma Griff., Ellipeia Hook.f. & Thomson, Ellipeiopsis R.E.Fr. and Dasoclema J.Sinclair. Four new combinations are proposed, and outstanding taxonomic, nomenclatural and typification issues are resolved for included taxa. Keys for both flowering and fruiting material are included, and distribution data are provided for all taxa.

We investigated the limits of Lepidosperma congestum R.Br. and a putative new species of Lepidosperma Labill. from Victoria and South Australia. Phenetic analyses (flexible UPGMA agglomerative hierarchical fusion and semi-strong hybrid multidimensional scaling) were conducted on a dataset derived from morphological characters scored from herbarium material. The results of our analyses supported the recognition of a new species, which we describe here as Lepidosperma hispidulum G.T.Plunkett, J.J.Bruhl & K.L.Wilson. Our results clarified the differences among L. congestum, L. laeve R.Br. and L. hispidulum, the first two of which have often been misidentified. We also discuss the distribution, habitat and conservation status of L. hispidulum.