A detailed study of taxonomic features of the Eriochilus dilatatus (Orchidaceae) complex (white bunny orchids) in Western Australia found that there were no consistent differences among most subspecies when herbarium specimens or living plants were compared. These subspecies were originally segregated primarily by differences in leaf size and shape and the number of flowers produced, but a critical examination of herbarium specimens found that these features were highly inconsistent within taxa. These features were also found to be highly variable over time and space within populations of living plants. The distribution patterns, habitat preferences and flowering times of these taxa were found to overlap, even for subspecies brevifolius and orientalis, which occupy the northern and eastern limits of the distribution of this species. Eriochilus dilatatus subsp. magnus and subsp. multiflorus were shown to be synonyms of subsp. dilatatus, whereas subsp. undulatus and subsp. orientalis are synonymised under subsp. brevifolius. As a result of this study, the two recognised subspecies are subsp. dilatatus and subsp. brevifolius, which can be readily separated by plant height, flower numbers and leaf morphology, except for a few intermediate plants where ranges overlap. New keys and descriptions to these taxa are provided. The reasons for previous taxonomic confusion in this group and in many other Western Australian orchids are discussed and research approaches to resolve these issues are suggested.

With the aim to solve long-standing problems of taxonomic delimitation within the E. obovatus species complex (E. obovatus G.Don, E. arnhemicus F.Muell., E. sp. Mt Bellenden Ker (L.J.Brass 18336) Qld Herbarium and E. coorangooloo J.F.Bailey & C.T.White), diversity and relatedness were assessed using a combined population genetics and morphometric approach among 181 and 102 individuals respectively. Simple sequence-repeat (SSR) markers were analysed with clustering methods, analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) and STRUCTURE. The morphometric data were analysed using cluster and classification and regression tree (CART) methods. The morphometric and genetic analyses together resolve discrete groups corresponding to E. arnhemicus, E. coorangooloo, E. obovatus and E. sp. Mt Bellenden Ker. Elaeocarpus arnhemicus is clearly distinct from all other entities on most of the morphometric and genetic analyses. By contrast, E. sp. Mt Bellenden Ker and E. obovatus were not clearly separated from each other in many morphometric analyses, but can be distinguished clearly by the strongly curved pedicels in early bud and hairy ovary, and, to a lesser extent, by the frequent occurrence of two racemes per axil and cuneate leaf bases, and on the results of the genetic analyses. Elaeocarpus coorangooloo exhibits considerable genetic admixture with the other entities, but it is morphologically distinct. SSR profiles suggested that E. arnhemicus and E. obovatus may be tetraploid, whereas the other entities are diploid. This study has clarified the taxonomic limits of the currently recognised species E. arnhemicus, E. obovatus and E. coorangooloo and supports recognition of E. sp. Mt Bellenden Ker at subspecies rank, described herein as E. obovatus subsp. umbratilis Y.Baba & Crayn. A key to all taxa and revised accounts of E. arnhemicus, E. obovatus subsp. obovatus and E. coorangooloo are provided.

During ongoing studies of the mycoflora of Kerala State, India, three species of Crepidotus, namely, C. exilis A.M.Kumar & C.K.Pradeep sp. nov., C. globisporus A.M.Kumar & C.K.Pradeep sp. nov. and C. croceotinctus Peck, were discovered. These species are described and illustrated. A phylogenetic reconstruction based on maximum-likelihood analyses of nuclear ribosomal large subunit rDNA sequences are provided.

We reviewed 15 572 Australian species-level records of the marine planktonic dinoflagellate Tripos Bory (formerly Ceratium Schrank, a genus now restricted to freshwater species). The genus is represented by over 50 species and numerous varieties and forms in Australian tropical, subtropical and temperate marine waters and the Southern Ocean. There exists considerable plasticity in the morphology of many species, which has confounded species delimitations and created uncertainty around their spatial distributions. We newly illustrate by light and electron microscopy the rarely reported Tripos hundhausenii (Schröd.) Hallegr. & Huisman comb. nov. first described from the Arabian Sea, but increasingly being observed in Sydney coastal waters. A large number of Tripos species are widely distributed in temperate, subtropical and tropical waters and their distributions have remained remarkably stable in Australian waters over the past 60–80 years. By contrast, we identified a narrow group of warm-water species, including T. belone (Cleve) F.Gómez, T. cephalotus (Lemmerm.) F.Gómez, T. dens (Ostenf. & E.J.Schmidt) F.Gómez, T. digitatus (F.Schütt) F.Gómez, T. gravidus (Gourret) F.Gómez, T. incisus (G.Karst.) F.Gómez, T. paradoxides (Cleve) F.Gómez and T. praelongus (Lemmerm.) F.Gómez, that are commonly encountered off Sydney, rarely found down to Eden and Batemans Bay or Bass Strait, but occasionally occur as far south as King Island and Maria Island, Tasmania. These rare tropical Tripos species are carried southward by the East Australian and Leeuwin Currents and deserve careful attention in monitoring for future range expansions, changes in seasonality or upwelling or incursion of deep tropical waters.

Asplenium flabellifolium Cav. is a cytologically variable Australian and New Zealand fern. Here, we sequence chloroplast trnL-trnF and rps4-trnS from samples throughout its range to provide the first phylogeographic investigation of a fern common in both countries. Twenty-three haplotypes were detected, which formed six haplogroups in a network. Australian specimens were placed in all haplogroups. The placement of New Zealand haplotypes in five of the haplogroups suggests that this species has dispersed across the Tasman Sea at least five times. Sexually reproducing plants of lower ploidy, detected only in south-eastern Australia, contained haplotypes from the two haplogroups that are successive sisters to the remaining diversity in the phylogeny. This likely suggests that A. flabellifolium was originally a sexually reproducing species in south-eastern Australia and spread to the rest of its distribution where apomictic plants dominate. More than one haplogroup was detected in several areas across its distribution, suggesting that these areas were colonised several times. Other areas harboured several haplotypes from a single haplogroup or haplogroups not recovered elsewhere, indicating possible long-term persistence in these areas. Haplotypes and morphological features were not found to be exclusive to either breeding system or ploidy and no taxonomic revision is proposed.