The historical development of bryophyte studies in Thailand is reviewed. Two historical periods are distinguished: the first period, 1899–1977, during which collections were made and studies were carried out by foreign botanists/bryologists in the framework of expeditions and the Flora of Thailand project; and the second one, 1977 to the present day, in which bryophyte work has been done mainly by Thai bryologists. In total, two species of hornworts, 20 of liverworts, and 63 of mosses have been described as new to science based on collections from Thailand. Of these, 48 are hitherto only known from Thailand and may be considered endemic to the country. Future work should focus more on taxonomic treatments of individual genera although further area-based research is also necessary.

One hundred and fifteen species of epiphytes were recorded from 75 ash trees in an ancient pasture-woodland along with nine environmental variables. Significant positive correlations were obtained between species richness and three of these: girth, canopy width and exposure. Total epiphyte cover also correlated positively with girth. Overall, microlichen cover>bryophyte>macrolichen cover. The largest trees possessed the largest number of ‘old forest’ taxa but no well-defined associations were observed. Proximity of trees to open water also influenced the occurrence of some species. Bark analysis from a subsample of trees showed that calcium was positively correlated to girth and total phosphorus negatively correlated, demonstrating the complexity of tree-epiphyte relationships. The study confirms the importance of ash as a phorophyte for a wide range of cryptogamic epiphytes and emphasises the need for conservation measures in the wider context of woodland management, with the provision of open glades on different scales permitting a broad range of exposure and sheltered habitats plus a sustainable age-structure for the tree population to help stabilise woodland diversity.

Syntrichia christophei Ochyra et R.H. Zander is new to science from Îles Kerguelen in the Subantarctic. The species is described and illustrated and its affinities are discussed. It is closely related to S. saxicola (Cardot) R.H. Zander but it is easily distinguished by its larger leaf size, larger distal laminal cells, longer awn at the leaf apex, and larger capsules and spores. Syntrichia christophei is endemic to Îles Kerguelen, a highly isolated archipelago in the Southern Ocean, and evolutionary interpretation of its origin is presented.

The genus Riccardia, Aneuraceae is often considered as puzzling by bryologists, because of its great polymorphism, and African species have not been studied as a whole for several years. A type revision of the African species assigned to Riccardia is presented in order to get a clear view of the historical background before examination of recent material. Among the type material, two new citations are reported for Africa: Riccardia inconspicua (Steph.) Reeb et Bardat belonging to the subgenus Thornoneura and Lobatiriccardia cf. coronopus (De Not.) Furuki belonging to the closed genus Lobatiriccardia, not known before for Africa. Some synonyms have been corrected. The major taxonomical decisions will only be presented with the future revision of the African genus, after complete examination of variations based on recent collections or herbaria specimen, and on the results given by complementary tools, such as molecular and architectural analysis.

Eighteen liverwort species, including seventeen members of Lejeuneaceae and one of Lepidoziaceae, are reported new to Colombia. All the new records are from lowland rainforests in the Colombian Amazon region. Illustrations and brief discussions of diagnostic morphological characters are given for each species. Information about localities, elevation and occurrence of the species in the different tree height zones is also given.

Based on former collections from Oman, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, supplemented by a small collection from Yemen by E. Schröder in 1988–1989, new records of ten mosses are given for the Arabian Peninsula. New to the Peninsula are Bryum alpinum With. and Vesicularia montagnei (Bél.) Broth., the latter new for Southwest Asia and a major range extension. Vesicularia montagnei belongs to a number of xeric Palaeotropical elements with an Arabian-Southeast Asian distribution pattern that reach their westernmost limit on the Arabian Peninsula and the Socotra archipelago. These Palaeotropical species are mostly concentrated in the xerotropical relict forests of the border mountains, and indicate a common Tertiary floral history of South Arabia and Southeast Asia.

A remarkable range extension of the Neotropical hornwort Phaeomegaceros fimbriatus (Gottsche) Duff, J.C. Villarreal, Cargill et Renzaglia is presented. Phaeomegaceros fimbriatus was found on the alluvium of a river in a montane cloud forest of the Carrasco National Park in Bolivia. The morphological features and habitat preferences of the species are briefly described and its global distribution range is mapped.

Sphagnum molle Sull. is recorded for the first time in Turkey and SW Asia, based on specimens collected in Fındıklı (Rize). The species, the area characteristics and the habitat are described and illustrated with photographs.