Freziera atlantica is described and illustrated. The species resembles F. grisebachii in terms of the size and shape of its leaves but differs especially by the serrate and villous margin of the leaf blade and larger petals. The new species is known from two disjunct localities in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, in extremely endangered environments. All known specimens of F. atlantica were collected within the last three years. This new generic record for the Brazilian Atlantic Forest highlights the need for further floristic studies of forest remnants in the states of Bahia and Espírito Santo.

An intensive lichen biodiversity inventory of the imperiled Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain of eastern North America resulted in the discovery of a new species of the ecologically sensitive macrolichen genus Sticta. The species is formally described as S. deyana based on a combination of molecular and morphological data. It is most similar to the southern Appalachian endemic S. fragilinata, differing in its diminutive thallus, narrower lobes, and allopatric distribution. All but one population of S. deyana occurs within the Dare Regional Biodiversity Hotspot of coastal North Carolina and within the most conservative estimated sea-level rise by 2100.

The aquatic plant genus Ruppia (Ruppiaceae) comprises eight species mainly in coastal brackish areas of the world. While the known taxa of Ruppia thus far generally had either four- or eight-carpelled flowers, our recent Ruppia collection from Western Cape, South Africa showed flowers with only two carpels. This characteristic morphological evidence, together with elongated coiled peduncles, implied either: i) extensive morphological variation of the cosmopolitan R. cirrhosa; or ii) the occurrence of a new species in the genus. We tested these alternative hypotheses of the bicarpellate Ruppia taxon in a phylogenetic framework. Sequence data from four plastid DNA regions and nuclear phyB were analyzed using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference. We obtained moderately to highly resolved phytogenies with both data sets. The collection from Western Cape showed unique DNA sequences which were, in both plastid and nuclear phylogenetic trees, placed as sister to the rest of the genus and thus clearly rejected the first hypothesis. Given the distinctive phylogenetic position and the unique morphological evidence, here we describe Ruppia bicarpa, a new species from Western Cape, South Africa. The other two Ruppia populations from the region are classified or categorized into either a tetraploid or an apparent hexaploid entity of the R. maritima complex.

The diverse New World shrub genus Ceanothus (Rhamnaceae) is made up of two deeply divergent, reciprocally monophyletic groups that are treated as subgenera in most recent systematic and flora treatments, Ceanothus subgenus Cerastes, and Ceanothus subgenus Ceanothus. The two groups are phylogenetically divergent and appear to have simultaneously diversified in western North America, particularly the California Floristic Province. Ceanothus subgenus Cerastes is easily distinguished from Ceanothus subgenus Ceanothus by its sclerophyllous (versus thin) leaves, stomata sequestered in pits (versus on the leaf surface), and swollen (versus papery) stipules. Low levels of genetic divergence among species, combined with highly variable, intergrading morphology makes taxonomic work in Ceanothus subgenus Cerastes difficult. To aid research in this diverse and ecologically important group of plants, we present a taxonomic conspectus of Ceanothus subgenus Cerastes, including formal recognition of Cerastes at the rank of subgenus, and recognition of all infraspecific taxa at the rank of variety. We discuss problems with defining taxa in Ceanothus subgenus Cerastes, and call attention to the need to distinguish between the subgenera in Ceanothus research. Twenty-five species and 10 varieties are recognized in Ceanothus subgenus Cerastes.

A new species of Euphorbia sect. Alectoroctonum from Brazil is described and illustrated. Euphorbia sarcoceras belongs to the “Dichlium” group, and is compared to Euphorbia estevesii, E. jablonskii, E. insulana, and E. sciadophila, the other species of E. sect. Alectoroctonum that also occur in Brazil. The new species occurs in seashore plains vegetation (“restingas”) in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina and is characterized by fleshy appendages of the cyathial glands. Problems concerning the application of the name Euphorbia laevigata are discussed, and a key to the species of E. sect. Alectoroctonum in Brazil is also presented.

Phenetic analyses were the basis for recognizing several distinct species within the Tovomita weddelliana species complex, requiring resurrection of synonyms and description of new taxa. The Tovomita weddelliana complex is characterized vegetatively by terminal leaves clustered near the branch apex, subsessile leaves, stipule-like scars around branches (observed to form from the developmental breaking away of the leaf blade bases from the stem at maturity), and prominent midrib with inconspicuous lateral veins. The coriaceous persistent sepals may also help distinguish the complex. Numerous herbarium specimens spanning all morphological variation and geographic distribution in the complex were measured for continuous morphological characters and subjected to multivariate and univariate analyses. Measured traits included vegetative and reproductive characters such as internode length, branch diameter, leaf morphology, pedicel length and thickness, peduncle length, and bud diameter. Canonical variates analysis (CVA) with sequential removal of distinct groups showed separation of all predetermined taxa, indicating that there are multiple morphologically distinct species currently subsumed under the name Tovomita weddelliana. Evidence based on locality and geography also elucidated the circumscription of the taxa within the species complex.

Hypericum bordignonii (Hypericaceae) is a new species from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. This species belongs to Hypericum section Trigynobrathys, and is morphologically most similar to H. legrandii. The new species can be distinguished from all other species of the genus by having anthers with prolonged connectives, a characteristic that has never been described before for Hypericum. Moreover, the species is endemic to a single granite hill called Santa Teresa in Porto Alegre municipality, in Southern Brazil. We present here a morphological description and illustrations of H. bordignonii. We also provide information on the conservation status of the species and suggest its inclusion in the IUCN red list of threatened species as critically endangered (CR).

Eugenia (Myrtaceae) is the largest genus of Neotropical Myrtaceae comprising ca. 1,100 species. Eugenia sect. Phyllocalyx is a group that is morphologically characterized by the presence of leaf-like bracts and showy sepals. During the taxonomic review of the section, a complex of species closely related to E. involucrata, including Eugenia calycina, E. cavalcanteana, E. suffrutescens, E. stricta, E. neoformosa, E. incertissima, and E. chodatii, was identified.We carried out a morphometric analysis and taxonomic review of these species. Measures of 12 vegetative and floral characters were sampled from 77 herbarium specimens, encompassing the morphological variability and the geographic distribution of the species. A principal component analysis (PCA) was carried out to test the morphological discontinuity within the complex. Separate morphological groups were not revealed by the PCA and therefore we propose E. involucrata to be a single, highly variable species. A recircumscription and nomenclatural update of E. involucrata are presented, including seven lectotypifications and 17 synonyms, of which seven are new.

Two new species of Tibouchina from Central Brazil are described and illustrated and compared with their relatives. Tibouchina albescens is similar to T. verticillaris in its shrubby habit and leaf indumentum, but differs in having opposite leaves and peeling stem bark, and lacking trichomes. Tibouchina nigricans is similar to T. aegopogon in its habit, i.e. having only a single stem. Tibouchina nigricans differs from this species in its appressed-strigose, dendritic trichomes on the leaf abaxial surface. Comments on the taxonomy, geographical distribution, habitat and conservation status are provided, as well as a key to the species of Tibouchina s. s. from Goiás State.

Two new species of Microlicia (Melastomataceae) endemic to campos rupestres from the Espinhaço mountain range in Minas Gerais, Brazil, are described and illustrated, and a discussion on leaf anatomy is also provided. Microlicia cogniauxiana is similar to M. graveolens, M. passerina, and M. tomentella by having an indumentum of stalked glands, pink to pink-magenta petals, and dimorphic stamens with bicolored anthers. It can be distinguished by its leaves with noticeable veins on the adaxial surface, and glandular-ciliate margins. Microlicia naudiniana is similar to M. nervosa, but can be distinguished by its sessile leaves with a conspicuously visible midrib on the abaxial surface and petals with rounded apex and revolute margin. It differs from M. passerina by having a sparser indumentum covering the entire plant.

Despite efforts for a complete phylogeny of Cactaceae, generic circumscription and species level relationships remain unsolved. Within Astrophytum one species is assigned to a different genus (Digitostigma) and two are often treated as a single species (A. myriostigma and A. coahuilense). Astrophytum is endemic to the Chihuahuan Desert, but may also be found in adjacent regions. We reconstructed the phylogeny to date the origin of clades and infer the biogeographic patterns of Astrophytum in order to understand the relationships between group members. Three sequences of chloroplast DNA (rbcL gene, trnL-trnF intergenic spacer, and trnK-matK region) were used with Bayesian and Maximum likelihood methods to generate a phylogeny. Divergence times for each node were estimated using an uncorrelated lognormal clock (BEAST) and inferred ancestral distribution using RASP. Astrophytum is monophyletic, with six species grouped in two main clades. Astrophytum caput-medusae (recognized as Digitostigma) is derived within Astrophytum. Individuals of A. myriostigma and A. coahuilense are grouped in independent clades, supporting their recognition as distinct species. Data suggest posterior diversification in the Late Miocene, during a transition to drier climates in North America. Occurrences of Astrophytum species outside of the Chihuahuan Desert are attributable to two recent independent events.

The genus Boechera is one of the most difficult species complexes in North America, with about 70 sexual diploids and hundreds of apomictic taxa representing diverse combinations of nearly every known sexual genome. In this study, we set out to clarify the taxonomy of Boechera lignifera, which currently includes a small number of sexual diploid populations in addition to the widespread apomictic diploid upon which the name is based. Using data from cytological studies, microsatellite DNA analyses, geography, and morphology, we demonstrate that the apomictic populations are genetically quite divergent from the sexual diploids. We propose the name Boechera kelseyana to accommodate the sexual diploid taxon, which occurs entirely south of the geographic range of B. lignifera. Boechera kelseyana is consistently separable from B. lignifera based on pollen and seed morphology, the length and proximal orientation of fruiting pedicels, differences in the branching and orientation of trichomes on the lowers stems, and the number of flowers and cauline leaves on unbranched fertile stems.

Quinchamalium (Schoepfiaceae) is a root hemiparasite with a broad geographic range throughout the Andes. Regional studies have used various vegetative and floral traits to describe and identify species, but there has been no detailed analysis of the continuum of morphological variation across the entire geographic range of this genus. Currently 21 species names are being used in the genus but their taxonomic distinctiveness is unclear. The aim of this study was to use multivariate analyses to identify patterns of morphological variation, assess the existence of morpho-species, and correlate variation with climatic and geographic factors. Two putative species were initially circumscribed based on corolla length, and this hypothesis was tested using principal component and discriminant analyses of 17 vegetative and floral characters obtained from 117 herbarium specimens. No statistically significant support was obtained through multivariate analyses for the existence of the two morpho-species, thus, only one species is recognized, a widespread and variable Q. chilense. Patterns of co-variation between several morphological traits and climate were identified. Taller plants with larger flowers were associated with sites with higher precipitation, and narrower leaves with higher temperatures. The presence of thrum flowers (floral morphs with relatively short styles) was correlated with higher latitudes and lower temperatures. Nevertheless, we have not determined whether these variations are genetically fixed ecotypes or are a consequence of phenotypic plasticity.

The phylogeny of Rutaceae subfamily Aurantioideae has previously been estimated only using plastid and repetitive nuclear sequences. We added sequences of two low copy nuclear loci to allow further diagnosis of phenomena that may mislead phylogenetic inference. After testing for patterns expected under recombination, positive selection, and hybridization, we excluded data sets or sequences accordingly and then inferred the species tree using the multispecies coalescent. We then reconstructed the ancestral area using parsimony and the dispersal-extinction-cladogenesis model to test the hypothesis that Citrus s. l. may have originated in Australasia and migrated or rafted to Eastern Asia. The ancestral area of Citrus s. l. inferred under either method and several models was west of Wallace's line. Therefore, Citrus s. l. did not appear to have rafted west on what became the Halmahera Islands (Indonesia). Our findings are also consistent with previously reported ages for the origin of this group that may be too young to have allowed this rafting. The species tree is well resolved and largely consistent with previous molecular phylogenies, especially those using chloroplast sequences.

Phylogenetic analyses have revealed extensive evolutionary lability of morphological characters in the large genus Impatiens. This potentially complicates taxonomic classifications, especially if these are based on analyses which include a limited number of characters and taxa. In this study we focus on the systematics of previously poorly represented Impatiens from Southeast Asia, a hotspot of species diversity, using an expanded taxon sampling. Specifically we implement phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences from the nuclear ITS and plastid atpB-rbcL intergenic spacer and reconstruct the evolution of several morphological characters to study Semeiocardium, a taxon which has been recognized as a distinct genus, subgenus, and section in previous taxonomic treatments. Both Bayesian and Parsimony analyses demonstrated that Impatiens subg. Semeiocardium is not monophyletic. Thirteen representatives are part of a large clade, which also includes many other Southeast Asian taxa. Connate lateral united petals are a synapomorphy of this clade, while a four-locular ovary and connate outer lateral sepals are not. Impatiens muscicola and I. santisukii, which were previously classified under I. subg. Semeiocardium, do not belong to the clade with connate lateral united petals or to I. sect. Semeiocardium. Due to ambiguous combinations of morphological characters we could not determine whether sampled species belonged to I. sect. Semeiocardium. In addition to the characters that were used to diagnose I. sect. Semeiocardium, we identify connate lateral united petals as a taxonomically useful character to distinguish an additional monophyletic clade in I. sect. Semeiocardium. Further research is needed to identify diagnostic characters for the sister clade comprising I. stenosepala and its allies.

In Styrax (Ericales: Styracaceae), gynodioecy is known or likely in ten species. A previous morphological analysis of the genus placed these species into a single highly derived clade within S. series Valvatae. In contrast, DNA sequence data from the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region yielded two distinct gynodioecious clades within the series, one (South American species) as sister to the rest of S. series Valvatae, the other (S. obtusifolius only; Cuba) as phylogenetically nested within a clade of otherwise hermaphroditic species. Here we test these contrasting phylogenetic placements with analyses that include the plastid ndhF-rpl32-trnL, trnL-trnF, trnS-trnG, and trnV-ndhC genic regions in addition to ITS. Results strongly corroborate the phylogenetic positions of the two gynodioecious clades based on ITS data alone. Clade-specific ITS-plastid phylogenetic discordance provides evidence for hybridization and suggests a pattern of reticulate evolution among some of the southern Brazilian species of the series. Our results agree with the prior evidence for convergent evolution among the gynodioecious species associated with floral reduction. Based on our results and long-standing precedent, we re-confer formal taxonomic recognition on the South American gynodioecious clade by dividing S. series Valvatae into two new subseries, Styrax subseries Latifoli and Foveolaria.

Two new Salvia species from Durango are described and illustrated. These were revealed while preparing a preliminary list of Salvia for this Mexican state. Salvia durangensis is characterized by ovate leaves, subcordate at the base, deciduous floral bracts, calyx less than 8 mm long, 3-veined upper calyx lip, red corollas without white nectar guides, corolla tube less than 21 mm long, shortly deflexed lower corolla lip, included stamens, glabrous style, and acute lower stigmatic branch. Whereas, Salvia odam can be distinguished by its oblong-lanceolate to ovate leaves with white abaxial surface, deciduous floral bract, yellowish-green calyces, 3 (or sub-5) veined upper calyx lip, white upper corolla tube and lip, dark blue lower corolla lip with white nectar guides, included stamens, pilose style, and acute lower stigmatic branch. Both species are compared with other morphologically similar species and an identification key to native Salvia species of Durango is provided.

Solanum section Aculeigerum (the Solanum wendlandii group, Solanaceae) comprises eight species ranging from Mexico and Central America to Ecuador and Peru with one species in southeastern Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina. One species, Solanum wendlandii, is commonly cultivated worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions, and one new species from southern Mexico, Solanum triunfense, is described here. Members of Solanum section Aculeigerum are differentiated from other sections of Solanum by a combination of plurifoliate sympodial units, branched inflorescences, presence of prickles coupled with absence of stellate trichomes, and a vine-like habit. Unlike most other prickly species of Solanum, which are placed into Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum, they lack stellate hairs, and phylogenetic studies suggest that the section is one of several potential sister groups for the spiny solanums. A key, descriptions, habitat and distribution data, preliminary conservation assessments, specimens examined and illustrations are provided for all species in Solanum section Aculeigerum. Lectotypes are designated for the following five names: S. aculeolatum M. Martens & Galeotti, S. mazatenangense Coult. & Donn. Sm., S. molinarum J. L. Gentry, S. pachyandrum Bitter, and S. sagranum A. Rich., and neotypes are designated for S. glaucescens Zucc. and S. wendlandii Hook. f.

A new species, Lepidonia alba (Asteraceae, Vernonieae), of the state of Chiapas, Mexico is described. The new species is distinguished from the species Lepidonia salvinae, which is also distributed in this region, by the presence of white flowers, diversity of trichomes on the phyllaries, the presence of glands at the base of the cypsela and the microsculpture pattern of the outer surface of the cypsela.

Bi- (to tri-) seriate stylar sweeping hairs are well-known from both genera (Eremothamnus, Hoplophyllum) of Eremothamneae (Asteraceae-Cichorioideae), and their assumed exclusive occurrence has been used in defining the tribe. In order to proof the phylogenetic/ taxonomic relevance of this character, I comprehensively studied genera of all tribes with respect to the occurrence of multi-seriate hairs. I describe for the first time bi- to even multi-seriate stylar hairs in the Hyaloseris clade (Stifftioideae-Stifftieae), in Oldenburgieae (Carduoideae), and in Wunderlichieae (Wunderlichioideae), formerly placed in a broadly circumscribed Mutisieae. The clusters of two to variable numbers of hairs, tightly linked together by their longitudinal cell walls, differ in the length of the tips of the individual cells, which remain separate during ontogeny and in the extent to which they cover the stylar branches and the stylar shaft. Stifftia exhibits papillate epidermal cells at the dorsal flanks of the stylar branches arranged in a line. On the basis of this observation, one can imagine that bi- to multi-seriate hairs result, if the walls of adjacent cells remain tightly linked during further elongation growth. Although the bi- to multi-seriate hairs are homoplasious, such hairs are not found in sister clades. Depending on their length and location on the styles, the bi- to multi-seriate stylar hairs are involved either in a brushing mechanism, in a pump mechanism, or in a combination of a brushing and a deposition mechanism of secondary pollen presentation.