The Systematics Collections Committee of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists has updated the recommendations on herbarium practices and ethics that were previously published by the Society in 1958 and 1973. The recommendations and considerations presented here are intended to provide a set of guidelines for proper management and care of herbarium collections.

We performed a phylogenetic study of Encholirium (Bromeliaceae, Pitcairnioideae) to test if this Brazilian endemic genus is monophyletic when including additional species and morphological characters compared to previous studies. Extensive fieldwork to increase the sampling of Encholirium and evolutionary analyses were conducted. Species of Fosterella, the sister group of the xeric clade of Pitcairnioideae, were used as outgroups. We analyzed two chloroplast DNA sequence markers (matK and ndhF) and 49 morphological characters with maximum parsimony analyses (MP), Bayesian inference (BI), and maximum likelihood (ML) with different sampling in the molecular analyses than the morphological. The phylogenetic analyses of the datasets, both independently and combined, did not recover Encholirium as monophyletic. We found few variable sites in the sequences used. This result is evidence of low nucleotide divergence and corroborates the hypothesis of the recent evolutionary history of these plants. The morphological differences between Dyckia and Encholirium, which are demonstrably associated with distinct pollination syndromes, ant-plant interactions, and single-multiple reproductive episodes, likely emerged in a short period of diversification in species assigned to these two genera.

The anatomy of Carex roots was generally considered to be rather uniform. The aim of this work was to provide an overview of the root anatomy of Carex in a phylogenetic context with an even sampling across the different clades. It was tested, if the observed anatomical characters show a relation to the habitat of the species, i.e. the soil moisture conditions. Further, it was asked if the anatomical data may provide useful characters for the comprehension and circumscription of clades. Root sections of 145 species were studied for 8 characters. Relations of root anatomical characters were inferred by linear regressions of phylogenetic independent contrasts. Phylogenetic ANOVAs were calculated to reveal anatomical characters that may have a relation to growth conditions. The anatomical data were mapped on the phylogeny to infer if they may provide useful characters for systematics. The root anatomy of Carex revealed a considerable diversity. Size differences of the roots were in orders of magnitude; particularly apparent were differences in the development of the aerenchyma and the sclerenchymatic tissues of the cortex. Most measures of the anatomy were positively related, only the sclerenchyma shows no significant correlation to other anatomical characters. The size of the sclerenchyma is significantly related to soil moisture, whereas the size of aerenchyma shows only a weak correlation. The development of the sclerenchyma was revealed to be a possible functional trait, whose development is related to dry soils. Unexpectedly, the size of the aerenchyma shows only a weak relation to soil moisture; considerable aerenchyma may be observed in species of all growth conditions. The development of the sclerenchyma and the arrangement of vessels in the central cylinder of the root may be useful characters for the systematics of Carex.

Tribe Eriachneae in subfamily Micrairoideae is one of the least explored of the ca. 22 C4 lineages in the grass family (Poaceae). Whereas many C4 lineages are more species-rich, more morphologically disparate, and wider ranging than their C3 sisters, Eriachneae has fewer species, less disparity, and covers a far smaller geographical area than its C3 sister tribe Isachneae. Tribe Micraireae, which is C3 and sister to Eriachneae and Isachneae, occupies habitats more similar to C4 Eriachneae than C3 Isachneae. Evolutionary analyses within the subfamily are hindered by the lack of a phylogenetic framework for any substantial sample of species. Additionally, only a handful of members of Micrairoideae have been tested for photosynthetic pathway. This study presents the first well-resolved phylogeny of Eriachneae based on full plastome sequences from almost half of the species in the tribe. Photosynthetic pathway is tested for 47 species representing all three tribes of Micrairoideae using carbon isotopes to test the assumption that C4 is restricted to Eriachneae. Habitat preferences among the tribes are estimated using bioclimatic data, with multivariate analyses showing that habitats of Micraireae and Eriachneae are more similar to each other than either is to Isachneae, and the range of environments is greater in Isachneae than in Eriachneae. All measured Eriachneae are confirmed to be C4, and all Isachneae are C3. Evolutionary interpretation of these results is necessarily preliminary, and greater phylogenetic sampling in Isachneae is needed to estimate diversification rates and ancestral habitats, but subfamily Micrairoideae appears to be an interesting exception to general patterns of C4 evolution in grasses.

The wild species of the genus Zea comprise nine different taxa, including annual and perennial, diploid and tetraploid species, distributed from northern Mexico to Costa Rica. Due to the great variability existing among species, the aim of this work was to evaluate the morphological and climatic variability patterns and phylogenetic relationships among species, based on morphological characters. Two hundred and seventy-six populations of known species and races were included; 15 individuals per population were planted. From each individual, 19 morphological and physiological traits were measured, and at each collection site 23 climatic descriptors were obtained. Both data sets were analyzed with multivariate analysis. For the phylogenetic analysis 17 morphological variables were transformed to character states using GAP-WEIGHTING. With multivariate analyses, it was possible to determine the existence of well-defined groups. Species, and races of different subspecies, were found to be clearly delimited by geographic regions, climatic characteristics, altitudes, and distinct morphological features. The phylogenetic relationships found are congruent with those identified in similar studies based on molecular data. Morphological data on their own cannot give enough information to infer divergence times. In this context, multivariate and phylogenetic analyses with morphological data are taxonomically of great importance for identifying species and subspecies of genus Zea. At species level, the study has added elements to distinguish between Zea diploperennis from the states of Nayarit and Jalisco, between Zea perennis from Michoacán and Jalisco, and between Zea luxurians from Oaxaca and Guatemala.

Sections Casparya and Semibegoniella are some of the most species rich groups of Begonia in the North Andean region. Taken together, both sections are clearly recognizable with respect to other sections of Begonia because of their distinctive fruits that open at the back of the locules and usually have no wings but horns, however the differences between the two are less clear. The gamophyllous perianth (vs. apophyllous in Casparya) and unilamellar placenta (vs. bilamellar in Casparya) have been proposed as diagnostic characters for Semibegoniella, but this distinction has been problematic due to species of intermediate morphology, and the lack of documentation of these characters in several species. Using three chloroplast markers and nuclear internal transcribed spacers of ribosomalDNA(ITS), we present a phylogeny of the Begonia sections Casparya and Semibegoniella (Begoniaceae) and representative species of related sections. We demonstrate that both sections constitute a clade, however each one is polyphyletic, and synonymize Semibegoniella with section Casparya. Character evolution analysis reveals evidence of multiple events of convergent evolution in characters frequently used to separate Begonia sections Casparya and Semibegoniella. Additional taxonomic changes derived from this study include the designation of species status to Begonia luteyorum for Begonia brevipetala var. luteynorum, and the inclusion of Begonia raimondii as a synonym of Begonia hirta.

The hyper-diverse Eugenia with ca. 1050 species currently includes Calycorectes, which fits the morphological delimitation of the latter except its calyx lobes are fused in the bud and tear at anthesis. Previous phylogenetic reconstruction demonstrates a single evolutionary event of calyx fusion in Eugenia. A new species, Eugenia petaloidea, found in remnants of submontane Atlantic Forest in northeast Brazil is morphologically uniquewith two external fused calyx lobes that split at anthesis and two internal free and petaloid calyx lobes. Only a few other Eugenia species share this condition, and Eugenia petaloidea can be distinguished from those by the externally glabrous hypanthium. The phylogenetic placement of Eugenia petaloidea based on three DNA markers (ITS, ETS, and psbA-trnH) indicates that this is the second clade of Eugenia known to have a fused calyx, indicating fusion of the calyx to be a homoplastic condition. The new species is here described, illustrated, and assessed according to IUCN criteria.

Christisonia kwangtungensis is a new combination proposed in this study on the basis of both molecular andmorphological evidence. The basionym, Gleadovia kwangtungensis, was subsumed into Christisonia hookeri by Zhang in 1986. Because the type material of C. hookeri lacks important diagnostic characters and no fresh materials from Sikkim were available, Chinese plants with white flowers were conservatively treated as C. sinensis. Phylogenetic analyses showed that samples of G. kwangtungensis from the type locality on Danxia Mountain were monophyletic and sister to a clade including the reciprocally monophyletic C. sinensis and C. siamensis. Moreover, morphological comparisons showed that C. kwangtungensis differs from C. sinensis by having a conspicuously inflated (vs. scarcely inflated) corolla and clustered hairs in the throat of the corolla (vs. hairs scattered throughout the interior of the corolla). Further, C. kwangtungensis differs from both C. sinensis and C. siamensis by the length and color of the corolla.

The major aim of this paper was to investigate temporal diversification within Symphoricarpos (Caprifoliaceae, Dipsacales). We used recently published molecular sequences, along with fossil data, to examine when Symphoricarpos may have arrived in the New World and if current distributional patterns can be explained by data based on biogeographic, climatological, and geological events. We simultaneously estimated the phylogeny and divergence times within Symphoricarpos and related Caprifolieae species using BEAST. Based on these phylogenetic and divergence time estimations we reconstructed ancestral areas using the dispersal-extinction-cladogenesis (DEC) method implemented in Lagrange. For Symphoricarpos, our phylogenetic results inferred using BEAST were in strong agreement with previous studies, with a well-supported clade containing the North American species that was sister to the loneAsian species. Our divergence time results suggest that theNorth American species originated in the late Oligocene to mid Miocene (12–25 million years ago) and quickly diversified. The DEC area reconstructions suggest that after entering the North American continent from Asia, species of Symphoricarpos became widespread across the continent, followed by range restrictions to that of whatwe see today.Although several recent studies have argued for the idea of phylogenetic niche conservatism as a general explanation for characterizing broad biogeographic patterns, our data suggest significant niche evolution within the North American species of Symphoricarpos, especially in regard to taxa found in the southwestern parts of the USA andMexico. These observed biome shifts from mesic forest habitats to a much drier habitat appear to have happened across a highly diverse landscape in which species of Symphoricarpos occur. These results, along with results from other plant taxa, support the hypothesis that a climate shift in western North America played a role in the assemblage of the current flora via migration, as well as in situ adaptation in combination with diversification.

A new species, Serpocaulon australe, from the Yungas Montane Forest of Argentina and Bolivia, is described based on a reinterpretation of the name S. gilliesii. The new species is similar to S. lasiopus, but can be distinguished by its rhizome scales with entire margins and acute-acuminate apices, glabrous fronds with few axillary scales in the segments, sori absent in the apex of the segments, and ascending segments. We investigated the taxonomic relationships among these similar species of Serpocaulon using morphoanatomical characters of the sporophyte and ecological preferences. Morphometric analyses, clustering, and principal coordinate analyses (PCoA), were used to scrutinize the forming of hierarchical non-overlapping groups strictly according to degree of morphological similarity. Twenty-four characters were scored for 65 specimens from herbaria (including type material) and for new collections from our fieldwork.We discuss the taxonomic status of S. gilliesii and S. lasiopus and present nomenclature notes for S. gilliesii. Also, some misidentified herbaria collections have led to the discovery of a Serpocaulon species (S. lasiopus), a new record for the Argentinian flora. Finally, a revised key to the pinnatisect species of Serpocaulon in Argentina is provided.

We describe and illustrate Aristolochia lorenae, a new species found in the state of Pará, Brazil. The new species is assigned to subseries Anthocaulicae F. González, which is characterized by the presence of extremely short cauliflorous and/or ramiflorous racemes that have shortened internodes and flowers subtended by a small bract. We provide a taxonomic description complemented with illustrations, photographs, a map of geographical distribution, and a conservation assessment based on field observations. In addition, a detailed comparison of the new species and its closely morphologically similar species as well as a key to species of Aristolochia subseries Anthocaulicae are also presented.

Analysis of molecular phylogenetic data was used to reveal the existence of a novel species of Trillium subgen. Sessilium. Trillium delicatum sp. nov. differs from the two other low-growing species of the subgenus, T. decumbens and T. reliquum, in features such as straight stems and dung-scented flowers. It occurs in wet floodplain forests in the Oconee and Ocmulgee river drainages in central Georgia, and has a distinct floral scent compared to thewide spectrum in Trillium. The molecular phylogenetic results based on four markers (nuclear ribosomal ITS and plastid trnHpsbA, trnL-trnF, and rpl32-trnL spacers) included samples of all species of the subgenus, and documented the distinctiveness of T. delicatum as a distinct taxon and also provided resolution of species relationships that suggested that the subgenus originated in southeastern North America with twomigrations towestern North America. The molecular results also suggested the need for closer examination of T. cuneatum and T. lancifolium, and also to assess whether T. decipiens and T. underwoodii are distinct species. Based on the few known populations and susceptibility to damage by hogs, Trillium delicatum is a rare species requiring protection.

Here we review the taxonomy of the species included in Campylocentrum sect. Laevigatum, which are characterized by smooth roots, conduplicate leaves, and unribbed capsules. Fourteen species are recognized; eleven of them are endemic to Brazil, two occur in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, and one (C. jamaicense) is endemic to the Antilles. According to the IUCN criteria, Campylocentrum brevifolium and C. pauloense are classified as Critically Endangered and Vulnerable, respectively. We provide typifications for 10 names, complete synonymies, conservation statuses, descriptions, and an identification key to the species.

Mimosa cerifera , a new species from M. sect. Mimosa ser. Mimosa subser. Sparsae, is described and illustrated. This species is distinguished by a combination of characters, including the presence of a white-blue wax that covers all structures, fruits moniliform, non-planecompressed, glabrous, and articulated, and bracts persistent. Furthermore, Mimosa cerifera is only found in grasslands of the Pampa biome near Quevedos city in southern Brazil. We recommend that the species be evaluated as Critically Endangered according to the criteria B1 ab (i, iii, iv, v) + 2b (ii, iii); C2 a (ii).

The new species Brongniartia bicornuta(Leguminosae, Papilionoideae), endemic to seasonally dry tropical forests of the Balsas River Basin in the states of Guerrero and Puebla, Mexico, is described and illustrated. It is a shrub with conspicuous, horn-shaped stipules and small flowers with bicolor petals that are lavender at the base and gradually becoming yellowish-green on the upper portion. It has morphological affinities with B. vazquezii.

Cuphea section Amazoniana, one of 13 sections in Cuphea, comprises 20 species, mostly narrow endemics in Colombia, Ecuador, and the Guiana Shield region of Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, and Brazil. The species inhabit river margins, tepuis, scrubland, savanna, and low montane forests in tropical to cold temperate climates. They are subshrubs defined by the common presence of a strigose indumentum of bifid (malpighiaceous) trichomes; small elliptic to narrowly lanceolate or linear coriaceous leaves; and tubular flowers to 9 mm long with 11 deeply inserted stamens included in the floral tube. In morphology, they are similar to or partially overlap species currently classified in Cuphea sections Trispermum and Heteranthus. The revision provides a new key, comparative morphological descriptions, first descriptions and illustrations of pollen and seed morphology, and distribution maps. Cuphea saxatilis S. A. Graham, sp. nov. from Colombia and Cuphea trisperma S. A. Graham, sp. nov. from Venezuela are newly described. Cuphea killipii Lourteig is placed in synonomy of C. philombria Lourteig. Presence or absence of a floral spur, position and shape of a nectary-like floral organ, the “disc”, and presence of two major pollen types suggest the section is not monophyletic, but consists of a minimum of two phylogenetic lineages, one in the Guiana Shield region in Venezuela and eastward, the other in low montane forests and on outliers of the Guiana Shield in Colombia and northern Ecuador. Fossilized Cuphea pollen grains resembling two types of pollen known in sect. Amazoniana, establish the presence of the genus in theMio-Pliocene toHolocene of northern South America in areas occupied today by members of the section.

Sida uniaristata , a new species of Sida sect. Sidae L. from the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, is described. Morphologically, the new species is characterized by having 1-awnedmericarps, whereas in the remaining species of the genus the mericarps are always 2-awned, muticous, or rostrate. Comments about the geographic distribution, conservation status, and morphological affinities of S. uniaristata, as well as images and a key to the new species and similar taxa within Sida sect. Sidae, are provided.

In Turkey, the genus Bolanthus is represented by 10 endemic taxa. Some interesting Bolanthus specimens were collected from Afyonkarahisar province. After examining the literature and herbarium specimens, it was found that these specimens resemble Bolanthus thymoides but differ from this species by several characters. The newly collected specimens and B. thymoides were compared with each other in terms of their general morphology and seed micromorphology. By using DNA sequences of the ITS and trnL–trnF regions, phylogenetic relationships between this collected species and the other species distributed in Turkey were investigated. As a result of the evaluation of the molecular and morphological data, it was evident that the specimens collected from Afyonkarahisar represent a new species, and this new species has been named B. aziz-sancarii.

Two species of Prestonia are described: P. lauta (endemic to Colombia) is characterized by its tomentulose stems, subterminal (rarely axillary) inflorescences, elongated pedicels, and corolla without free corona lobes, and P. occultata (restricted to Ecuador and Peru) is recognized by its densely to sparsely adpressed puberulent stems, terminal to subterminal inflorescences, small sepals, inconspicuous free corona lobes, and 5-lobed ovary. Terminal or subterminal inflorescences are rare in Prestonia and restricted to six species (including the two here described). Prestonia now comprises 60 neotropical species. We provide illustrations, distribution map, and a key to the species of Prestonia with terminal or subterminal inflorescences.

The genus Hexasepalum (Rubiaceae) is the priority name for Diodella and was recently re-established over the latter taxon. In this study we describe Hexasepalum nordestinum, a new species from northeast Brazil, which occurs in extremely fragmented areas of Ceará and Piauí states and is assessed here as endangered. The new species is compared with its closest relatives and the first taxonomic key to distinguish all species of Hexasepalum from the Americas is presented. A description, illustrations including electron microphotographs of the fruits, seeds, and pollen grains, and details of habitat, ecology, and an evaluation of conservation status are provided.

The Solanum asterophorum species group includes four species, all endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Species of this group are all prickly shrubs with zig-zag branches, paired leaves, reduced leaf-opposed inflorescences, and partially accrescent fruiting calyces. Two species, S. asterophorum and S. pilluliferum, are relatively widespread, while the other two, S. igniferum and S. sessilantherum, are narrow endemics in southeastern Brazil. We review the morphology, taxonomic history, nomenclature, distribution, and some ecological aspects of these species, and provide descriptions, distribution maps, photos, and assessment of conservation status of each species, as well as a dichotomous key for the group.

Chryselium Urtubey & S. E. Freire, a new monotypic genus, is here described and illustrated to accomodate one species that was initially placed in Helichrysum, H. gnaphalioides, as Chryselium gnaphalioides. The new genus, Chryselium, is a monoecious herb with single stems and terminal capitulescences that are densely glomerulate from the Tropical Andes of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru. This genus differs fundamentally from Helichrysum by having a stoloniferous habit and corollas with purple apices. Amolecular analysis using DNA sequences from nuclear (ITS and ETS) markers placed this genus in a clade with Chevreulia, Cuatrecasasiella, Antennaria, and Diaperia in the FLAG group. Affinities of the new genus with genera previously assigned to Chryselium are also discussed.