We reported nine fern species: Amblovenatum opulentum, Athyrium erythropodum, Haplopteris angustifolia, Hymenophyllum acanthoides, Hymenophyllum pachydermicum, Huperzia liangshanica, Microlepia smithii, Selaginella bisulcata, and Selaginella reticulata as indigenous to Vietnam based on our new collections and study of type materials and relevant references. We also described one new species, Dryopteris huongii, to accommodate its morphological distinctiveness from its congeneric species. We further investigated the phylogenetic relationships of the new species using three plastid DNA markers, and the result shows it belongs to Acrorumohra clade, sister of D. gymnophylla.

A revision of the species of Hymenophyllum subg. Hymenophyllum in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest domain is presented. Morphological and molecular analyses were performed based on herbarium material and samples collected during fieldwork. Molecular analyses were performed with data of the plastidial markers rbcL, rbcL-accD, rps4-trnS, and trnG-R. The results demonstrate the existence of three distinct and independent lineages of H. subgenus Hymenophyllum in the Atlantic Forest domain. Three taxa were recognized: H. fucoides, H. megachilum, and a new species, H. bradeanum, endemic to the Itatiaia Massif, southeast Brazil. Distribution maps, identification keys, descriptions, and illustrations are provided, together with a preliminary update of the conservation status of the species.

We demonstrate that Tectaria cadieri (Tectariaceae) is a distinct species in Vietnam after long being placed under the synonymy of T. ingens. Morphologically, T. cadieri is similar to T. ingens, T. setulosa, and T. trichotoma in their large fronds (up to 0.8–2 m long), 3-pinnate laminae, fully free veins, and sori in two rows on ultimate segments. However, our observations show that T. cadieri differs from these species in the presence of linear, membranaceous stipe scales. Our analyses of five plastid regions (atpB, ndhF plus ndhF-trnN, rbcL, rps16-matK plus matK, and trnL-trnF) show that T. cadieri is not closely related to T. ingens, T. setulosa, nor T. trichotoma. Rather, T. cadieri is closely related to T. multicaudata, a morphologically distinct species with anastomosing veins. Along with a detailed description and illustrations for T. cadieri, we provide morphological comparisons and comments on the relationships between T. cadieri and morphologically similar species.

Thirteen species (18%) in the genus Dracula (Orchidaceae) in Colombia lack basic information about their ecology and biogeography. Dracula anthracina has remained as a charismatic market-valued species with no information on its natural habitat. We found the precise location of D. anthracina in explorations across the Colombian eastern Cordillera. Our observations of wild populations and cultivated plants suggest that D. nigritella should be reduced to a synonym of D. anthracina based on morphological characters. Furthermore, the species seems to be rare, geographically restricted, and has small populations. Hence, we suggest that D. anthracina should be considered of conservation concern and should be excluded from Ecuador's flora.

Trece especies (18%) del género Dracula en Colombia carecen de información básica de su biogeográfica y ecológica. Dracula anthracina es una especie de alto valor en el mercado, cuya información del habito natural ha permanecido históricamente obscuro. Durante exploraciones de la orquideoflora de la cordillera oriental de Colombia, encontramos la ubicación de D. anthracina. Tras estudiar los caracteres morfológicos de individuos de D. anthracina en su hábitat natural y material cultivado, encontramos que D. nigritella debe ser reducido a sinónimo de D. anthracina. Nuestro muestreo aleatorio sugiere que esta Dracula es rara, con distribución geográfica restringida y poblaciones pequeñas. De tal manera, D. anthracina como especie comercializada debe ser considerada como una especie de conservación endémica de Colombia y debe ser excluida de la flora de Ecuador.

Iris subgenus Xiphium is a small group of taxa that occur in the Mediterranean Basin, a long-recognized biodiversity hotspot. Phylogenetic relationships among these Iris were reconstructed based on sequence data from 110 nuclear markers (coding regions) and plastomes using Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood methods. Best trees based on plastome and combined datasets resolved Iris subgenus Xiphium and I. xiphium as not monophyletic while nuclear and all-gene (combined nuclear and plastid coding regions) datasets resolved the subgenus as monophyletic but I. xiphium as not monophyletic. Topology tests indicated the alternative hypothesis of a monophyletic subgenus is not rejected by the combined dataset while a monophyletic I. xiphium is rejected. Topology tests also showed the hypothesis of a polyphyletic subgenus is rejected by the nuclear and all-gene datasets, however, a monophyletic I. xiphium is not rejected by these two datasets. We hypothesize that the subgenus is monophyletic based on these analyses, morphology, and biogeography, and that uneven patterns of missing data is a likely reason for topological incongruence among datasets. A previously suggested informal group within the subgenus was supported. Patterns of relationships among species suggest multiple exchanges between the African and European continents but also the importance of the Strait of Gibraltar as a barrier to genetic exchange.

Here I describe a new species, Heuchera folkii, narrowly endemic to high altitude limestone outcrops of the Sierra Madre Oriental, Coahuila, Mexico, together with a phylogenomic and morphometric evaluation of the Heuchera species of northeastern Mexico. Originally thought to be a disjunct population of Heuchera sanguinea, the new species is phylogenetically and morphologically most similar to Heuchera lakelae, from which it is distinguished based on morphometric characters and other morphological attributes, phylogenetic placement, geographic range, phenology, and ecological preferences.

Bredemeyera is a neotropical genus that comprises 12 species of woody vines and sub-erect or scandent shrubs. It occurs from Mexico to Paraguay and nearly all over Brazil. In this paper, we present a complete taxonomic revision of the genus. Bredemeyera ericifolia, a new species from the Brazilian state of Piauí, is here described and illustrated. Lectotypes are designated for Bredemeyera bracteata, B. densiflora, B. densiflora var. glabra, B. floribunda var. puberula, B. huberiana, B. isabelliana, B. laurifolia var. parvifolia, B. myrtifolia, B. parviflora, Catacoma altissima, C. brevifolia, C. lucida, and Securidaca flexuosa. A [second-step] lectotype is designated for B. velutina. Here, the names Bredemeyera altissima and B. lucida are considered taxonomic synonyms of B. divaricata, whereas B. myrtifolia and B. densiflora are synonyms of B. bracteata, and finally, B. disperma is considered a synonym of B. laurifolia. We provide an identification key, descriptions, distribution maps, illustrations, and comments on the conservation status, nomenclature, and taxonomy of all species involved.

This work presents the new taxon Ficus series Dugandii characterized by the syconium ostiolar margin with wall curved to the outer side of the syconium, forming a short apical tube, irregularly rounded to triangular. For this study, field trips were carried out and collections of herbarium specimens, types, and protologues were analyzed. The series has 15 species with 50 synonyms proposed here, distributed from Mexico and the Antilles to southeastern Brazil. Names like F. llanensis, F. llewelynii, and F. mitrophora, previously synonymous, are considered correct species names. Lectotypes have been designated for F. acarouaniensis, F. clethrifolia, F. glycicarpa, F. holosericea, F. velutina, Urostigma euomphalum, and U. maximilianum; a neotype for F. frigida; and epitypes for F. holosericea and F. trigonata.

We present the best sampled phylogenetic analysis of Celastrales, with respect to both character and taxon sampling, and use it to present a natural classification of the order. Parnassiaceae are highly supported as sister to Celastraceae; we recognize both families as distinct. Pottingeria is highly supported as a member of Celastraceae. We recognize and circumscribe 13 subfamilies in Celastraceae, including the new subfamilies Crossopetaloideae, Maytenoideae, Microtropioideae, Monimopetaloideae, and Salaciopsioideae. We identified five genera that likely require generic recircumscriptions: Cassine, Elachyptera, Gymnosporia, Salacia, and Semialarium. Genera that had not been previously sampled in Sanger-sequence-based studies are resolved as follows: Arnicratea is sister to Reissantia, Bequaertia is in a clade with Campylostemon and Tristemonanthus, Goniodiscus is sister to Wilczekra, Ptelidium is nested within Elaeodendron, and Tetrasiphon is most closely related to Gyminda.

Turnera carolina, a new species from Chapada das Mesas region in the Brazilian Cerrado, is described and illustrated. The new taxon can be characterized by having internodes up to 5 cm long, leaves with dark spots on both sides, petals that are smaller than the sepals, bracts and calyx that are usually reddish, and an orange corolla. We also present a distribution map, illustrations, field photos, comments on taxonomy, and an identification key to the species of Turnera from Chapada das Mesas National Park and surroundings.

We describe and illustrate Phyllanthus capixaba, a new species hitherto found in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. This new species is assigned to P. section Phyllanthus subsect. Phyllanthus and differs from their nearest species P. longipedicellatus by a set of characters such as aspect of branch distribution on the stem, number of pairs of secondary veins per leaf, appearance of tertiary veins and leaf margin, type of stigma, and surface aspect of pollen grains. We present distribution maps, informal conservation status, and phenological data for the new species, an identification key for the Brazilian species of P. subsect. Phyllanthus, and discuss its systematic position in the Phyllanthus section.

A new species of Theobroma from the Southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica is described and illustrated. Theobroma flaviflorum is restricted to the Osa Peninsula, where it has been collected on stream banks. The new species shows an unusual combination of characters including yellow flowers and globose mature fruits without ribs that are slightly sunken toward the apex and borne on terminal leafy terminal branches. The new species is compared with T. angustifolium, T. cirmolinae, and T. stipulatum which also have flowers that are yellow or orange; and with T. grandiflorum, T. hylaeum, and T. subincanum, which have similarly shaped fruits. A key for the Mesoamerican species of Theobroma is provided, as well as some notes for two of the species of Theobroma also reported for this region.

Cuscuta gronovii species complex (sensu lato, s.l.) is a North American group of species that belong to C. sect. Oxycarpae of subgenus Grammica. Members of C. gronovii s.l. are often associated with riparian or wet habitats, and their delimitation has been problematic historically. DNA sequences from multiple plastid and nuclear ribosomal non-coding regions were used to reconstruct evolutionary relationships among taxa. Molecular phylogeny supported the resurrection of C. saururi, a taxon that has been treated either as C. gronovii var. latiflora or a nomenclatural synonym of C. gronovii var. gronovii. Cuscuta saururi was inferred to be sister to C. cephalanthi, but the relationships among the rest of taxa, although forming a clade with moderate support, remained largely unresolved. Thus, the species limits of C. gronovii s.l. aggregate were also comprehensively investigated through a morphometric study. Plants with 4-merous flowers from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada, which were previously thought to be C. cephalanthi, were described as a new species, C. acadiana. Cuscuta acadiana, although fertile and producing abundant seeds, is unusual in that the majority of its pollen grains intergrade from zonocolpate, syncolpate, or pantocolpate, with variously shaped or twisted ectoapertures. Cuscuta gronovii var. calyptrata, a widely accepted but virtually unknown taxon, was typified and included in all the analyses. Cuscuta umbrosa was treated as a variety of C. gronovii (var. curta), and C. rostrata was maintained as a species. An identification key, detailed descriptions, illustrations, and a summary of geographical distribution, ecology, and conservation status were provided for all the members of C. gronovii s.l. The only taxon of this species complex found to be weedy, especially in cranberries, was C. gronovii var. gronovii.

Paraphlomis caloneura, a new species from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, is described and illustrated. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on two nuclear ribosomal DNA regions (ITS and ETS) and three plastid DNA markers (rpl32-trnL, rps16, and trnL-trnF) revealed that the new species is sister to P. hirsutissima. Both species are found in the limestone forests and are geographically close to each other, but P. caloneura can be easily distinguished from P. hirsutissima by its oblong or ovate-oblong and adaxially densely hispid laminas with broadly cuneate to cordate bases, densely hispid petioles, and slightly 2-lobed margins of upper corolla lips.

Cirsium (thistles) have long been considered one of the most taxonomically challenging groups of plants in western North America. However, the relationships among thistles have become clearer thanks to recent molecular phylogenetic work. The results of this work revealed that Cirsium eatonii var. eriocephalum was polyphyletic, consisting of three distinct evolutionary lineages. Each of these lineages was also found to be distinct morphologically as well as geographically. Multiple lines of evidence thus indicated that Cirsium eatonii var. eriocephalum consisted of at least three distinct species. The first species recognized was the previously named C. scopulorum. The second lineage was recently named and described as Cirsium funkiae. The third lineage is here described as a new species, Cirsium tukuhnikivatzicum. Mount Tukuhnikivatz is a prominent backdrop against this new species of thistle. Tukuhnikivatz is also the Southern Paiute word for “place where the sun shines longest” and Ute word for “where the sun sets last.” The specific epithet tukuhnikivatzicum is therefore used to indicate the distribution of this species, while also acknowledging and paying tribute to the Southern Paiute and Ute legacy of use of the La Sal Mountains. There was a taxonomic lag time of 112 yr between the first specimen collection and the new species description presented here.