Amblyolejeunea, a poorly known monospecific genus from Ecuador and Guadeloupe, does not merit generic recognition and is proposed as a synonym of Lejeunea (Lejeuneaceae, Marchantiophyta) based on detailed study of the gametophyte and sporophyte. The new combination, Lejeunea fulfordiae comb. nov., is proposed. Detailed description and illustrations of Lejeunea fulfordiae are provided. It is recommended that the species be placed on the world red list of threatened bryophytes.

Although polyploidy is rampant in ferns and plays a major role in shaping their diversity, the evolutionary history of many polyploid species remains poorly understood. Nuclear DNA sequences can provide valuable information for identifying polyploid origins; however, remarkably few nuclear markers have been developed specifically for ferns, and previously published primer sets do not work well in many fern lineages. In this study, we present new primer sequences for the amplification of a portion of the nuclear gapCp gene (encoding a glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase). Through a broad survey across ferns, we demonstrate that these primers are nearly universal for this clade. With a case study in cheilanthoids, we show that this rapidly evolving marker is a powerful tool for discriminating between autopolyploids and allopolyploids. Our results indicate that gapCp holds considerable potential for addressing species-level questions across the fern tree of life.

We describe a new species of Microgramma (M. microsoroides) from the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, present a phylogeny of Microgramma, and provide a new generic circumscription. Microgramma comprises ca. 30 species in the Neotropics and perhaps two species in Africa and on islands in the Indian Ocean. Several species are contentious with regard to generic placement, and have been treated within Pleopeltis, Polypodium, and Solanopteris. From all known species of Microgramma, the new species differs by the sori forming irregular rows between adjacent primary veins. This finding is quite surprising, inasmuch as all other species in the genus have sori in two very strict rows, one row on each side of the midrib. The monophyly of Microgramma, as newly redefined, is strongly supported in chloroplast DNA-based phylogenetic analyses, using the genes rbcL and rps4, the rps4–trnS intergenic spacer, and the trnL–trnF intergenic spacer on 13 samples from 12 species. The new species is nested within Microgramma as sister to Microgramma megalophylla. Recognition of the relationships of M. microsoroides calls into question certain soral characters traditionally used to define genera of Polypodiaceae, as well as genera of ferns in other families. Sorus placement is notoriously variable in some genera and in many different families of Polypodiales.

A fossil from the Early Eocene London Clay flora of southern England provides the earliest confirmed seed record of Myristicaceae (Magnoliales). The specimen, which was fractured transversely to show internal structure, reveals prominent longitudinal ruminations of the kind found today only in the Myristicaceae. We describe this fossil as Myristicacarpum chandlerae sp. nov. and discuss its phylogenetic and biogeographic implications. Its Early Eocene age might seem to contradict molecular evidence that Myristicaceae diversified in the Miocene, but this depends on whether it belongs in the crown group of the family or on the stem lineage leading to it. To address this question, we review the distribution of ruminations, aril type, and seed size and shape on a molecular and morphological phylogeny of extant Myristicaceae. Myristicacarpum chandlerae resembles some extant genera and not others in presence of ruminations, small size, and elongate shape, but these characters are highly homoplastic in living Myristicaceae and are equally consistent with a position in the crown group or on the stem lineage. However, biogeographic arguments favor a pre-Miocene age for the crown group. Myristicaceae join a growing list of taxa in which modern-appearing fossils predate ages inferred from molecular divergences.

Piper is one of the largest genera of flowering plants. The uniformity of its small flowers and the vast number of species in the genus has hindered the development of a stable infrageneric classification. We sampled 575 accessions corresponding to 332 species of Piper for the ITS region and 181 accessions for the psbJ–petA chloroplast intron to further test previous hypotheses about the major clades within Piper. Phylogenetic analyses were performed for each marker separately and in combination. The ITS region alone resolves eleven major clades within Piper, whereas the psbJ–petA intron fails to recover four of these major groupings and provides no resolution at the base of the phylogeny. The combined analysis provides support for ten monophyletic groups and offers the best hypothesis for relationships in Piper. Our massive ITS dataset allows us to assign confidently a large number of species in this “giant” genus to a major clade. Piper is here divided into ten major clades for which we provide a morphological description. Various clades and subclades are newly identified here: Peltobryon, Schilleria, Isophyllon, P. cinereum/P. sanctum. The clades described here provide a solid framework for future, and more focused, evolutionary studies. New names and combinations proposed herein include Piper bullulatum, P. hooglandii, and P. melchior.

The section Multiflorae of Bomarea subgenus Bomarea s.str. is revised. Seventy-nine species of Bomarea s.str. occur from Mexico (23°N) to Chile (40°S) on the western side of the Andes and on the eastern side to 28°S in Argentina. The 33 species of section Multiflorae can be found from 19°N to 18°S. North of Honduras and south of northern Peru they only grow on the eastern slopes of the American Cordilleras. Their distribution is nearly congruent with the distribution of cloud forests. Different species occur from 1500 m to 4500 m; they grow mostly twining, sometimes suberect to erect. They can be found in the cloud forests, the puna, and páramo. This section includes hummingbird pollinated and insect pollinated species. To date, 75 binomials are validly published, and, in this publication, 33 species are accepted. The distribution, morphology, variability, and ecology of the Multiflorae species are discussed.

Authors have debated the taxonomic status of Juncus longii almost since its description in 1937. Some authors treat the J. marginatus complex, to which J. longii belongs, as comprised of three species (J. biflorus, J. longii and, J. marginatus), whereas other authors recognize only one species (J. marginatus). Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses of measurements of twelve morphological characters suggest that Juncus longii is a species distinct from J. marginatus and J. biflorus. Ecological differences are also apparent. Juncus longii is restricted to early successional seepages with exposed soils. Juncus marginatus and J. biflorus, however, are found in less specialized habitats. Syntopic occurrences of J. longii with J. marginatus and J. longii with J. biflorus suggest the morphological differences used to identify these species are not a reflection of environmental conditions. Juncus longii is endemic to the southeastern United States, whereas J. biflorus and J. marginatus are more broadly distributed across eastern North America, Central America and central South America.

Tripogon cope Newmaster S. G., V. Balalasubramaniam, M. Murugesan, & S. Ragupathy a new species from South India, is described and illustrated. A key for the identification of all Indian Tripogon species is included. A detrended correspondence analysis identified 21 groups of taxa including the sp. novum from the 48 samples, analyzing 36 morphological characters. A discriminant function analysis was used to rigorously test the classification of specimens provided in the cluster analysis. This study provides preliminary evidence of morphometric variation within and among species of Tripogon, which allows further development of hypothesis concerning species boundaries. Discussions concerning ecological data and distribution are presented in the context of conservation initiatives of rare and endemic Tripogon taxa within India.

A comprehensive taxonomic revision of the genus Luziola (Poaceae: Oryzeae) is presented. Based on observations of herbarium material and living plants of the twelve previously recognized species of Luziola, we recognize nine species in the genus. The utility of specific taxonomic characters is also evaluated, with particular emphasis on inflorescence, lemma and palea characters. Detailed taxonomic descriptions are given for every species including phenological data, chromosome number and uses. Morphological and anatomical structures related to an aquatic habitat are also discussed. The names Luziola doelliana Prod. and Luziola leiocarpa Lindm. are lectotypified. Luziola caespitosa, L. subintegra, and L. spruceana are illustrated.

Resumen—Se presenta la revisión taxonómica del género Luziola (Poaceae: Oryzeae). De las doce especies que se consideraban en el género, en esta revisión se reconocen nueve especies con base en las observaciones realizadas en material de herbario y de plantas vivas. La utilidad de algunos caracteres taxonómicos ha sido evaluada con énfasis en la inflorescencia, lema y palea. Se presentan descripciones taxonómicas detalladas para cada especie, incluyendo información sobre fenología, número cromosómico y usos. Se discuten algunas estructuras morfológicas y anatómicas que están relacionadas con el hábito acuático. Los nombres Luziola doelliana Prod. y Luziola leiocarpa Lindm. fueron lectotipificados. Se ilustran Luziola caespitosa, L. subintegra y L. spruceana.

We conducted phylogenetic analyses of molecular data (ITS, trnH–psbA, trnC–trnL, and trnK–rps16) for 71 species of stipoid grasses. Of these species, 30 are native to South America, seven are native to Mexico and/or the southwestern United States, 15 to other parts of North America, 12 to Eurasia and/or the Mediterranean region, and seven to Australia. The outgroup was Glyceria declinata, a member of the Meliceae, a tribe that is in the same clade as and possibly sister to, the Stipeae. The purpose of the study was to evaluate alternative generic treatments of the South American Stipeae, all of which are based on morphological and anatomical information. Questions of particular interest were the merits of recognizing Amelichloa and of including Stipa subgg. Pappostipa and Ptilostipa in Jarava. Trees obtained from separate analyses of the ITS and cpDNA data were poorly resolved. The majority rule consensus tree obtained from the combined data provided strong support for the monophyly of only two currently recognized genera, Piptochaetium and Hesperostipa. There was strong support for a lineage comprising Amelichloa, Jarava s. str., most North American species of Achnatherum, and most samples of Nassella. Amelichloa was included within a poorly resolved Nassella clade that was sister to the Jarava clade. Austrostipa, with the exception of one sample, was monophyletic and sister to the poorly supported Achnatherum-Amelichloa-Nassella-Jarava clade. Stipa subg. Pappostipa formed a separate strongly supported clade if the North American samples of S. speciosa were excluded from consideration. None of the trees support including S. subg. Pappostipa in Jarava. For S. subg. Ptilostipa we obtained no ITS data and cpDNA data for only one species. The cpDNA data placed the species in a clade with two Nassella species.

During germplasm explorations within Zambia in 1984, seven Cucumis accessions were collected that could not be identified to species. Two of the accessions were studied in-depth. Based on phenotypic characters, they were closest to Cucumis pustulatus. In ITS analyses of all available Cucumis species and the accessions, the two accessions grouped with 100% bootstrap support in a clade comprising C. anguria, C. dipsaceus, C. insignis, and C. pustulatus. The accessions differed from these four Cucumis species by the following characters: plants pilose, male inflorescences paniculate with 6–30 flowers, staminate-flower calyx lobes linear, pistillate-flower pedicels long and cylindrical, and a genetic difference of 4 base pairs in their ITS sequences. Controlled crosses were made within and between the two accessions and between each of them and C. pustulatus. Fruits were produced from crosses made within and between the two accessions, but attempts involving C. pustulatus were unsuccessful. The two accessions are described as a new species, Cucumis zambianus. Six of the seven unidentified Cucumis collections from Zambia are identified as C. zambianus herein. They were all collected in the northwestern corner of Zambia, but the new species is also expected to occur in eastern Angola and southern Zaire.

To search for the sister taxon of Acacia s.s. (tribe Acacieae) and to further knowledge of the phylogeny of the related tribe Ingeae, we have sequenced two regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS and ETS). Sixty species from tribe Ingeae (26 genera), together with representatives from each of five lineages of tribe Acacieae, have been sampled. Ingeae and Acacia s.s. form a well supported clade, with a monophyletic Acacia s.s. nested within a paraphyletic Ingeae. Based on our sampling, the closest relative of Acacia s.s. is most likely one of the Australian species of the genus Paraserianthes s.l.: Paras. lophantha subsp. lophantha or Paras. toona. Related to Acacia s.s. and Paraserianthes s.l. is a group of Ingeae from Australia and South East Asia: Archidendron p.p., Archidendropsis, Pararchidendron, and Wallaceodendron. This study is a preliminary step in resolving the intergeneric relationships of tribe Ingeae. Genetic relationships within Ingeae appear to conform to morphological groups previously identified as genera and informal alliances; some notable exceptions are discussed.

Tribe Crotalarieae is a large and diverse group of papilionoid legumes that largely occur in Africa. A systematic study of generic relationships within the tribe was undertaken using nucleotide sequences from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA, the plastid gene rbcL, and morphological data. The Crotalarieae are supported strongly as monophyletic and sister to the tribe Genisteae. Lebeckia, Lotononis, and Wiborgia are all paraphyletic in the molecular analyses and morphological data support the division of Lebeckia into three more natural genera (one of which includes the monotypic North African Spartidium). Four major lineages were identified within the tribe based on sequence data: the “Cape” group, comprising Aspalathus, Lebeckia, Rafnia, Spartidium, and Wiborgia; the Lotononis group, comprising Lotononis pro parte, Pearsonia, Robynsiophyton, and Rothia; a group comprising Lotononis section Leptis, L. section Listia, and allies; and the Crotalaria group, comprising Bolusia, Crotalaria, and Lotononis hirsuta (Lotononis section Euchlora). Morphological analysis yields a similar topology, except that Lotononis is monophyletic if L. hirsuta were excluded. When the molecular and morphological data sets are combined, the same major clades are retrieved as in the molecular analysis, with the notable exception that Lotononis and Lebeckia senso stricto are supported as monophyletic. The results from this study have important implications for the classification of the tribe Crotalarieae and present an important step towards a natural and phylogenetic generic classification for the tribe.

A molecular and morphological phylogenetic analysis of South American Podocominae is herein performed. Taxa of both South American and Australasian Podocominae as well as members of other subtribes of Astereae were included in the analyses. Sequence data from the nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS), and the plastid trnL–trnF intergenic spacer regions were used in the molecular analysis to assess relationships among the South American genera of Podocominae. The trnL–trnF intergenic spacer provided only six informative characters. In contrast, the ITS region was more variable. Our results showed that: 1) neither the South American genera of Podocominae nor the whole subtribe Podocominae are monophyletic; 2) South American and Australasian genera, initially placed in the subtribe Podocominae on the basis of morphological characters, show no evidence of close relationship in our phylogenetic analyses based on molecular data; 3) Our results do not confirm Podocoma in its current concept as monophyletic; 4) Asteropsis, Inulopsis, Microgyne, and Sommerfeltia form a close assemblage; 5) Microgyne is monophyletic when molecular and morphological phylogenetic analyses are performed, thus supporting previous morphology based studies; and 6) the morphological characters used to define the subtribe Podocominae are homoplastic in the context of the present morphological and DNA sequence based phylogenetic analyses.

Recent phylogenetic analyses of the Dipsacales strongly support a Caprifolieae clade within Caprifoliaceae including Leycesteria, Triosteum, Symphoricarpos, and Lonicera. Relationships within Caprifolieae, however, remain quite uncertain, and the monophyly of Lonicera, the most species-rich of the traditional genera, and its subdivisions, need to be evaluated. In this study we used sequences of the ITS region of nuclear ribosomal DNA and five chloroplast non-coding regions (rpoB–trnC spacer, atpB–rbcL spacer, trnS–trnG spacer, petN–psbM spacer, and psbM–trnD spacer) to address these problems. Our results indicate that Heptacodium is sister to Caprifolieae, Triosteum is sister to the remaining genera within the tribe, and Leycesteria and Symphoricarpos form a clade that is sister to a monophyletic Lonicera. Within Lonicera, the major split is between subgenus Caprifolium and subgenus Lonicera. Within subgenus Lonicera, sections Coeloxylosteum, Isoxylosteum, and Nintooa are nested within the paraphyletic section Isika. Section Nintooa may also be non-monophyletic. Our analysis of the genus Lonicera highlights instances of homoplasy in several morphological characters (e.g. hollow stems in subgenus Caprifolium and section Coeloxylosteum in subgenus Lonicera). Furthermore, our data indicate possible instances of hybridization in section Nintooa and biogeographic disjuctions between the Old and New Worlds (e.g. subsections Distegiae and Alpigenae).