A synopsis of Cousinia Cassini sect. Serratuloides Bunge (Asteraceae) is presented. The new species C. sheidaii and C. elburzensis, collected from Markazi and Mazandaran provinces in Iran, respectively, are described and illustrated, and characters that distinguish them from their nearest relatives are given. A description of the section Serratuloides Bunge, an enumeration, and a key to its 13 species are given.

The new species Onosma riedliana Binzet & Orcan (Boraginaceae) in subsection Asterotricha (Boissier) Gürke is described and illustrated. The species is restricted to the north of Gülnar (Mersin Province, southern Turkey). Diagnostic morphological characters for detailed discrimination from the most closely similar taxa are discussed.

In preparation for a detailed account of the genus Piper L. in Honduras, a nomenclator is provided that includes the name, reference citation, and type information for species accepted. A total of 45 taxa are currently recognized, with over 100 names (species level and below) listed in synonymy, 58 of which are new. Lectotypification is provided for the following taxa for which types were not designated at the time of publication: Piper cobanense Trelease, P. cyclophyllum Trelease, P. gracillimum Trelease, P. perinaequilongum Trelease, P. telanum Trelease, P. triumphale Trelease, P. wilsonii Trelease, and P. yzabalanum C. DC. var. pubinerve Trelease.

Two new species, Poikilogyne cornuta Cellinese & J. F. Maxwell and P. lakekamuensis Cellinese, are here described. Poikilogyne cornuta is distinct in the genus for the dimorphic anthers and for the peculiar disparity of the connectives and locules. Poikilogyne lakekamuensis is the only vine in the genus having 4-merous flowers. Both species are endemic to Papua New Guinea and known only from a single locality.

Two new names in Pilea Lindley from China are published: Pilea panzhihuaensis C. J. Chen, A. K. Monro & L. Chen and P. spicata C. J. Chen & A. K. Monro. A lectotype is designated for the basionym of P. spicata, Smithiella myriantha Dunn. The origins of the new names are explained, synonymy of the resurrected name is given, and an illustration of P. panzhihuaensis is provided.

A new combination in Microgramma C. Presl (Pteridophyta–Polypodiaceae) is proposed instead of M. fuscopunctata (Hooker) Vareschi, after the analysis of the type of Polypodium dictyophyllum Kunze ex Mettenius. Through the study of additional specimens and recent bibliography, the distributional pattern of this taxon for tropical America is specified.

The new species Peritassa manaoara Lombardi differs from other species in Peritassa Miers by its unique 3-lobed stigma. The inclusion of this new taxon in Peritassa was based on the characteristics of non-confluent anther locules and the disc free from the ovary wall, which distinguishes this species from Tontelea Aublet, the only other genus of Neotropical Hippocrateoideae species with a 3-lobed stigma and tubular nectariferous disc.

Three new fasciculate flowered species of Salacia L. (Celastraceae, Hippocrateoideae) from the Amazon basin are described: S. acevedoi Lombardi is distinguished by its small flowers, stamens with short filaments, disc connate to ovary, and size of fruits; S. negrensis Lombardi differs by its habit, characteristics and shape of leaves, flower diameter, features and size of stamens, and number of ovules; and S. odorata Lombardi is characterized by its long pedicels, conical flower buds, strongly adherent petals, and flat disc with fimbriate outer border.

Polygala riograndensis Lüdtke & Miotto (Polygalaceae) is a new species from the Brazilian flora. This species is included in the subgenus Polygala L., which has the largest number of species in the Brazilian territory. Polygala riograndensis is closely related to P. campestris Gardner, but it is set apart mainly by the stems sinuate, capsules winged, leaves petiolate and glabrous, and by the crest of the keel with 6 to 7 lobes that are simple or bifid. This species was recognized during the revision of the genus Polygala in Rio Grande do Sul state. Morphological description, illustration, and observations about habitat and distribution are presented.

A new species of Pecluma M. G. Price, P. barituensis O. Martínez & de la Sota, is described from material collected from the northwestern forests and mountain woods in Argentina. This taxon is related to Pecluma oranensis (de la Sota) de la Sota, from which it differs with its pinnae narrower at mid-rachis, thereby appearing farther apart, and its auriculiform basal pinnae.

Phacelia sonoitensis S. P. McLaughlin (Hydrophyllaceae) from Santa Cruz County, Arizona, U.S.A., is described and illustrated. The distinctive features of this species are its combination of pinnate leaves and several shallowly cymbiform seeds. The number of seeds per capsule (15 to 30) and seed morphology are not consistent with any currently recognized section of the genus.

Five new suffrutescent to shrubby Jaltomata Schlechtendal species (Solanaceae) of the department of Cajamarca, Peru, are described and illustrated. Jaltomata contumacensis S. Leiva & Mione has a light green, urceolate-tubular corolla and grows in the province of Contumazá between 2530 and 3000 m; J. lanata S. Leiva & Mione has a whitish purple to pale purple, short-tubular corolla and grows in the province of San Pablo between 1850 and 2400 m; J. leivae Mione has a red-violet, urceolate corolla containing red nectar and grows in the province of Contumazá between 2560 and 2650 m; J. oppositifolia S. Leiva & Mione has a white, broadly infundibular to rotate corolla and grows in province Chota between 2250 and 3090 m; and J. yacheri Mione & S. Leiva has a blue-purple, urceolate corolla and grows in province Hualgayoc at 3460 m. The fruits of two of these species are eaten by people.

The recently published name Isolepis tenella (L. f) Muasya & D. A. Simpson is illegitimate, because there exists an earlier homonym. A new name, I. levynsiana Muasya & D. A. Simpson, is proposed for Cyperus tenellus.

Four new species of Stachys L. from Mesoamerica, S. darcyana A. Pool, S. harleyana A. Pool, S. riparia A. Pool, and S. uniflora A. Pool, are described and their relationships with allied species are discussed. The new species are similar to each other in having stems rooting only at the lower nodes and corollas of various shades of pink or purple with the corolla tubes of medium size, 3.8–8 mm long. Stachys darcyana (Costa Rica and Panama) and S. harleyana (Chiapas, Mexico) have relatively large upper corolla lips (2.5–5 mm long) and the stamens exserted from the corolla tube 2.1–3.5 mm; the verticillasters in S. darcyana are 8- to 12-flowered and in S. harleyana 4- to 8-flowered. Stachys riparia (Costa Rica) and S. uniflora (Costa Rica and Panama) have relatively small upper corolla lips (1.1–2.25 mm long) and the stamens exserted from the corolla tube 0.5–1.25 mm; the verticillasters in S. riparia are 6- to 12-flowered and in S. uniflora the flowers are solitary in the axils of the leaves.

Bulbostylis medusae Prata, Reynders & Goetghebeur from Venezuela is fully described and illustrated. This species differs from all other South American Bulbostylis Kunth species by the combination of long-ciliated leaf sheaths, leaf apices, bracts, and spikelet axes. The new species resembles B. sellowiana (Kunth) Palla, and a comparison of the two species is made.

Two new species in the Tillandsia utriculata (L.) L. complex (Bromeliaceae) from Mexico are proposed. Both are herein described and illustrated with their affinities discussed. The first new entity, T. aesii I. Ramírez & Carnevali from the states of Jalisco, Guerrero, and Oaxaca, is similar to T. makoyana Baker, but the new taxon has an open rosette with leaves that are green adaxially and white lepidote abaxially (vs. a funnelform rosette with gray leaves on both surfaces in T. makoyana), actinomorphic flowers with a light apple-green corolla (vs. zygomorphic with a purple to light purple corolla). The second taxon proposed here, T. pinicola I. Ramírez & Carnevali, from the state of Oaxaca, is also similar to T. makoyana, but is a smaller plant with a more compact growth habit and leaves with proportionally shorter leaf blades that abruptly attenuate from a broad sheath (vs. gradually attenuate into the proportionally longer blade) into a sub-acicular apex. It is also characterized by typically growing on pines, hence the epithet.

Waltheria belizensis J. G. Saunders, a new distinctive Sterculiaceae species known only from Mountain Pine Ridge National Forest Reserve, Cayo District, Belize, and potentially distylous by floral morphology, is described and illustrated. It is placed in section Waltheria L. in the W. cinerescens A. St.-Hilaire alliance by its penicillate stigma and loculicidal capsule with an extensive corneous endocarp. It is closest to the distylous W. petiolata K. Schumann in Martius from Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) by the decomposite inflorescences; the shape, venation, and vestiture of calyces; and the shapes of petal apices and seeds. Waltheria belizensis differs from W. petiolata by leaves with minute, appressed vestiture, revolute teeth margins, and a greater number of lateral veins; corymbiform inflorescences; and a seed less lobed and less pusticulate. The contrasting characters are detailed in a key. Thrum-like pollen of W. belizensis and thrum pollen of confirmed W. petiolata are reported for the first time. These data suggest the thrum-like pollen of the Belizean species is less derived than that of the Brazilian one. A key is provided to separate W. belizensis from the only other species of Waltheria in Belize, W. indica L. s.l. The present and additional studies concur with previous exclusion of W. glomerata C. Presl from the flora of Belize, based solely on Dwyer & Liesner 12292, the type of W. belizensis. Other Belizean plant endemics found in the Mountain Pine Ridge National Forest Reserve are listed, and the region is discussed.

Historically, taxonomic delimitation of Mandevilla Lindley, a large Neotropical genus of Apocynaceae, has been controversial. Two competing classifications were proposed by Woodson (1933) and Pichon (1948), the former now being widely accepted by taxonomists in the family. Recent phylogenetic studies, however, support the monophyly of Mandevilla sensu Pichon rather than sensu Woodson, the latter being paraphyletic with respect to Quiotania Zarucchi, Macrosiphonia Müller Argoviensis, and Telosiphonia (Woodson) Henrickson. Based on the principle of monophyly, we here re-establish Pichon's classification and include Quiotania, Macrosiphonia, and Telosiphonia as synonyms of Mandevilla. Three new combinations are made here: Mandevilla hesperia (I. M. Johnston) A. O. Simões, L. S. Kinoshita-Gouvêa & M. E. Endress, M. nacalpulensis (Felger & Henrickson) A. O. Simões, L. S. Kinoshita-Gouvêa & M. E. Endress, and M. undulata (C. Ezcurra) A. O. Simões, L. S. Kinoshita-Gouvêa & M. E. Endress; Q. colombiana Zarucchi is newly synonymized with M. ligustriflora Woodson; and a lectotype is designated for M. martii (Müller Argoviensis) Pichon.

Brasiliorchis R. Singer, S. Koehler & Carnevali is here proposed to include the orchid species formerly recognized in the Maxillaria picta alliance, an orchid group mostly endemic to the Atlantic Rain Forest Biome, in south and southeastern Brazil. The new genus is supported by both morphological features and ongoing molecular studies. The new genus is easily diagnosed by its sulcate to ridged, bifoliate pseudobulbs and its long-lasting, campanulate, rewardless flowers. The pollinaria of these flowers are normally devoid of stipes. Formal diagnosis of the genus and 13 taxonomic combinations are presented: Brasiliorchis barbozae (Loefgren) R. Singer, S. Koehler & Carnevali, B. chrysantha (Barbosa Rodrigues) R. Singer, S. Koehler & Carnevali, B. consanguinea (Klotzsch) R. Singer, S. Koehler & Carnevali, B. gracilis (Loddiges) R. Singer, S. Koehler & Carnevali, B. heismanniana (Barbosa Rodrigues) R. Singer, S. Koehler & Carnevali, B. kautskyi (Pabst) R. Singer, S. Koehler & Carnevali, B. marginata (Lindley) R. Singer, S. Koehler & Carnevali, B. phoenicanthera (Barbosa Rodrigues) R. Singer, S. Koehler & Carnevali, B. picta (Hooker) R. Singer, S. Koehler & Carnevali, B. polyantha (Barbosa Rodrigues) R. Singer, S. Koehler & Carnevali, B. porphyrostele (Reichenbach f.) R. Singer, S. Koehler & Carnevali, B. schunkeana (Campacci & Kautsky) R. Singer, S. Koehler & Carnevali, and B. ubatubana (Hoehne) R. Singer, S. Koehler & Carnevali. Lectotypes are designated for B. barbozae, B. chrysantha, B. heismanniana, B. phoenicanthera, B. picta, and B. polyantha. A neotype is proposed for B. consanguinea. In addition, a key to distinguish Brasiliorchis from other sympatric bifoliate orchids within Brazilian Maxillariinae is presented.

Two new species, Festuca renvoizei Stančík and F. urubambana Stančík (Poaceae, Loliinae), from the Peruvian Andes are described. Festuca renvoizei (subg. Festuca L. sect. Festuca L.) comes from the páramo (jalca) zone of northern Peru, while F. urubambana (subg. Erosiflorae E. B. Alexeev) grows in humid mountain forests in southern Peru (Cuzco region). Both species are endemic to Peru. Data for evaluation of IUCN conservation status are deficient, but both species seem to be rare and probably vulnerable.

Psychotria chamelaensis C. M. Taylor & E. Domínguez-Licona was previously confused with P. erythrocarpa Schlechtendal, but this new species can be recognized by its longer narrow calyx lobes and moderate to dense, usually appressed pubescence. It is well documented by specimens from the Chamela Biological Station in Jalisco, Mexico, and is so far known only from at or near that site.

Based on herbarium and field studies of the Neotropical genus Swartzia Schreber (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae), seven new combinations are made: S. colombiana (R. S. Cowan) Torke, S. emarginata (Ducke) Torke, S. glabrata (R. S. Cowan) Torke, S. kaieteurensis (R. S. Cowan) Torke, S. klugii (R. S. Cowan) Torke, S. peruviana (R. S. Cowan) Torke, and S. polita (R. S. Cowan) Torke. All of these involve the recognition of former varieties as species due to the discovery of highly correlated morphological discontinuities, often corroborated by geographical and/or habitat separation, among the newly elevated species and closely related species. In addition, some 14 new species-level synonyms are proposed. Notable among these are: S. aureosericea R. S. Cowan (synonym of S. macrosema Harms), S. benthamiana var. yatuensis R. S. Cowan (synonym of S. rosea Martius ex Bentham), S. flaemingii var. cognata R. S. Cowan (synonym of S. polita), S. huallagae D. R. Simpson (synonym of S. calva R. S. Cowan), S. peremarginata R. S. Cowan (synonym of S. riedelii R. S. Cowan), S. racemosa var. major R. S. Cowan (synonym of S. klugii), and S. stipellata R. S. Cowan (synonym of S. anomala R. S. Cowan).

Passiflora venusta R. Vásquez & M. Delanoy, a new species of subgenus Passiflora L. ser. Laurifoliae Killip ex Cervi (Passifloraceae) is described and illustrated. Passiflora venusta differs from the other species belonging to this series by a unique combination of characteristics: flowers are large (ca. 12 cm diam.) and solitary; sepals and petals are white outside and red-purple inside; outside, sepal veins are white whereas petal veins are red; corona filaments are long and the outermost rank of filaments is noticeably shorter and thinner than the second rank; and fruits are 3.9–5.9 cm long with an endocarp no more than 0.5 cm thick.

The species of the Brazilian genus Hoffmannseggella H. G. Jones (Orchidaceae, Laeliinae) are under investigation as part of a biosystematic study. A new species, H. viridiflora Verola & Semir, is recognized by differences in morphological characters, such as the spatulate petals and reduced lip, the greenish yellow coloration of the perianth, and the chromosome number, 2n  =  44. Its relationship with closely related taxa, such as H. bradei (Pabst) V. P. Castro & Chiron, is discussed.

Orthophytum itambense Versieux & Leme is described and illustrated as a new species, with an endemic distribution restricted to Pico do Itambé State Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil. This new lithophytic taxon is closely related to O. supthutii E. Gross & Barthlott due to the shape and texture of leaves, floral bracts with recurved apex, sessile inflorescence, and by the long tubular corolla. The new species differs from its closest relatives by having leaves white-lepidote abaxially and adaxially, with trichomes forming white transverse cross-bands adaxially, nearly free sepals, white corolla, and shorter petal appendages (only to 4 mm vs. to 7 mm in O. supthutii).

A new species, Petrocodon ferrugineus Y. G. Wei (Gesneriaceae) from Guangxi Province in southern China, is described and illustrated. Its relationship with Petrocodon dealbatus Hance is discussed. The new species is distinguished by the dense villous pubescence of the leaves, bracts, and plant axes; filaments that are linear, glabrous, curved, and somewhat expanded in the middle; and fruits with 4-loculicidal, but not septicidally dehiscent, capsules.

Sinojackia huangmeiensis J. W. Ge & X. H. Yao, a new species of Sinojackia Hu from Hubei Province, central China, is described and illustrated. It is similar to S. xylocarpa Hu. The new species differs from S. xylocarpa, however, in its smaller flowers with broadly ovate petals and smaller fruit bearing a papillate short beak.