Ninety-seven ingroup specimens of Bryoria section Implexae (Parmeliaceae, Lecanoromycetes) were studied using molecular, chemical, morphological and geographic characters. The molecular data included nuclear ribosomal markers (ITS, IGS) and the partial glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene. In addition to parsimony analyses, a haplotype network was constructed. Phylogenetic analyses strongly supported the monophyly of the section Implexae. The specimens were grouped into two monophyletic clades. Clade 1 encompassed all esorediate material from North America, whereas Clade 2 included both sorediate North American material and all European material. Relationships at the species level, however, remained unresolved, except in the case of North American B. implexa chemotype 1 and European B. capillaris. Nevertheless a number of species in each clade can be recognized using traditional morphological, chemical and ecological characters: Bryoria friabilis, B. inactiva sp. nova, B. kockiana sp. nova (supported also by phylogeny), B. pikei and B. pseudofuscescens in Clade 1, and B. capillaris, B. fuscescens, B. implexa, B. kuemmerleana, and B. vrangiana in Clade 2. In addition, North American B. capillaris is proposed for inclusion in B. pikei, while B. chalybeiformis, B. lanestris and B. subcana are used as synonyms of B. fuscescens.

Primula dejuniana G. Hao, C.M. Hu & Y. Xu sp. nova (Primulaceae) is described and illustrated from Sichuan, China. In general morphology it is clearly related to the section Petiolares subsection Davidii, which is characterized by firmly papery or leathery leaves, with veins impressed adaxially, often prominently raised and alveolate abaxially. The new species is similar to P. davidii in the indumentum and to P. tenuituba in the slender long corolla tube, but can be easily distinguished from all other species in this subsection by its leaves with an acute-apiculate apex and a sharp dentate margin.

Populations of the orchid Dactylorhiza sambucina are declining in number and size on the island of Bornholm, Denmark. To study the reasons for this trend, we compiled previously unpublished estimates of population sizes from 1987–2010 and found complicated fluctuations, as population sizes generally increased in the early 1990s but declined after that. We could find no effect of vegetation management, neither were the fluctuations related to suggested climatic factors. High proportions of plants were lost to grazing in the study year; same could be deduced for previous years when more than one census was available. Grazing in spring and early summer may therefore contribute to the decline of D. sambucina, as suggested by others. Populations seemed not to be affected by lack of pollination or population inbreeding, as fruit set and reproductive size was as high as in large and interconnected D. sambucina populations on Öland, Sweden, and as reported in other studies.

A new species, Silene fetlerii D. Pavlova (Caryophyllaceae), found in the Eastern Rhodope Mts., Bulgaria is described. It is distributed in a limited area, mainly in screes and rocky places, and appears to be a new addition to the remarkable serpentine flora. Silene fetlerii belongs to the section Spergulifoliae and is morphologically defined mainly by the following features: anthophore shorter than capsule; small pyriform or 3-sulcate capsules; viscid stem nodes; and a greenish-yellow corolla. The plant is hermaphroditic. The differences between S. fetlerii and the morphlogically similar species are discussed.

Arisaema chauvanminhii Luu, Q.D. Nguyen & N.L. Vu (sect. Fimbriata, Araceae) is described and illustrated as a new species from Bu Gia Map National Park in southern Vietnam. A combination of floral characters distinguishes this species from others in the section: spathe limb stained dark brown dorsally and ventrally, white-spotted at base and, above all, dark brown reticulations on the widely recurved spathe mouth.

Betula hainanensis J. Zeng, B.Q. Ren, J.Y. Zhu & Z.D. Chen (Betulaceae), a new species from Hainan Island, China, is described and illustrated. It is distributed in tropical, montane rain forests and evergreen broad-leaved forests at elevations above 700 m a.s.l., mostly as scattered individuals and occasionally as small populations. Betula hainanensis belongs to the section Betulaster and differs notably from the related species B. alnoides, B. luminifera and B. fujianensis in its morphology and phenology. A key is presented that distinguishes the species in the section Betulaster of Betula.

A new polypore species, Fuscoporia insolita Spirin, Vlasák & Niemelä (Hymenochaetales, Basidiomycota), is described from Khabarovsk Reg., Russian Far East. It is characterized by resupinate or nodulose, tough, dimitic basidiocarps, scarce and short hymenial setae, narrow, cylindrical to fusiform basidiospores, and a unique ITS sequence. DNA data confirm that the species belongs in Fuscoporia. It seems to be a pathogenic species, growing on living angiosperm trees.

Cyclogramma costularisora Ching ex K.H. Shing, described as a new species in 1999, was not validly published because the herbarium in which the types were conserved was not indicated. Here the name is validated by indicating that the holotype is deposited in PE.

Zeuxine rolfiana, an endemic Indian orchid is recollected after 121 years of its typecollection and assessed as ‘Critically Endangered’ in the present paper. A detailed description and photo plates (the first published illustration of the species) are provided to facilitate easy identification. A lectotype is also designated here for the name Z. rolfiana.

Pternopetalum monophyllum J.B. Tan & X.J. He sp. nova (Apiaceae) from Sichuan Province, China is described and illustrated. The differences between P. monophyllum and the two morphologically most similar species P. molle and P. botrychioides are presented and briefly discussed.

Tanacetum tarighii Sonboli sp. nova (Asteraceae, Anthemideae) is described and illustrated from West Azerbaijan Province (northwestern Iran), and placed in Tanacetum sect. Xanthoglossa. It resembles T. chiliophyllum, and is characterized by a canescent indumentum, a patellate capitulum, a long corolla of tubular florets (5 mm) and by distinctly smaller basal leaves; the plant height is up to 18 cm.