Sertifera hirtziana Baranow & Kolan. sp. nova (Orchidaceae, Sobralieae) is described and illustrated based on Ecuadorian material. It resembles S. colombiana and S. albiflora but its erect, stiff, unequally bidentate leaves, short peduncle and lack of basal lip callus make it easily distinguishable from congenerics. Based on the inflorescence structure S. hirtziana is classified within the nominal section of Sertifera. An updated identification key to species of Sertifera the section Sertifera is provided.

Iran, especially the northwestern part of the country, is the center of diversity of the genus Astragalus section Hymenostegis in the Old World. A new species A. blattneri Bagheri & Maassoumi of that section from East Azarbayjan Province in NW Iran is here described and illustrated based on morphology and nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and plastid ycf1 sequence data. It morphologically resembles A. chrysostachys and A. recognitus but differs from these species by DNA sequences and several morphological characters.

Prescottia sibundoyensis S. Nowak, Kolan., Medina Tr. & Szlach. sp. nova (Orchidaceae) is described and illustrated from Colombia. It resembles P. lojana, but differs from it by hyaline-white, crisped-dentate leaf blade margins and prominent floral bracts. Prescottia sibundoyensis can also be distinguished by its long leaf petiole, truncate leaf base, translucent-white tepals, linear-oblanceolate petals, lip lacking prominent midvein and by having longer, somewhat twisted and upcurved basal auricles. A key to identification of Prescottia species from Colombia and Ecuador is provided.

Alpinia vietnamica H.Đ. Trần, Luu & škorničk. sp. nova (Zingiberaceae: Alpinieae) from the sect. Alpinia subsect. Catimbium with rugose leaves is described here. It occurs in central Vietnam and has been previously misidentified as A. rugosa described from Hainan, China. A detailed description, illustrations, as well as notes on distribution, ecology and phenology of the new species are given.

Rubus ovatisepalus Huan C. Wang, a new species of Rosaceae from Yunnan and Xizang, southwest China, is described and illustrated. It is closely related to R. stans, but clearly differs from the latter by its arched main stems, flower-branchlets that are longer than 20 cm, 5–7 cm long and 3.5–5 cm wide terminal leaflets, terminal inflorescences having numerous flowers, racemiform cymes, ovate to triangular-ovate and adaxially tomentose sepals with a long-acuminate to caudate apex, white or light pink petals, and an ovoid to conical gynoecium.

During the studies on Pleurothallidinae (Orchidaceae), a new species of Lepanthes with unusual connate petals was discovered in the Colombian material. Here we describe it as Lepanthes torquipetala Szlach. & Archila, sp. nova. We provide its morphological description and an illustration, and briefly discuss its taxonomic position.

Hymenorchis papuana Kolan. & S. Nowak sp. nova (Orchidaceae) discovered among material collected in Papua New Guinea is described and illustrated. It resembles H. brassii from which it differs by the serrate leaf margin, glabrous ovary, obovate-deltoid petals and lip being microscopically irregular only in the apical part. The known populations of H. papuana and H. brassii are located about 900 km from each other. The comparative morphology of these two species is presented and an identification key to the species of Hymenorchis is provided.

Aristolochia binhthuanensis T.V. Do (Aristolochiaceae), a new species from southern Vietnam, is described and illustrated. It is characterized by a cordate to round leaf blade, 11–14 × 8–12 cm, glabrous on both surfaces, and palmately 9-nerved at base; cymes 2–3-flowered on inflorescence axes up to 5 mm long; broadly ovate bracteole, 7–12 × 4–6 mm; yellow perianth; sessile, oblong-ovate utricle, 8–13 × 5–8 mm; 1-lipped, sagittate limb with the upper part ovate-lanceolate, 12–16 × 7–9 mm, bent backward and with an acute apex; and 6-lobed gynostemium with conical apices. Based on morphology the new species is placed into Aristolochia subgenus Aristolochia series Aristolochia. A detailed description, notes on phenology, distribution and ecology as well as comparison with morphologically similar species are presented. An identification key to the Vietnamese species of Aristolochia subgenus Aristolochia is provided.

Alnus betulifolia G.Y. Li, Z.H. Chen & D.D. Ma (Betulaceae), a new species of Betulaceae from Zhejiang, eastern China, is described and illustrated. It is similar to the Japanese endemic A. firma, but differs from it by being a shrub, often 2–3 m tall, and by having male inflorescences single and compact, and female inflorescences usually single or double in lateral branches above male inflorescences.

Aristolochia assamica D. Borah & T.V. Do (Aristolochiaceae), a new species from the East Himalayas (NE India) is described and illustrated. It has purplish to greenish terete stems, brownish ovate-lanceolate bracteoles with a short stalk at base and acuminate apex, cymes with 2–15 flowers, fasciculate, on extremely short inflorescence axes, a sessile utricle, creamy-white to greenish-yellow perianth with a brownish patch on its throat, a 1-lobed limb, oblong linear with a twisted cauda, and a 6-lobed gynostemium. According to these morphological characteristics, A. assamica should be placed in Aristolochia subgenus Aristolochia series Aristolochia. A detailed description, phenology, distribution and ecology as well as comparison with four morphologically closely similar species is presented. In addition, a key to the Indian species of Aristolochia subgenus Aristolochia section Aristolochia is provided.

Oreocharis ovatilobata Q. Fu & Y.Q. Wang (Gesneriaceae) a new species from Guizhou Province in southwest China, is described and illustrated. It is morphologically similar to O. pankaiyuae and O. mairei, but differs from these congeners in particular by possessing ovate corolla lobes with purplish red spots at the obtuse apex, glandular-pubescent bracts and pistil, and by its adaxially white-pubescent leaf blade. Morphology (SEM) of leaf epidermis and seed coat of O. ovatilobata is also different from that of O. pankaiyuae.

Controlled burning is often used to improve plant structure on rangelands adapted to fire. However, possible damage resulting from post-fire grazing to reappearing desirable plant species may be a serious issue hindering usage of this method. Axillary buds are essential for the re-establishment of the photosynthetic leaf area. We studied if post-burn defoliation affects the number of axillary buds and/or their metabolic activity in Poa ligularis, Nassella tenuis (both desirable plant species) and Amelichloa ambigua (undesirable plant species). We found that the treatments limited neither bud production nor their metabolic activity. The greatest number of total and viable buds in the studied plant species was recorded at the vegetative stage. Poa ligularis had the lowest bud number per tiller but the greatest per plant. Our results thus indicate that moderate defoliation after controlled burning does not affect the survival and productivity of the desirable species.

Based on morphological, cytological and molecular data, a new species of Gesneriaceae, Petrocodon jiangxiensis F. Wen, L.F. Fu & L.Y. Su from Jiangxi Province, China, is described and illustrated. Morphologically, it resembles the most P. asterocalyx. Both species have axillary cymes, an actinomorphic calyx and similarly shaped corolla, but P. jiangxiensis can be easily distinguished by ovate-elliptic to broadly ovate leaf blades, three bracts with a crenulate to serrate margin, smaller calyx lobes 5–6 × ca. 1 mm, smaller corolla 1.7–2.3 cm long, and glabrous anthers. Petrocodon jiangxiensis has a 2n = 36 somatic chromosome number.

Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by means of natural selection lacked valid hypotheses on the nature and mechanism of inheritance as well as on the origin and preservation of biological variation. Gregor Mendel complemented Darwin's theory by presenting in his corpuscular theory of inheritance solutions to both problems. In addition to the discovery of the basic rules of the mechanism of heredity, he showed that the hereditary material is constituted of independent and discrete elements which recombine during the gamete formation and fertilization in sexual reproduction of organisms thus creating a huge amount of persistent genetic variation.

Schismatoglottis porpax S.Y. Wong, Kartini & P.C. Boyce (Araceae) is described as a new species of the Schismatoglottis Multinervia Complex and compared with congenious species, notably with the morphologically closest taxon S. hayi. Schismatoglottis porpax raises the number of species in the Multinervia Complex to five, and furthermore represents the first record of the Multinervia Complex for Sabah. Schismatoglottis porpax is illustrated from living plants, and the spadices of the five described species of the Multinervia Complex are compared.

Crocodeilanthe chachapoyensis Damian sp. nova (Orchidaceae: Pleurothallidinae), a new species from Amazonas, Peru, is proposed. It is similar in overall morphology to the Ecuadorian C. molleturoi. However, C. chachapoyensis is distinguished by its shorter ramicauls, larger resupinate flowers and 3-lobed, callose-free lip with a pair of cavities above the base. A line drawing and habitat information are provided as well as a comparison with morphologically similar species.

Eriocaulon karaavalense Darsh., R.K. Choudhary, Datar & G.R. Rao (Eriocaulaceae) is described and illustrated as a new species from the Western Ghats, India. It is closely similar to E. kanarense but differs from it by the number of peduncles, linear-lanceolate leaves, glandular female petals, non-beaked seeds, and ribbon-shaped seed appendages. Eriocaulon karaavalense is also similar to E. palghatense and E. odoratum but differs from the former by hemispherical white heads, unequal male petals, and remarkably longer peduncles; and from the latter by linear-lanceolate leaves, white heads and seed appendages in the form of split ribbon-like bands. Phylogenetic analysis based on ITS and trnL-F loci confirmed the status of E. karaavalense as a distinct species.

Historical (mainly 1930s) and contemporary records of 482 vascular plant species or genera of non-littoral areas of 464 islands in the archipelago of SW Finland were compared, to visualise changes in distribution patterns, and to identify environmental variables that affect the distribution of the species. The environmental variables were measured in a GIS. Logistic regression analysis was used to find variables that affect the probability of species occurrences. Results, with distribution maps, are presented for each species. This seventh and final part of the series contains results of the family Poaceae and a synthesis of the whole study.

In 1984, Benjamin Øllgaard and his colleagues during their expedition to Ecuador discovered a new species of Elleanthus (Orchidaceae). They deposited the original material in the Missouri Botanical Garden Herbarium but they failed to publish a description of their discovery. A few years later in 1991, Calaway H. Dodson named it Elleanthus ollgardii on the herbarium sheet but again no description was published. Based on our studies and comparisons with other herbarium materials we validate and illustrate E. ollgaardii Dudek & Szlach. as a species new to science.

Curcuma putii Maknoi & Jenjitt., a new species from central Thailand, is described here. This species is similar to C. ecomata, a species in Curcuma subg. Ecomatae, but differs from it by having yellow staminodes, whitish-green or pale-green bract, and 15–40 cm long peduncle.

Ligularia philanthrax Lazkov & Sennikov sp. nova (Asteraceae) is a new species from Kyrgyzstan, narrowly distributed in the Turkestan Mountain Range. It differs from the most similar species, L. pavlovii (Syrdarya Karatau Mts., Kazakhstan) by having fewer scales at its stem base, oblong-obovate basal and lower cauline leaves with narrow herbaceous sheaths, and by having more numerous longer ligulate flowers. Ligularia philanthrax occurs in the Sülüktü coal mining region and is considered Critically Endangered because of its restricted distribution, anthropogenic impact and a high level of grazing.

A new moss species, Distichophyllum shevockii B.C. Tan, Ochyra, B.C. Ho & Bedn.Ochyra (Daltoniaceae), is described and illustrated from the material collected on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. The species is closely related to D. noguchianum — a species endemic to the Philippine island of Mindoro — from which it is easily distinguished by its leaves that are abruptly piliferous, with a very long, smooth, straight or flexuose, capillaceous acumen, usually as long as up to half of the leaf lamina. These two species, along with D. iwatsukii from Borneo, belong to Distichophyllum sect. Platyovatophyllum which has isomorphic and non-complanate leaves, giving the plants a hirsute overall appearance unlike most other congeners.

The taxonomy and geographic distribution of four subspecies of the arctic Siberian taxon Papaver pulvinatum Tolm., viz. subsp. interius, subsp. alexandri V.V. Petrovsky subsp. nova, subsp. tschuktschorum Tolm. subsp. nova, and the autonymous subspecies, are discussed. The name P. pulvinatum subsp. lenaense Tolm. as interpreted in a previous validation proved to be a synonym of P. nudicaule var. riparium V.V. Petrovsky. The plants treated before as subsp. lenaense are described as a new subspecies, P. pulvinatum subsp. alexandri. The name P. pulvinatum subsp. tschuktschorum is validated. The description of P. pulvinatum subsp. interius is augmented and amplified.

Our goal was to test, whether a classification by means of multivariate analysis could be used to revise the traditional vegetation classification of Cajanderian poor Picea abies mires of Finland, perhaps by including climatic variation alongside the ecological variation. We used agglomerative clustering (cluster analysis) for the classification and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) for interpreting gradients. A four-cluster solution provided a reasonable hierarchic classification with a poorer Rubus chamaemorus–Sphagnum angustifolium main group (including two site types) and a less poor Sphagnum girgensohnii main group (including two site types). The NMDS revealed a climatic south–north gradient (axis 1), an ecological poor–rich (fertility) gradient (axis 2) and a forest–mire gradient (axis 3). Distribution differences among the site types (i.e. climatic result) was a new feature for the Finnish Picea abies mires. The revised vegetation types can help in defining threatened habitat types at the national level as well as can be used in forest planning.

Leaf variegation is a well-known illustration of chimerism in plants, resulting from heterogeneity of genetic material within the shoot apical meristems. The occurrence and manifestation of chimeras in the family Orchidaceae is poorly understood. Therefore, the aims of the present study were to analyze the chimeric phenotype of variegated leaves in wild European orchids and to discuss the taxonomic rank of chimeras. We document the presence of periclinal-mericlinal chimeras in Epipactis purpurata and Cephalanthera damasonium, and discuss the variegated phenotypes in the context of the shoot apical meristem activity. Descriptions of chimeric orchids refer mostly to cultivars and only rarely to wild plants, in which the taxonomic rank of chimeras is uncertain, and not discussed in the literature. Lack of precise rules in the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants results in randomness in chimera categorization and taxonomy. In this article, using orchids as our case study, we discuss the problem of chimeras' taxonomic status. Orchid cultivars and in particular their nomenclature are neither studied nor discussed here.

I used a temperature-sum model to predict the ripening of bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) on a daily basis, using real-time temperature data. The temperature-sum model was developed by fitting to historical data on berry ripening, and by finding a parameter combination that minimizes the model prediction error. The model was then used to predict the timing of berry ripening by using temperature data for a 10 × 10-km grid that covered the entire of Finland. The berry ripening predictions were presented online on a map showing the berry ripening predictions in real time. One third of the users indicated that the model predictions were correct, and another third pointed out that the first berries were already ripened when the model predicted ripening to take place. I, therefore, conclude that the model predicts the bilberry ripening with good accuracy.