Asplenium ×rouyi, the hybrid of A. onopteris and A. scolopendrium, previously found only once, more than 100 years ago in continental Portugal, was rediscovered on Faial Island, Azores, in 1999. Its morphology, cytology and ecology are described for the first time.

Continuing a series of miscellaneous contributions, by various authors, where hitherto unpublished data relevant to the Med-Checklist project are presented, this instalment deals with the families Isoetaceae; Amaranthaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Boraginaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Cistaceae, Compositae, Cruciferae, Labiatae, Leguminosae, Lythraceae, Onagraceae, Polygonaceae, Rafflesiaceae, Rosaceae, Salicaceae, Sapindaceae, Solanaceae, Umbelliferae, Violaceae; Cyperaceae, Gramineae, Hydrocharitaceae, and Juncaceae. It includes new country and area records, taxonomic and distributional considerations. A new species of Halimium is described and illustrated. New names and combinations are validated in Amelanchier and Lonicera.

Ranunculus (sect. Ranunculastrum) veronicae, showing some similarities with R. subhomophyllus, is described as new to science and illustrated. The early flowering species is known only from a single population in the westernmost part of the island of Crete, where it grows at low altitude on schistose rock under Platanus orientalis trees.

The continuation of studies on Phragmites frutescens in Crete revealed its taxonomic distinctness and fairly wide distribution in Crete as well as in Greece in general. A revised morphological description and differentiation against P. australis and P. mauritianus are presented. As a result, the synonymisation of this tall, woody, branched, winter-flowering reed with P. australis is rejected. Its preferred habitats are described as being near permanent water. It is considered to have evolved in isolation from the tropical P. mauritianus after post-glacial desertification of northern Africa. By now most stands of P. frutescens have been heavily devastated by anthropogenic action.

Teucrium heterophyllum, a species originally described from Madeira and also distributed in the Canary Islands, is subdivided into three subspecies on the basis of differences in the calyx length, in the size of the branched, non-glandular trichomes on calyx and leaves, and in their distribution areas. From the Canary Islands T. heterophyllum subsp. hierrense, endemic to El Hierro, and subsp. brevipilosum, endemic to Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera (?) and La Palma, are described as new to science. A key to and a distribution map of the three subspecies are provided.

Three species, Aristida fredscholzii from Oman, Stipagrostis affinis from SE Egypt and NW Sudan and S. fallax from the Nanga Parbat region, N Pakistan, are described as new to science. The first record of Stipagrostis libyca from Sudan refers to a new subspecies, S. libyca subsp. darfurensis.

Hieracium rizense, H. tersundagense, H. spodocephalum and H. polygonifolium, four species of H. subg. Hieracium from the Black Sea Region, which is one of the main centres of diversity of the genus in Turkey, are described as new to science and illustrated.

Arabis (sect. Drabopsis) lycia is described as a species new to science and illustrated, and its taxonomic position close to A. bryoides of the S Balkans is discussed. SEM micrographs of the indumentum of A. lycia and its relatives (A. bryoides, A. carduchorum, A. drabiformis) are presented and their ecological requirements outlined. The new species is a subalpine cushion-forming plant of shaded vertical limestone rocks along the ridge of the Bakirli Daği in the eastern part of the Western Taurus in Turkey. The chasmophytic habit and its stenochory suggests that A. lycia should be included in the list of relic endemics known from the mountains W of the Bay of Antalya.

Distribution maps for 19 prominent woody adventive gymnosperms, dicots and monocots, which are established in the Flora Palaestina area but not included in Flora Palaestina, ed. 1, are presented, showing their presence in grid areas of 5 × 5 km in Israel, and data on their introduction, habitats and dispersal modes are given in this preparatory contribution for the second edition of Flora Palaestina.

The genera and species of the subtribe Hypochaeridinae occurring in the Arabian Peninsula are studied and data on their taxonomy and distribution given. Six genera have been recorded. Picris is represented by four species, i.e. P. babylonica, P. cyanocarpa, P. longirostris and P. scabra (with two subspecies), the other genera are represented by one species each, i.e. Hedypnois cretica, Hypochaeris glabra, Leontodon laciniatus, Rhagadiolus stellatus and Urospermum picroides. The subtribe is absent from the Socotra archipelago. The new combination Picris scabra subsp. abyssinica is validated and a neotype designated for P. scabra. Chromosome counts are reported for Yemeni origins of Picris scabra subsp. abyssinica (2n = 10), subsp. scabra (2n = 10, first report) and Urospermum picroides (2n = 10).

The chromosome numbers of 31 taxa belonging to 14 families of angiosperms collected from different regions of Saudi Arabia are reported. These include first chromosome number reports for six species: Anabasis setifera 2n=18, Cleome amblyocarpa 2n=20, Halopeplis perfoliata 2n=18, Lavandula coronopifolia 2n=42, Lycium shawii 2n=24 and Salvia deserti 2n=48. A new basic number and/or a new ploidy level is reported for two species: Asphodelus tenuifolius 2n=4x=52 and Heliotropium lasiocarpum 2n=4x=32. The chromosome numbers of the other 23 species are the first reports from Saudi Arabian populations: Abrus precatorius 2n=22, Alhagi camelorum 2n=16 2B, Amaranthus spinosus 2n=34, Astragalus abyssinicus 2n=16, Bienertia cycloptera 2n=18, Capparis spinosa 2n= 38, Chenopodium album 2n=54, C. ambrosioides 2n=32, C. ficifolium 2n=18, C. glaucum 2n=18, C. murale 2n=18, Datura innoxia 2n=24, Halocnemum strobilaceum 2n=18, Leptadenia pyrotechnica 2n=22, Moltkiopsis ciliata 2n=12, Rumex dentatus 2n=40, Salvia aegyptiaca 2n=28, S. spinosa 2n=20, Senna alexandrina 2n=28, Sesuvium sesuvioides 2n=16, Silene apetala 2n=24, Withania somnifera 2n=48 and Zygophyllum coccineum 2n=16. Karyotype analyses for six species, viz. Alhagi camelorum, Astragalus abyssinicus, Datura innoxia, Moltkiopsis ciliata, Sesuvium sesuvioides and Rumex dentatus are presented.

Sterigmostemum laevicaule, described by Bornmüller in 1910, has been a nomen dubium since the single specimen ever known was destroyed in Berlin-Dahlem in 1943. A search in the type locality produced evidence that the description actually refers to Erysimum crassicaule, a name that has priority. A corresponding neotype is designated for S. laevicaule.

Two genera of the Umbelliferae, Tordyliopsis and Keraymonia, previously not known from China, have been revealed on the basis of original collections made by German-Chinese expeditions to Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region and adjacent areas. Tordyliopsis brunonis, gathered on the Tibetan side of the Mt Everest massif, was known only from India and Nepal. The mature fruit of Tordylopsis is described from Nepalese material. Keraymonia cortiformis, found in the Tibetan part of Mt Xixabangma, belongs to a genus with its previously known distribution limited to the Nepalese Himalaya. Findings of two additional species from other genera, Chamaesium mallaeanum, from Xizang (Xixabangma), and Aulacospermum stylosum from Xinjiang (Karakorum, K2 North slope), are also new to the Chinese flora.

Marcgravia zonopunctata is described as a species new to science and illustrated. The species is remarkable for its hypophyllous glands arranged in bands on the lower leaf surface (not known before from Marcgravia), for its peculiar shape of the nectary bracts and for its inflorescences appearing on short-shoots (as far known). This is the first species of an unranked, obviously natural group within Marcgravia (Galeatae group) known to range in Amazonia and at low altitudes. Some features of this Galeatae group are discussed here (e.g. pollination, distribution, leaf anatomy) and a key to its species is given.

76 taxa of mainly epiphytic and epigeous lichens are reported from Mt Vourinos in Makedhonia, Greece. 12 taxa are new to Greece, viz. Buellia erubescens, B. insignis, Caloplaca cerina var. muscorum, C. necator, Cladonia merochlorophaea var. novochlorophaea, Lecanora leptyrodes, Parmelia subargentifera, Physcia dubia, Ramalina fraxinea var. calicariformis, Rinodina conradi, R. septentrionalis and Scoliciosporum umbrinum var. corticola. Seven additional taxa are new to the Greek mainland, viz. Aspicilia cheresina var. justii, Caloplaca conglomerata, Candelariella reflexa, Cladonia symphycarpa, Parmelia pulla var. pokornyi, P. tinctina and Pertusaria rhodiensis. Ecological aspects are briefly discussed.