A new species from the W part of the Iranian Zagros Mountains in Ilam province, Dionysia robusta (Primulaceae), is described, illustrated and compared with similar and related species. It differs from these relatives in leaf shape, length and density of glandular hairs, and shape of the calyx. The DNA sequence of the nuclear ribosomal ITS region of D. robusta is most similar to that of D. gaubae.

Version of record first published online on 1 April 2016 ahead of inclusion in April 2016 issue.

Allium dumanii Koyuncu & Koçyiğit, a new species in A. sect. Codonoprasum (Rchb.) Endl. from Kahramanmaraş and Malatya, Anatolia, is described and illustrated. It is compared with the possibly related A. armenum Boiss. & Kotschy. The karyomorphology of A. dumanii and A. armenum is also presented and discussed. The chromosome number of the new species is 2n = 16.

Version of record first published online on 1 April 2016 ahead of inclusion in April 2016 issue.

We investigated 28 taxa of the genus Achillea from 85 natural populations. The chromosome numbers of 75 populations are presented for the first time, all showing a basic number of 9 chromosomes. The chromosome numbers of A. alexandri-regis and A. lucana have not previously been reported (both diploid with 2n = 2x = 18). New ploidy levels are reported for A. ageratifolia subsp. ageratifolia (tetraploid with 2n = 4x = 36) and for A. stricta (octoploid with 2n = 8x = 72). B-chromosomes were observed in one population each of A. fraasii and A. holosericea. There are confirmed indications in literature for the other chromosome numbers. The karyotype was investigated for 27 taxa from 79 natural populations. Haploid karyotypes in all taxa of Achillea are highly homogeneous with seven metacentric and two submeta- to subtelocentric chromosomes, the latter with satellites. Karyotypes are indicated for the first time for ten taxa, viz. Achillea alexandri-regis, A. atrata, A. erba-rotta, A. grandifolia, A. lucana, A. macrophylla, A. moschata, A. nana, A. pindicola subsp. integrifolia, A. ptarmica and A. tomentosa. A deviating karyotype was found in plants from one single A. holosericea population. The phylogenetic relevance of cytological data for Achillea is discussed.

Version of record first published online on 1 April 2016 ahead of inclusion in April 2016 issue.

Paspalum thunbergii, a weedy species native to E Asia, is reported for the first time from W Europe. In Italy a naturalized population was detected in 2014 in a heathland in Boscaccio (Lentate sul Seveso; Monza and Brianza province, Lombardia region). A subsequent revision of local herbaria revealed the existence of a second population, also in Lombardia, discovered in Mortara (Pavia province) in 2011 and now confirmed. The taxonomy and nomenclature of this species are briefly discussed, as are its ecology and habitat preferences. An original line drawing and photographs of the species and its habitat are provided. An updated identification key for the species of Paspalum in Europe is also presented.

Version of record first published online on 1 April 2016 ahead of inclusion in April 2016 issue.

The genus Disocactus is native to Mexico and Central America and includes 11 species in four subgenera: D. subg. Ackermannia, D. subg. Aporocactus, D. subg. Disocactus and D. subg. Nopalxochia. Phylogenetic reconstruction was carried out with data from DNA sequences using the maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference criteria to explore the monophyly of the genus, its subgenera and its position within Hylocereeae. Six chloroplast markers (matK, psbA-trnH, rpl16, trnL-F, trnQ-rps16 and ycf1) were sequenced in ten species of Disocactus, 17 representatives from the remaining genera of Hylocereeae and five members of outgroups (Acanthocereus, Lemaireocereus and Pereskia). Our phylogenetic analysis supports neither the monophyly of Disocactus as it is currently defined nor that of the subgenera. The clade Disocactus s.str. was recovered for 13 species, including Epiphyllum anguliger, E. crenatum and E. lepidocarpum. Three subclades were observed within this clade, and three well-supported sister-species relationships were recovered: D. eichlamii and D. quezaltecus; D. biformis and D. nelsonii; and D. ackermannii and D. phyllanthoides. Disocactus speciosus subsp. aurantiacus was not recovered in the clade of D. speciosus. Epiphyllum and Pseudorhipsalis are identified as sister clades of Disocactus. Based on the obtained results, a new circumscription for Disocactus is proposed.

Version of record first published online on 1 April 2016 ahead of inclusion in April 2016 issue.

Two well-defined new species of Iresine from Mexico are described based on character data covering vegetative and floral morphology, pollen, and sequences of plastid matK-trnK, trnL-F and rpl16 as well as nuclear ITS. We provide morphological and molecular descriptions, as well as a discussion on diagnostic characters and taxonomic affinities. Both species are distributed in cloud forests; I. borschii is known only from two collections in Veracruz, whereas I. sousae has been collected several times in Oaxaca and Chiapas. Both species are illustrated from herbarium specimens to facilitate their recognition. New field collections and observations are needed to improve our knowledge on the habitat and conservation status of these new species.

Version of record first published online on 6 April 2016 ahead of inclusion in April 2016 issue.

The island of Chalki, located W of Rhodos, belongs to the East Aegean Islands and is situated at the E part of the South Aegean Island Arc. The flora of Chalki consists of 519 vascular plant taxa, 29 of which are under statutory protection, 22 are Greek endemics and 109 are reported here for the first time. We show that Chalki has the second highest percentage of Greek endemics in the phytogeographical region of the East Aegean Islands. The known distribution of Limonium ocymifolium, L. sitiacum and Phoenix theophrasti is expanded, being reported for the first time for the phytogeographical region of the East Aegean Islands. Finally, we assess for the first time the conservation status of Allium chalkii, a single-island endemic, by biomonitoring its populations.

Version of record first published online on 6 April 2016 ahead of inclusion in April 2016 issue.

A small collection of lichenized fungi belonging in the Dictyonema clade from E Africa and Mauritius, tentatively identified as D. sericeum, revealed four species new to science, one in the genus Cyphellostereum and three in the genus Dictyonema s.str. Cyphellostereum bicolor from Mauritius is similar to C. imperfectum from Guatemata, but differs in the absence of a persistent white hypothallus and the less compact hyphal sheath of the fibrils, as well as the formation of resupinate hymenophores. Dictyonema album, also from Mauritius, belongs in the group of shelf-like morphotypes and is characterized within this group by very loose tufts dominated by sterile hyphae with very loosely arranged cyanobacterial fibrils. Dictyonema krogiae from Kenya is another new species in the group with shelf-like thalli and is the first species in this group known to form a distinctly layered thallus, with very compact photobiont layer, loose medulla, and more compact lower cortex. Finally, Dictyonema tricolor from Tanzania is a crustose taxon with ascending to erect tufts of densely arranged cyanobacterial fibrils, with the hyphal sheath becoming brown and the tip of the tufts whitish. In addition, Dictyonema coppinsii is reported from Mauritius.

Version of record first published online on 6 April 2016 ahead of inclusion in April 2016 issue.

The group of Centaurea (sect. Acrolophus) cineraria (Compositae) in Sicily includes four currently accepted species plus four taxa that have been considered, with some doubt, as subspecies of one of them (C. panormitana). In total, discounting recombinations and replacement names, 11 names (seven specific, three varietal, one of a forma), all based on Sicilian material, were published by past authors for these eight taxa. Two of the names had their holotype indicated upon publication; two have been lectotypified previously; six (C. busambarensis var. obtusiloba, C. cineraria var. soluntina, C. cineraria var. umbrosa, C. todaroi, C. todaroi f. seguenzae and C. ucriae) are lectotypified here; and C. panormitana is neotypified. The whole group is extremely variable and the delimitation of most taxa is still uncertain. Pending further study, including the sampling of wild populations, no taxonomic reassessment is therefore attempted here, with one exception: the merger of C. panormitana subsp. ucriae with C. panormitana subsp. panormitana.

Version of record first published online on 7 March 2016 ahead of inclusion in April 2016 issue.

Concerning the genus Trichocline (Asteraceae: Mutisieae), a neotype is designated for the name Bichenia aurea (≡ T. aurea) and lectotypes are designated for the names Onoseris heterophylla (≡ T. heterophylla), T. humilis and T. linearifolia. Nomenclatural and taxonomic information and IUCN conservation status assessments are given for the four species T. aurea, T. heterophylla, T. humilis and T. linearifolia. In addition, a new record of T. heterophylla for Argentina is reported.

Version of record first published online on 11 March 2016 ahead of inclusion in April 2016 issue.

Pfadenhauer J. S. & Klötzli F. A.: Vegetation der Erde. Grundlagen, Ökologie, Verbreitung. — Berlin & Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 2014. — ISBN 978-3-642-41949-2 (Hardcover), ISBN 978-3-642-41950-8 (eBook). — xiv + 643pp. — Price: EUR 79,99 (Hardcover), EUR 62,99 (eBook).

Citation: Bergmeier E. 2016: Book review: Pfadenhauer J. S. & Klötzli F. A.: Vegetation der Erde. Grundlagen, Ökologie, Verbreitung. — Willdenowia 46: 37–38. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3372/wi.46.46104

Version of record first published online on 11 March 2016 ahead of inclusion in April 2016 issue.

The use of DNA sequence data in plant systematics has brought us closer than ever to formulating well-founded hypotheses about phylogenetic relationships, and phylogenetic research keeps on revealing that plant genera as traditionally circumscribed often are not monophyletic. Here, we assess the monophyly of all genera of vascular plants found in Germany. Using a survey of the phylogenetic literature, we discuss which classifications would be consistent with the phylogenetic relationships found and could be followed, provided monophyly is accepted as the primary criterion for circumscribing taxa. We indicate whether and which names are available when changes in generic assignment are made (but do not present a comprehensive review of the nomenclatural aspects of such names). Among the 840 genera examined, we identified c. 140 where data quality is sufficiently high to conclude that they are not monophyletic, and an additional c. 20 where monophyly is questionable but where data quality is not yet sufficient to reach convincing conclusions. While it is still fiercely debated how a phylogenetic tree should be translated into a classification, our results could serve as a guide to the likely consequences of systematic research for the taxonomy of the German flora and the floras of neighbouring countries.

Version of record first published online on 24 March 2016 ahead of inclusion in April 2016 issue.

The seven species currently placed in the genus Nashia are revised, based on the near totality of the (scant) material found in the world's herbaria. A morphological analysis of, in particular, the calyx and fruit reveals the heterogeneity of that genus. As a result, Nashia is reduced to its single original species, N. inaguensis, described from Great Inagua, Bahamas (where it is here considered to have been introduced by man), and recently found on Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands (St Croix). Nashia spinifera, of Hispaniola, is placed in Isidroa, a monotypic new genus. The five Cuban endemics, plus two newly described here, make up the new genus Diphyllocalyx, formerly Lippia sect. Diphyllocalyx of Grisebach. The formal treatment of all nine taxa comprises synonymy, type citation, detailed descriptions, specimen citation, distribution maps, and a key for identification. Possible evolutionary scenarios as well as conservation status are discussed.

Version of record first published online on 4 January 2016 ahead of inclusion in April 2016 issue.

We analysed plant collecting in Germany between 1826 and 2014 by counting specimens of common, rare, and invasive species deposited in the herbaria of Munich during that period. Plant collecting increased in the late 1940s and continued until the mid-1980s, but has since declined to levels similar to 1900. In spite of the decline in collecting, the number of specimens of invasive species has strongly increased. The only other attempt to analyse botanical collecting in a large European region, an analysis of botanical recording in the British Isles 1836 to 1988, did not find a decline by the mid-1980s. For the United States, an analysis of collecting between the 1890s and 1999 found that it peaked in the 1930s. Museum time-series (representing the same species collected at different times) have been integral to identifying temporal responses to environmental change, for example, changed flowering times in response to an earlier onset of spring and the change of a region's floristic composition. A possible way to combat the likely loss of time-series in European herbaria is for collection personal to engage with biology teachers at high schools and universities to encourage the collecting of local plants as part of courses in the life sciences.

Version of record first published online on 25 March 2016 ahead of inclusion in April 2016 issue.

Study of the type material of Senecio euryphyllus C. Winkl. (≡ Ligularia euryphylla (C. Winkl.) Hand.-Mazz.) in the LE, K and PE herbaria revealed that each of the three sheets consists of a mixture of two different taxa: L. tongolensis (Franch.) Hand.-Mazz. and Nannoglottis carpesioides Maxim. Lectotypes for Senecio euryphyllus, S. tongolensis Franch. (≡ L. tongolensis) and S. monbeigii H. Lév. are designated. Ligularia euryphylla joins S. monbeigii as a synonym of L. tongolensis.

Version of record first published online on 25 March 2016 ahead of inclusion in April 2016 issue.