Pollen morphology of nine species belonging to six genera of tribe Hemimerideae (representing the basalmost clade of Scrophulariaceae s.str.) was studied and illustrated with light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Pollen grains in Hemimerideae are 3- or 6–8-colpate or 3- or 5–8-colporate, prolate, spheroidal or oblate-spheroidal in shape; they are mainly medium-sized or occasionally small. The outline in polar view is 3-lobed, rounded-3-lobed or 5–8-lobed; the outline in equatorial view is elliptic or orbicular. Exine sculpture is rough, rough-foveolate, foveolate, microreticulate, rugulate, rugulate-foveolate or rugulate-microreticulate. Four major pollen types are recognized, based on original data: 3-colpate (Alonsoa), 6–8-colpate (Diclis, Hemimeris), 3-colporate (Colpias) and 5–8-colporate (Diascia, Nemesia). Within two of these pollen types, two subtypes can be further distinguished based on pollen size, exine sculpture, details of the colpi and endoapertures. Based on pollen morphological data presented here and in our previous studies combined with published molecular phylogenetic data and molecular clock estimates, we conclude that (1) the ancestral pollen type in Scrophulariaceae was 3-colporate with a rather “primitive” exine sculpture; (2) major trends and pathways of further morphological evolution of pollen among the all lineages of Scrophulariaceae were established at the early stages of diversification of the family, about the time of divergence of its main lineages; and (3) the signatures of parallel evolution of the main morphological pollen characters, combined with progressive diversification of exine sculpture patterns, are apparent in all major lineages of the family.

Version of record first published online on 13 February 2017 ahead of inclusion in April 2017 issue.

Kennett T.: The Lord Treasurer of Botany: Sir James Edward Smith and the Linnaean collections. — London: The Linnean Society of London, 2016. — ISBN 978-0-9935510-0-0. — 23.4 × 15.6 cm, 388 pp.; flexibound. — Price: GBP 25.00. — Available at https://www.linnean.org/

Citation: Lack H. W. 2017: Book review: Kennett T.: The Lord Treasurer of Botany: Sir James Edward Smith and the Linnaean collections. — Willdenowia 47: 29–30. doi: https://doi.org/10.3372/wi.47.47103

Version of record first published online on 13 February 2017 ahead of inclusion in April 2017 issue.

Four species of the genus Hyaloscypha are presented for the Canary Islands. The study is based on recent collections and 12 previous records. The earlier reports of the genus (Hyaloscypha fuckelii, H. hyalina and H. leuconica) are corrected. All of the reported species are new to the Canarian archipelago (H. aureliella, H. intacta, H. spiralis and H. strobicola), and only one has been reported before from the Macaronesian region (H. aureliella). A key, descriptions, illustrations and notes about ecology are provided.

Version of record first published online on 13 February 2017 ahead of inclusion in April 2017 issue.

A new species of Violaceae, Decorsella arborea Jongkind, is described and illustrated. The new species differs from the only other species in the genus, D. paradoxa A. Chev., by the larger size of the plants, smaller leaves, more slender flowers, and stamen filaments that are free for a much larger part. Both species are from the Guineo-Congolian forest of tropical Africa. The differences between Decorsella and Rinorea are discussed. Confirming recent reports, some species of Rinorea can have zygomorphic flowers and some of these can be almost equal in shape to Decorsella flowers.

Version of record first published online on 13 February 2017 ahead of inclusion in April 2017 issue.

Using the phylogeny of the tribe Cacteae as a model, we describe and trace the structural traits of its 135 taxa with the goal of reconstructing the growth form and wood evolution within the tribe. The reconstruction of growth form, podaria arrangement, wood, dilated rays, hypodermis cells, cortex and pith was performed using the parsimony method implemented in Mesquite. Although there is a high level of homoplasy, we speculate that many of the anatomical modifications are related to stem biomechanics, while others are adaptations to environmental changes that occurred during the diversification of the tribe during the Miocene period. The different combinations of morphological (podaria) and anatomical characters (dimorphic wood and lignification of the fundamental tissue) favour the maintenance of the growth form by avoiding stem deformation during long drought periods.

Version of record first published online on 14 March 2017 ahead of inclusion in April 2017 issue.

Minuartia s.l. (Caryophyllaceae) is polyphyletic, with its species belonging to eleven major clades, all of which have been recognized at the generic rank. Cherleria is one of these segregate genera, based on the Linnaean species Cherleria sedoides. Its centre of diversity is on the Balkan Peninsula, but species also occur in the European and North American high mountains and in the Arctic. The species of Cherleria show ecological, especially substrate, differentiation and multiple colonisations of alpine habitats. We make new combinations for the 17 (of 20) taxa in Cherleria that do not yet have Cherleria names and provide a key to all species of the genus.

Version of record first published online on 09 February 2017 ahead of inclusion in April 2017 issue.

The North American invasive species Solidago altissima L. (Asteraceae) is reliably recorded from a single locality in Belgium (Beveren, Waaslandhaven, Verrebroekse Plassen). Nuclear genome size, as measured by flow cytometry, showed this population to be distinct from the closely similar and widespread S. canadensis L. Plants were shown to be hexaploids, with an estimated chromosome number of 2n = 54, while only diploids (2n = 18) of S. canadensis are known from Europe. These findings were further supported by morphological traits. Solidago altissima has repeatedly been claimed from Europe but all these records may be referable to S. canadensis var. canadensis and, more likely, S. canadensis var. hargeri Fernald. To the best of our knowledge, the recently detected population in Belgium represents the first unequivocal record of S. altissima in Europe.

Version of record first published online on 10 March 2017 ahead of inclusion in April 2017 issue.

F. W. Domke described three Senecio species (Compositae, Senecioneae) from Ecuador on the basis of Diels's collections. Since the type material at B was apparently destroyed in 1943, the names Senecio angelensis, S. dielsii and S. tipocochensis are neotypified. The nomenclature of each taxonomic entity is updated, and new synonyms are provided for the first time. A lectotype for the name S. sotarensis is also designated. Taxonomic notes are provided when appropriate.

Version of record first published online on 15 March 2017 ahead of inclusion in April 2017 issue.

Henderson P.: James Sowerby: the enlightenment's natural historian. — Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, 2015. — ISBN 978-1-84246-596-7. — 25.3 × 19.5 cm, 331 pp.; hardback. — Price: GBP 17.50. — Available at http://shop.kew.org/kewbooksonline

Citation: Lack H. W. 2017: Book review: Henderson P.: James Sowerby: the enlightenment's natural historian. — Willdenowia 47: 81–82. doi: https://doi.org/10.3372/wi.47.47109

Version of record first published online on 17 March 2017 ahead of inclusion in April 2017 issue.

Nürnberg R., Höxtermann E. & Voigt M. (ed.): Elisabeth Schiemann 1881–1972. Vom AufBruch der Genetik und der Frauen in den UmBrüchen des 20. Jahrhunderts. Beiträge eines interdisziplinären Symposiums zum 200. Gründungsjubiläums der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. — Rangsdorf: Basilisken-Presse, 2014. — ISBN 978-3-941365-13-1. — 24 × 17 cm, 574 pp.; softback. — Price: EUR 39.

Citation: Lack H. W. 2017: Book review: Nürnberg R., Höxtermann E. & Voigt M. (ed.): Elisabeth Schiemann 1881–1972. Vom AufBruch der Genetik und der Frauen in den UmBrüchen des 20. Jahrhunderts. Beiträge eines interdisziplinären Symposiums zum 200. Gründungsjubiläums der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. — Willdenowia 47: 83–84. doi: https://doi.org/10.3372/wi.47.47110

Version of record first published online on 17 March 2017 ahead of inclusion in April 2017 issue.

Kästner A. & Ehrendorfer F. [Jäger E. J. (ed.)]: Gustav Hegi. Illustrierte Flora von Mitteleuropa. Band VI — Teil 2B — 2. Auflage. Spermatophyta: Angiospermae: Dicotyledones 4 (2/2). Rubiaceae. Kaffeegewächse, Krappgewächse, Rötegewächse. — Jena: Weissdorn-Verlag Jena, 2016. — ISBN 978-3-936055-28-3. — 26.5 × 20 cm, [8] + 348 pp., 145 line drawings/distribution maps, 19 colour plates; hardback. — Price: EUR 129.90.— Available at http://www.weissdorn-verlag.de/

Citation: Raus Th. 2017: Book review: Kästner A. & Ehrendorfer F. [Jäger E. J. (ed.)]: Gustav Hegi. Illustrierte Flora von Mitteleuropa. Band VI — Teil. 2B — 2. Auflage. Spermatophyta: Angiospermae: Dicotyledones 4(2/2). Rubiaceae. Kaffeegewächse, Krappgewächse, Rötegewächse. — Willdenowia 47: 85–87. doi: https://doi.org/10.3372/wi.47.47111

Version of record first published online on 23 March 2017 ahead of inclusion in April 2017 issue.

This is the seventh of a series of miscellaneous contributions, by various authors, where hitherto unpublished data relevant to both the Med-Checklist and the Euro Med (or Sisyphus) projects are presented. This instalment deals with the families Amaranthaceae, Compositae, Cruciferae, Cucurbitaceae, Orchidaceae, Orobanchaceae and Solanaceae. It includes new country and area records, taxonomic and distributional considerations for taxa in Amaranthus, Bidens, Datura, Echinocystis, Erigeron, Orobanche, Platanthera, Senecio and Tauscheria, and the validation of four new combinations in Phelipanche.

Version of record first published online on 23 March 2017 ahead of inclusion in April 2017 issue.