A new species, Asarum majale T. Sugaw., is described from north of the Suzuka Mountains, Kinki District, Japan. Asarum majale is allied to A. fauriei var. takaoi, which has a wide distribution from Kinki to Hokuriku and the southwestern part of Chubu District, and also to A. dilatatum, which is restricted to Mt. Nonobori to the south of the Suzuka Mountains. Asarum majale is distinguished from them by the larger calyx tube, longer anthers, gynoecium positioned lower than the entrance to the calyx tube, and anthesis from mid to late May. Asarum majale occurs at the foot of Mt. Fujiwara-dake, Mt. Fukuo-zan and Mt. Nihon-koba.

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Plants in central China often identified as Tricyrtis latifolia are distinct from that species in many characteristics: the perianth is nearly horizontally patent at the level of 1/3 from the base (obliquely ascending in T. latifolia); the anthers are much longer than those of T. latifolia; the inner tepals are narrowly trullate at the base (auriculate in T. latifolia); the roots contain orange anthraquinoid pigments; the leaves are pubescent on both surfaces (glabrous on both surfaces or somewhat pubescent only in the undersurface in T. latifolia). We therefore describe the central Chinese plants as a new species, T. pseudolatifolia, which we assigned to section Tricyrtis, to which T. latifolia belongs.

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ITS and ETS 1f sequence data were used to estimate the phylogeny of 19 taxa of Japanese Fimbristylis. This data was supplemented with karyomorphological observations of 15 taxa within this genus. Molecular analyses indicated strong support for monophyly of the genus Fimbristylis including F. ovata (=Abildgaardia ovata). Our results show that the sections Dichelostylis sensu Ohwi (1944), Cymosae (excluding F. pierotii), and Trichelostylis sensu Kern (1974) are monophyletic, but that the sections Trichelostylis sensu Ohwi (1944), Fimbristylis and Dichelostylis sensu Kern (1974) are not. Three major groups were identified in the genus Fimbristylis by karyomorphological data: (1) 2n=10, 20 and 30, and large somatic chromosomes, (2) 2n=16 and 24, and karyotypes consisting of a bimodal arrangement of somatic chromosomes, and (3) 2n=42, 44 and 52, and very small somatic chromosomes. The ancestor of the genus Fimbristylis is thought to have had a basic chromosome number of x=5 and large chromosomes. Chromosomal evolution in the genus Fimbristylis with diffuse centromeric chromosomes may have been affected by both aneuploidization and polyploidization.

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Cytological observations of the Japanese Gymnocarpium oyamense revealed the presence of diploids, triploids and tetraploids (x=40). Diploids have smaller spores than tetraploids. The Japanese diploids and plants suspected of being diploids because of their small spores (<34 μm) occur in the Kanto district and disjunctly in Mie Prefecture. Tetraploids and presumed tetraploids with large spores (>35 μm) are widely distributed from western Kanto westward to Shikoku, and are allopatric with the diploids. In China, suspected diploids are widely distributed in the inland provinces of Henan, Sichuan, Yunnan, Shaanxi and Gansu; tetraploids are mainly in the eastern provinces of Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, and Sichuan. The Japanese plants are distinct from the Chinese plants in the number of annular cells, regardless of ploidy level, but do not differ in spore ornamentation. Plants of Taiwan, Luzon and Seram differ from the Japanese and Chinese plants in the large muri on the perispore, and also from the Japanese plants in the number of annular cells. These variations suggest polyploidization after differentiation of the Japanese and Chinese populations, and a distinction between the temperate and tropical populations.

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Gmelina tomentosa (Verbenaceae) is newly reported from Myanmar. Until now, this species has been known only from the original description and collected only from Thailand. Based on the new materials, a full description and an illustration are presented here.

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