The type specimens of Pleurotus cyatheae, one of 25 mushrooms in Japan listed as an “extinct” species, were extracted for DNA and successfully sequenced for the nuclear internal transcribed spacer region. Phylogenetic analyses strongly indicated its position in the P. djamor complex, tightly clustered with the materials from the southern Pacific. The extinction status of P. cyatheae was rejected based on the existence of some recent collections from southern islands of Japan with nearly identical DNA sequences.

The second occurrence of Aegagropilopsis clavuligera in Japan was found in an aquarium in a private house in Kawasaki City, Japan. The 18S rRNA sequence differs by 2 nucleotides from the tropical aquarium in the Netherland and by 5 nucleotides from the one found in a private house in Kofu City and two Chinese cases. The organisms except for A. clavuligera in the aquarium are commonly distributed in Japan, and were purchased many years ago by the aquarium owner. The owner stated that the algal balls originated from stones collected in the Tama River. Aegagropilopsis clavuligera is thought to have nature to reproduce in an artificial environment.

Recent phenological studies have shown that the onset of flowering is significantly affected by global warming, which causes plant phenological shifts. It has been reported that spring-flowering species bloom earlier and autumn-flowering species bloom later when the temperature increases, but it was unclear whether both trends were prevalent in Japan. In this study, we examined responses to temperature increase and trends in phenological shifts using the flowering records of 350 Japanese native taxa collected at the Tsukuba Botanical Garden over the past 20 years. We observed that 64 taxa showed a significant negative correlation with temperature and advanced trends, whereas 17 taxa showed a significant positive correlation with temperature and delayed trends. The former bloomed mainly in spring (March–June), whereas the latter bloomed mainly in autumn (September–November). The distributions of 57 taxa that were significantly correlated with temperature increases but did not show any clear advanced/delayed trends were spring-biased, suggesting that spring-flowering phenology should be carefully monitored.

Three anthocyanins and one flavonol were isolated from the flowers of garden balsam (Impatiens balsamina). They were identified as pelargonidin 3-O-rutinoside, pelargonidin 3-O-(6″-Z-p-coumaroylglucoside)-5-O-glucoside, and pelargonidin 3-O-(6″-E-p-coumaroylglucoside)-5-O-glucoside as anthocyanins, and kaempferol 3-O-glucoside as flavonol. The crude extracts of the red and white balsam flowers and the isolated anthocyanins of pelargonidin 3-O-rutinoside and pelargonidin 3-O-(6″-E-p-coumaroylglucoside)-5-O-glucoside were used in the dyeing tests, and their dye properties were measured as CIE L*a*b* colorimetric values. The dyeing of the crude extracts showed that the red flowers showed relatively higher a* and lower b* values than the white flowers. The dyeing test of the isolated anthocyanins showed that the acylated anthocyanin, pelargonidin 3-O-(6″-E-p-coumaroylglucoside)-5-O-glucoside, revealed lower b* value than that of non-acylated anthocyanin, pelargonidin 3-O-rutinoside. It suggested that an acylated anthocyanin, pelargonidin 3-O-(6″-E-p-coumaroylglucoside)-5-O-glucoside is mainly related to dyeing color in the red balsam flowers.

Leontopodium species, plants adapted to harsh alpine environments, have secondary metabolites that are highly diversified. Five phenylpropanoids (chlorogenic acid, isochlorogenic acid A, isochlorogenic acid C, leontopodic acid A, and leontopodic acid B) and one flavonol, quercetin 3-O-glucoside, were isolated from the leaves of five alpine Leontopodium species in Japan. On the other hand, four flavone glycosides (6-hydroxyluteolin 7-O-glucoside, luteolin 7-O-glucoside, luteolin 3′-O-glucoside, and luteolin 4′-O-glucoside) and two flavone aglycones (pedalitin and luteolin) were isolated from flowers of the same Leontopodium species. Thus, the composition of phenolic compounds in the leaves and flowers differed greatly, but each composition was quite similar between European edelweiss and several Japanese alpine species (chemical fingerprinting of this group). In this study, phenolic compounds (anti-stress compounds in plants) from the Japanese Leontopodium species were reported for the first time, elucidating the striking similarities in chemical composition between plants from two geographically distinct regions: Europe and Japan. Insights into the functions of these compounds are also discussed.