The taxa belonging to the Lecanora subfusca group occurring in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea are revised. The morphology and anatomy of the members of the group is shown and the chemistry of the treated species is described. The substances found are ordered into chemosyndromes and the taxonomic significance of these is discussed. 46 taxa are accepted, four without formal description. A number of species is reduced into synonymy and most names treated are typified. Seven species are reported for the first time from the southern Hemisphere and eight for Australasia. The following new taxa are described: L. arnhemica, L. arthothelinella, L. austrotropica, L. casuarinophila, L. cenisioides, L. chionocarpoides, L. neoqueenslandica, L. novaeguineae, L. novaehollandiae, L. planaica, L. pseudargentata and L. streimannii.

  Among 1183 taxa of mosses recorded in Japan, specialized vegetative diaspores were found in 186 species (15.7%). Eight types of specialized vegetative diaspores (deciduous shoot apices, flagella, caducous branchlets, bulbils (s. str.), rhizoidal tubers, gemmae (s. str.), caducous leaves and endogenous gemmae) have been reported in these gemmiferous species. It is noteworthy that some primitive groups of mosses such as Sphagnales and Andreaeales, have no specialized vegetative diaspores. As a result of the examination of vegetative diaspore production and sexuality in Japanese mosses, the following conclusions were obtained: 1) over half of Japanese moss species (54.1%) are dioicous; 2) specialized vegetative diaspores are found more frequently in dioicous mosses than monoicous ones; 3) monoicous mosses growing under unstable conditions often produce specialized vegetative diaspores.

  Twelve species and one variety of South American Sphagna are described as new: Sect. Sphagnum, S. columniforme; sect. Subsecunda, S. aequiporosum, S. chi-chiense and var. uvidulum, S. funkiae, S. incommodum, S. juliforme, S. magistri, S. paranense, S. pluriporosum, S. septatoporosum; sect. Acutifolia, S. balslevii, S. moronum. Sphagnum flavicaule is recorded from Colombia and confirmed as a highly distinctive member of the Acutifolia.

  Section Amblyothallia C. Müll. is lectotypified, emended, and transferred from subgenus Fissidens to subgenus Serridium (C. Müll.) Iwats. Lists of species, with synonymy, belonging to the section, and excluded species are appended. Nineteen species are assigned to the section. Two new combination, F. asplenioides Hedw. var. aegrotus (Bizot) and F. oblongifolius Hook. f. & Wils. var. longiligulatus (Broth. & Watts), are made.

  The opposite tendencies of tooth distribution and gemma formation form the basis to distinguish sectio Rufidulae, with Scapania rufidula and S. spitsbergensis, and sectio Nemorosae, with S. nemorea subsp. nemorea and subsp. crassiretis stat. nov. The sectiones are circumscribed on the basis of revision of the species variability ranges and their distinctive criteria. A key to the recognized taxa of the sectiones is provided. The sporophyte of S. spitsbergensis is described for the first time.

  Primary pit field cells in the parenchyma of the caulidia of Hookeria lucens (Hedw.) Sm. are described by SEM, TEM, light and fluorescence microscope. The nature of their walls suggests a conducting function. Their occurrence in the gametophytic stem may be understood as an analogy with vascular plants.

  Chromosome numbers and karyotypes of twenty-four species of Meteoriaceae (Musci) were studied. Chromosome numbers of 13 species: Papillaria crocea (n＝11), P. deppei (n＝11), Meteorium miquelianum subsp. atrovariegatum (n＝11), M. papillarioides (n＝11), Floribundaria pseudofloribunda (n＝11), F. aurea subsp. nipponica (n＝11), F. sparsa subsp. pilifera (n＝6), Aerobryidium filamentosum (n＝11), Aerobryopsis wallichii (n＝11), A. parisii (n＝11), Barbella enervis (n＝10), B. pendula (n＝10) and Pseudobarbella laosiensis (n＝11) were determined for the first time by the present authors. Karyological studies on twenty-four species revealed that the karyotypes and their formulae represent six separate groups of taxa.

  Collections of 34 species of liverworts and 40 species of mosses were made from polluted soil or from soil or vegetation adjacent to the polluted areas in three coastal Municipalities in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Cylindrocolea rhizantha, Riccardia cataractarum, Barbula indica, Bryohumbertia filifolia, Bryum argenteum, B. coronatum, Campylopus pyriformis, Dicranella hilariana, Fissidens aplenioides, F. bryoides, Microdus exiguus, Pohlia apiculata, Pogonatum sp., and Trematodon ambiguus were collected only on polluted soil. Aphanolejeunea cf. subdiaphana (Jovet-Ast) Pócs is a new record for Brazil.