A marine benthic diatom Achnanthes pseudogroenlandica Hendey was observed by the light microscope and the scanning electron microscope. The following morphological characteristics are first revealed through this study; i) two plastids, each consisting of two girdle-appressed plates connected by a narrow bridge; ii) lanceolate to slightly clavate valve shape, which is heteropolar in the breadth of valve face and the length of raphe branch; iii) uniseriate striae consisting of round areolae occluded by rota supported by two pegs, and iv) the mature cingula consisted of at least three open bands, a broad valvocopula, the fimbriate second band with ligula, and the third band with ligula. This taxon forms the colony composed two to four cells and attaches to substrata by the mucilage pad secreted from part of the raphe near both poles.

Chinese species of the subgenus Lespedeza of genus Lespedeza were revised to be recognized 15 species and one hybrid. A key to the species, an enumeration of the species with their synonymy and bibliography, descriptions and voucher specimens for newly recognized species in China, and taxonomic notes on some of the species are provided. Lespedeza gerardiana Wall. ex Maxim. is confirmed to be included in Chinese flora. Lespedeza hirsuta (Franch.) T. Nemoto & H. Ohashi, a new combination, is proposed with new lectotypification of the basionym: L. juncea var. hispida Franch. Following taxa adopted in Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae (FRPS) volume 41 (1995) are newly regarded as synonyms of the species in parenthesis: L. mucronata (L. chinensis), L. potaninii and L. daurica var. shimadae (L. daurica). Lespedeza virgata var. macrovirgata is regarded as L. xmacrovirgata. Lespedeza juncea is recognized as a species distributed in North China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia and Russia (East Siberia and Far East).

In 2008, a mass flowering of Shibataea chinensis Nakai, which is cultivated in the Fuji Bamboo Garden, Japan, was observed. On February 3, a majority of the culms bore young inflorescences on their nodes. On March 23, the inflorescences were in full bloom with green leaves. Flowering terminated around April 20. All the inflorescences withered although the anthers protruded from the apices of withered florets, and did not bear any fruits. Even after flowering, the flowered culms remained verdant with green foliage leaves and bore new leaf buds on the axils. The inflorescence of S. chinensis was an indeterminate compound pseudospikelet. It comprised six secondary pseudospikelets, three tertiary pseudospikelets, and three spikelets, where the former two had each one prophyllate bud. A hermaphrodite floret is composed of a lemma, a palea, 3 lodicules with unicellular long hairs and bi- or tri-cellular microhairs on the margin, 3 stamens with 10-mm-long anthers and an ovule with 3 papillose stigmas.

A new species, Saussurea fuboensis Kadota, is described from the southern part of Tohoku District, northern Japan. S. fuboensis is related to S. nikoensis Franch. & Sav. but is distinguished from it by having arachnoid, cylindrical involucres less than 1 cm in diam., throats of florets 1 mm long, narrowly winged stem, broadly ovate leaf blades, ascending involucral phyllaries, and narrowly ovate, outer involucral phyllaries 2 mm wide at base. S. fuboensis grows in meadows and along Pinus pumila - Alnus maximowiczii scrubs in the alpine zone of the southernmost part of the Owu Mountain Range, Tohoku District.