Desmodium velutinum (Willd.) DC. (Leguminosae/Fabaceae), distributed naturally in Asia and Africa and introduced to tropical America (rare) and Australia, is recognized as the representative of a new genus, Polhillides H. Ohashi & K. Ohashi, based on results from the present phylogenetic molecular analyses along with morphological and palynological evidence. A new combination Polhillides velutina (Willd.) H. Ohashi & K. Ohashi, with subsp. longibracteata (Schindl.) H. Ohashi & K. Ohashi and var. sikkimensis (Schindl.) H. Ohashi & K. Ohashi, is proposed. Desmodium sikkimense Schindl. is lectotypified.

Chromosome number of Micranthes nelsoniana (D. Don) Small var. reniformis (Ohwi) S. Akiyama & H. Ohba (Saxifragaceae) from the Taisetsu-zan mountains, Hokkaido, Japan, is reported to be 2n = 80, differing from previous reports (2n = 26 from Sakhalin and 2n = 50 from Rishiri Island). The two large homologous chromosomes in somatic metaphase chromosomes may suggest that the plants are amphidiploids.

Two new species, Cornukaempferia chayanii Yupparach & Wongsuwan and C. kamolwaniae Picheans.,Yupparach & Wongsuwan (Zingiberaceae) from north Thailand, are described and illustrated. Relationship with closely related taxa is also discussed. A key to all taxa is provided.

Forty-three strains of Euglena which possessing haematochrome granules were isolated from the water samples obtained from 17 paddy fields and five ponds in Japan. They were identified as E. sanguinea Ehrenberg, E. rubra Hardy and E. orientalis Kashyop. Among them, the most frequently occurring species was E. rubra. In Japan the water blooms caused by Euglena are mainly attributed to E. rubra.

Phaeocalicium polyporaeum (Nyl.) Tibell, a non-lichenized calicioid fungus, is reported as new to Japan. It was found on the surface of Trichaptum abietinum, a small polyporous fungus, growing on the trunks of Pinus densiflora and Abies sp. at an elevation of 1348 m in Nagano Pref., central Japan. The ITS rDNA and nrLSU sequences were obtained from the specimens of Japan and Far East Russia, in which the differences were one transition and one indel for ITS rDNA (ITS1 region) and one transition for nrLSU (D1/D2 region). The molecular phylogenetic position for our samples of P. polyporaeum among the related taxa based on the ITS rDNA sequences is also shown.

Lecanorchis taiwaniana S. S. Ying (Orchidaceae) is newly recorded from India. Its taxonomic relationships with hitherto known species of the genus Lecanorchis are examined and discussed.

Peristylus intrudens (Ames) Ormerod (Orchidaceae: Orchidoideae), is reported here as a new record for mainland India, based on the collection from Meghalaya. A detailed description, distribution and photographs are provided

Betula costata Trautv. (Betulaceae) is widely distributed in continental Northeastern Asia and also disjunctly distributed in Japan. However, there have been few reports on the distribution of this species in Japan, and previously no photograph of this species has been presented from Japan. In this study, we report four new locations of B. costata in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. We also provided the photographs for the first time.

Betula ovalifolia Rupr. (Betulaceae) is an endangered dwarf birch previously known in Japan from only two prefectural natural monuments, Sarabetsu Marsh and Nishibetsu Marsh, in eastern Hokkaido. A new population of this species is reported here in a 64-year-old shelterbelt of Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi (Lamb.) Carrière) near the Sarabetsu Marsh. The discovery of this new habitat indicates that the shelterbelt has functioned as a habitat for the endangered species.

In Japan, the saprophytic herbs Aeginetia indica L. and A. sinensis G. Beck (Orobanchaceae) have been called ‘Nanban-giseru’ or ‘Nanhan-giseru’ meaning a Dutch Tabaco pipe because of their similarity in shape. Nakai (1931) cited a Japanese name, ‘Nanhan-giseru’ in the Kai by Mitsufusa Shimada published in 1765 (according to Nakai) in the synonymy of A. japonica. While Hara (1949) cited ‘Nanban-giseru’ in the Igansai Kin-hin by Joan (Gentatsu) Matsuoka published in 1763 (according to Hara) as the Japanese name of A. indica var. gracilis Nakai. However, their reports of dates of publications are both incorrect. The name ‘Nanhan-giseru’ appeared first in the first volume of the Kai published in 1759, not 1765 as reported by Nakai. The Igansai Kin-hin was published by Igansai’s son and pupils in 1761, not 1763 as estimated by Hara. The characters of both vegetative and floral organs were skillfully captured in the illustration of ‘Nanhan-giseru’ in the Kai (Fig. 1). That of the Igansai Kin-hin is only roughly shown in the outline (Fig. 2). We regard the illustration in the Kai to be the first iconography of this plant published in Japan, presenting its real appearance in detail based on careful observation. It is noticeable that the author, Mitsufusa Shimada, was undoubtedly the first botanist who was interested in all plants not only medical herbs and those appearing in Chinese herbals. The illustrated ‘Nanhan-giseru’ in the Kai is regarded as A. sinensis, as cited by Nakai (Nakai 1931), but at that time Nakai treated A. sinensis as a synonym of A. japonica. When we selected the lectotype of A. japonica we confirmed that A. japonica is a synonym of A. indica.

A new generic circumscription of Staphylea by Simmons (2007) is introduced along with new combinations for two forms found in Japan: Staphylea japonica (Thunb.) Mabb. f. eburnea (T. Yamanaka) H. Ohashi and f. lanata (Masam.) H. Ohashi.