A taxonomic study on Chrysosplenium album Maxim. (Saxifragaceae) in the Kii Peninsula was performed. For the comparative analyses, C. album var. album and var. stamineum Franch. from other regions were included. Based on the observations and measurements of the flower parts of herbarium specimens and observations of habitat and living material, we recognized a new variety C. album var. totsukawaense J. Oda & Nagam. from southern Kii Peninsula. This has long been included in var. stamineum based mainly on the obtuse to rounded calyx lobes and the stamens overtopping the calyx lobes. It is revealed that C. album in northern Kii Peninsula, often treated as var. stamineum before, tends to have long stamens much overtopping calyx lobes and have chromosome number of hexaploid level (2n = c. 72). Hexaploidy is reported for the first time in C. album. Taxonomic treatment of C. album in northern Kii Peninsula remains as future work together with the treatment of northern Kinki tetraploid populations. We also reconsidered the poorly known C. album var. nachiense J. Oda & Nagam. and found it to be distributed from south-westernmost Mie Pref. to north-western Tanabe-shi, Wakayama Pref., south of the range of var. totsukawaense in the Kii Peninsula and unique in having shorter calyx lobes and short stamens and style usually not overtopping calyx lobes. The flowering period is early February to middle March, the earliest in C. album.

The genus Bauhinia s.l. (Leguminosae/Fabaceae) comprising ca. 300–350 species, was subdivided based on the preceding modern molecular research. During the preparation of Flora of East China, the author noticed six species remaining to be transferred to the separated genus Phanera and made new combinations for them here.

Curcuma thailandica Boonma & Saensouk, a new species from Nakhon Sawan province in Thailand, is described, illustrated and photographed.

Curcuma, Curcuma thailandica, new species, Thailand, Zingiberaceae.

The crude drugs, Salviarum Radicies derived from the underground part of plants of Salvia L. (Lamiaceae), are widely used in the system of traditional Chinese medicine. Among them, Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix (Danshen in Chinese and Tanjin in Japanese) was recently included in the Japanese Pharmacopoeia, and used for cardiovascular disorders and syndromes caused by blood stagnation. Through our field survey, the commercial crude drugs varied in color, texture and/or diameter. Accordingly, the crude drug, namely Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix but of improper origin, is possibly used, which may impact safety and efficacy. Therefore, we carried out morphological and anatomical studies on the underground part of seven species of Salvia plants, i.e., S. bowleyana Dunn, S. deserta Schangin, S. miltiorrhiza Bunge, S. paramiltiorrhiza H. W. Li & X. L. Huang, S. przewalskii Maxim., S. sinica Migo, and S. yunnanensis C. H. Wright to find out the species-specific characteristics for identification of the crude drugs. The compared plant materials could be distinguished from each other by the external morphologies and the anatomical characteristics such as shape of the masses of the mechanical tissues in xylem (MTX), maximum diameter of vessels in secondary xylem in the roots, and so on.

Cornukaempferia larsenii P. Saensouk (Zingiberaceae) was previously known as endemic to Thailand. A specimen from Xayaburi Province is reported from Lao PDR. Color photographs of the species are provided.

Alpinia intermedia Gagnep. was found in Yot Ou District, Phongsali Province as a new record, and rare species for Zingiberaceae in Lao PDR. Notes on ecology, phenology, distribution and photographs are provided.

Hanguana anthelminthica (Blume ex Schult. & Schult. f.) Masam. (Hanguanaceae), a species that was collected from the Vembanad-Kol Wetland, one of the 27 Ramsar sites in India, constitutes the first distributional record of the monotypic genus Hanguana and the monogeneric family Hanguanaceae in India. The plant may have reached India from neighbouring countries and naturalized here during the last few decades. Detailed description, illustrations and photographs are provided here to facilitate identification.

Tetracera akara (Burm. f.) Merr. (Dilleniaceae) is reported here as a new record for Thailand. A key to the species of the genus Tetracera in Thailand, description, photographs and drawing of Tetracera akara are also provided.

Occurrence of Saurauia sinohirsuta J. Q. Li & Soejarto (Actinidiaceae) is reported for the first time from Arunachal Pradesh, India.

In the course of our field trip to Gaoligong Mountains, west of Yunnan, in March 2019, we came across the year’s final flowers of Rhododendron giganteum Forrest ex Tagg on the snow covered Pianma Pass at a height of 3000 m above sea level and the mass flowering of Bauhinia variegata L. var. candida (Aiton) Buch.-Ham. on the hillside along Nujian River. Flowers of the Bauhinia are cooked as a vegetable after soaking in water to remove stimulus. In Yunnan, we can enjoy many other wild vegetables such as the flowers of Rhododendron decorum Franch., Sophora davidii (Franch.) Skeels and Caragana sinica (Buc’hoz) Rehder, and the young shoots of Keteleeria davidiana (Bertrand) Beissn., Acacia sp., and Toona sinensis (A. Juss.) M. Roem.