A new apple species, Malus roseotakanabensis Iketani & Minamit., is described. It was discovered in cultivation in private gardens in Takanabe-chō, Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan. It is said to have been transplanted from wild habitat, where it is now extinct. Morphological comparisons, especially with related species in East Asia, revealed that it differs from any other known species by having a short (2–3.5 cm), elliptic-ovate to rhomboid leaf blade, a truncate to obtuse leaf blade apex, shallowly crenato-serrate margins, very short ( ≤ 2 mm), shortly triangular-ovate sepals, pale pink petals, and three styles per flower. Microsatellite analysis revealed the existence of several genotypes, suggesting that this species propagates sexually.

To clarify species-level diversity in the botanical origin of Asparagi radix distributed in markets in China and Japan, we developed an identification method using DNA barcoding markers for Asparagus cochinchinensis and its allied species, and performed market investigations. Nucleotide sequences of the ITS regions were determined in 107 accessions of 21 Asparagus species, along with partial trnL-trnF intergenic spacer regions from a limited number of species. The examined species were discriminated from each other, except A. meioclados and A. trichoclados. Among 238 accessions of Asparagi radix distributed in markets, the most common origin was A. cochinchinensis (56%), followed by A. subscandens (25%), A. taliensis (16%), A. lycopodineus (2%), and A. meioclados or A. trichoclados (0.4%). All species were found in Chinese markets, whereas only three species, A. cochinchinensis, A. taliensis, and A. subscandens, were found in Japanese market. While four species were found to consist of only wild origin, A. cochinchinensis and A. taliensis were found to have both wild and cultivated origins. More than half of the A. subscandens-derived crude drugs in the Chinese markets was estimated to be sourced from Myanmar based on the intraspecific barcoding variation, even though 55 out of 60 samples were sold as products originating from China.

The fine structure of a benthic diatom Gomphonemopsis novozelandicum was examined using light and scanning electron microscopy. The following morphological features of this species are first revealed in detail through the present study. The areola is occluded by a hymen with perforations arranged in a centric array pattern. The mature cingulum consists of five–six girdle bands, open at one pole, divided into two types: a valvocopula without rows of areolae, opens at the head pole; the 2nd–6th bands with two rows of areolae, are thinner than the valvocopula in maximum width, but broader in closed part. Ligulae and antiligulae are observed at the closed part of the 2nd and 4th bands. Morphological differences between this species and related species are discussed. This epiphytic species is found over a wide area from Ehime to Hokkaido in Japan. (Continued from J. Jap. Bot. 99: 75–84, 2024)

The white flowered form of Monochoria korsakowii Regel & Maack was described in Japan in 1929 and that of Metaplexis japonica (Thunb.) Makino in 1946. New combinations of these forms are proposed under currently accepted names Pontederia korsakowii (Regel & Maack) M.Pell. & C.N.Horn for the former and Cynanchum rostellatum (Turcz.) Liede & Khanum for the latter: P. korsakowii f. albiflora (Makino) H.Ohashi & K.Ohashi and C. rostellatum f. albiflorum (Honda) H.Ohashi & K.Ohashi, respectively. The lectotype of Monochoria korsakowii var. albiflora Makino is designated and its photograph is presented.

“ Omphalodaphne Nakai” and “O. citriodora (Siebold & Zucc.) Nakai” were recorded as if these were validly published names in the the IPNI and the POWO, but both names were not accepted by Nakai in the place of their publication. These two names must be regarded as not validly published.

A new name, Staphylea rehderi H.Ohashi, K.Ohashi & X.Y.Zhu, is proposed instead of S. ternata (Rehder) H.Ohashi, K.Ohashi & X.Y.Zhu in J. Jap. Bot. 99(2): 120, fig. 1. (2024), non S. ternata (Nakai) Byng & Christenh. Global Fl. 4: 133 (2018).

Galium triflorum Michx. is a critically endangered perennial herb in Japan. Its distribution in Hokkaido is here updated based on herbarium specimens in The Hokkaido University Museum (SAPS). Its range is mountain areas from central to eastern Hokkaido, wider than the few localities previously known.

Nymphanthus glaucescens (Phyllanthaceae) is reported here as a new record for the flora of Nepal. Color photographs, distribution, ecology, and comparison to its closely related species, N. tetrandrus, are provided.

We newly discovered Thelypteris griffithii var. wilfordii (Thelypteridaceae) from Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, which is the northern and eastern limits of its distribution.

A brown alga, Ecklonia radicosa (Kjellman) Okamura (Laminariales), is one of the canopy-forming algae in the kelp forest, and it is distributed at the lowest latitude among Japanese kelp species. Although the southern distributional limit of this alga is known as Mageshima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, its presence was believed to have disappeared from this site due to climate change, as there were no records and specimens from the site for at least the last two decades. In this study, the existence of this alga was reconfirmed in October 2023 at a site from a depth of 35 m offshore of Mageshima Island. This alga was first confirmed on Mageshima Island in 1948. However, the latest collection’s specimen from the site, deposited at major algal herbaria, including Kagoshima University, dates back to April 1971. Even though a long-term dredge survey was conducted more than 250 times between 2006 and 2022 using T/S Nansei-Maru, Kagoshima University, E. radicosa was not confirmed. In the reconfirmation of this alga, the blade was greatly grazed, suggesting a browsing effect by herbivorous parrotfish; however, as the sorus was confirmed at the lower portion of the blade, maturation and alternation of generations seemed to continuously occur at the study site.