The fine structure of a benthic diatom Neosynedra provincialis (Grunow) D.M.Williams & Round was examined using light and electron microscopy. The following morphological features of this species are first revealed in detail through the present study. Plastids, two per cell, are plate-like and rectangular immediately after cell division but form an H-shape as the cell contents grow and increase. The mature cingulum consists of six girdle bands, open at one pole, divided into two types: a valvocopula with two rows of areolae has a smooth edge (pars interior); five copulae with ligulae are thinner than the valvocopula. The morphological comparison between Neosynedra and Cyclophora reveals strong similarities in the shape of the colony and in the structure of the apical pore field and areola, which supports previous molecular phylogenetic analyses showing that both genera are closely related. (Continued from J. Jap. Bot. 99: 38–45, 2024)

Angelica tianmuensis Z.H.Pan & T.D.Zhuang is a little-known and endangered species distributed in northern Zhejiang, China. The plants of the species are cultivated as Ligusticum sinense Oliv. at the Tokyo Metropolitan Medicinal Plants Garden and were distributed to several Medicinal Plant Gardens in Japan including Iwate Medicinal University. The cultivated plants at the Iwate Medicinal University were examined in morphological and genetic analyses, and are referred to A. tianmuensis, not L. sinense. The cultivar of the Tokyo Metropolitan Medicinal Plants Garden was originally introduced from Lushan Botanical Garden, Jiangxi, China through the seed exchange program in 1982. Identification of the plant was, therefore, traced by examination of images of herbarium specimens of L. sinense collected near Lushan, Jiangxi Province, from Chinese Virtual Herbarium. Several specimens of A. tianmuensis were included among those determined as L. sinense. This indicates that A. tianmuensis may possibly be cultivated as L. sinense in Lushan and that the species occurs not only in Tianmu Mountain in Zhejiang but also in Lushan in Jiangxi.

Pimpinella tongloensis (Apiaceae) was described from the materials collected by S. Kurz from the Sikkim Himalaya in 1868. More than 150 years had passed since the first collection, with no more collections made. We re-collected near the type locality in 2016 and 2019.

Cyclospermum leptophyllum var. leptophyllum (Apiaceae), collected from Central Nepal, is reported as a new naturalized generic record for the Flora of Nepal.

Herein, we correct the first earliest type citations for Bryonia epigaea Rottler, B. hookeriana Wight & Arn., Trichosanthes anaimalaiensis Bedd. and T. palmata Roxb. var. tomentosa B.Heyne ex C.B.Clarke. Lectotype is designated for Bryonia glabra Roxb. Second-step lectotypes are designated for Involucraria lepiniana Naudin and Rhynchocarpa epigaea Naudin var. gracilipes Naudin.

A new name Cyrtandra schlechterianum R.Kr.Singh & Arigela is proposed here as a replacement name for the illegitimate C. glabrata Schltr., being a later homonym of C. glabrata Sol. ex C.B.Clarke. In addition, lectotype is designated here for the name C. glabrata Schltr.

Isodon rivularis (Wight ex Hook.f.) H.Hara is endemic to six districts of the southern Western Ghats, India. For this species, extended taxonomic description, habitat, phenology and the first available photographs of living plants is provided here along with the lectotypification.

Four varieties of Euscaphis japonica (Thunb.) Kanitz described from China are revised under Staphylea japonica (Thunb.) Mabb. Euscaphis japonica var. ternata Rehder is validly recognized as S. ternata (Rehder) H.Ohashi, K.Ohashi & X.Y.Zhu (comb. and stst. nov.); E. japonica var. wupingensis B.P.Cai & Z.R.Chen is a synonym of S. japonica f. eburnean (Yamanaka) H.Ohashi; and E. japonica var. jianningensis Q.J.Wang and var. pubescens P.L.Chiu & G.R.Zhong are regarded as synonyms of S. japonica f. lanata (Masam.) H.Ohashi.

The geographical distribution of Aristolochia kaempferi and A. shimadae (Aristolochiaceae) from the midwestern Kinki region to the eastern Setouchi region in Japan was investigated through field surveys and transplanted materials. In this region, A. kaempferi and A. shimadae are not common and flowering individuals are rare, while the latter is usually observed flowering around the area of Mt. Rokko, Hyogo Prefecture. Based on the identification by flower morphology, the distributional boundary between A. kaempferi and A. shimadae was found to be located in the southwestern part of Hyogo Prefecture. Additionally, the examination of chloroplast DNA showed that the geographical boundary between the previously recognized two lineages was located west of the distributional boundary between the two species.