The reproductive biology of Loropetalum subcordatum was studied. The floral phenology, pollen histochemistry, pollen-ovule ratio (P/O), pollen viability and floral visitors were investigated and determined. Assisted pollination experiments were carried out to examine the breeding system of L. subcordatum. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and fluorescence microscopy (FM) were employed to check the pollen germination and the growth of pollen tubes. Results were obtained as follows: (1) The flowering period of L. subcordatum was from September to the next February with a peak at September-October; the longevity of a single flower was 4-6 days. (2) L. subcordatum was protogynous, and pollen grains could be found on self-stigmata when the anthers opened 12-24 h after petals unrolling. (3)The pollen viability (MTT test) maintained for ca. 26 hours; the pollen was starchless; the P/O was 8420±720.86 (n=10); no nectar secretion was observed. (4) Thrips (Thrips sp.) were the only floral visitors observed but which seldom moved among inflorescences, thus played limited role in pollination. (5) Fruit sets of untreated bagged (5.30±1.83%) and hand assisted cross pollinated flowers (6.67±1.91%) were not significantly different from that of open flowers (4.79±1.45%). (6) SEM and FM observations proved that pollen germinated on self-stigmata and pollen tubes growed in self-styles. The results indicated that L. subcordatum was facultatively autogamous and without apomixes. The possibility of outcrossing and the protogyny might indicate that the species was originally a crosser. Flowers pollinated in September-October usually start ovule growth in next summer, and set mature fruits in next October (after the next flowering peak), suggesting the occurrence of retard embryo development. The possibility that autogamy in Hamamelidaceae could have been developed from fly pollination was also discussed.

Colysis (Polypodiaceae) is a genus with approximately 30 species found in Asia, Africa, Australia (restricted to Queensland), and New Guinea, including ca. 15 species in China. The systematic position and taxonomic circumscription of Colysis has remained unresolved since its establishment in 1849. In this work we retrieved the chloroplast DNA sequences rbcL and rps4-trnS for Colysis and its closely related taxa. Two data sets―the rbcL gene and rps4-trnS region (including both the rps4 gene and the rps4-trnS intergenic spacer) were analyzed separately and together to assess phylogenetic relationships using maximum parsimony (MP) and Bayesian inference (BI). Both separate and combined data sets yielded largely congruent results and revealed that Colysis formed a well-supported monophyletic group with Leptochilus Kaulf. (here designated as the C-L Clade). Two Leptochilus species fell into different subclades of the C-L clade. Phymatosorus Pic. Serm. formed a distinct lineage in the current analysis. The genus Microsorum Link, as traditionally defined, was polyphyletic; while M. linguiforme, M. varians, and M. pustulatum clustered with Malaysian Lecanopteris, other microsorums were isolated in different clades. Our phylogenetic analysis suggests that Leptochilus and Colysis may better be treated as one genus

The largest section of the genus Saxifraga (Saxifragaceae), sect. Ciliatae, consists of 175 morphologically diverse species. This section is mainly distributed in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and adjacent regions of southwest China and more than 80% of the total number of species are endemic to this region. It remains unknown whether this section is monophyletic and up to now no study has been conducted on the infra-sectional phylogeny. In this study, ITS sequences of the nuclear ribosomal DNA were firstly determined for 33 species mainly from this section and related sections. We further downloaded the corresponding sequences of the same DNA region for the other 22 species of Saxifraga and Mitella from GenBank. All sequences were together used to construct the phy-logenetic trees. The main implications of the phylogenetic analyses include: (1) sect. Ciliatae, as traditionally defined, constitutes as a monophyletic clade and its sister group is a well supported clade that includes species from 8 sections such as sect. Porphyrion, sect. Saxifraga and sect. Mesogyne; (2) three morphological subsections, i.e., subsect. Gemmiparae, subsect. Hirculoideae and subsect. Rosulares were tentatively recovered despite the relatively low statistic bootstrap support for the last one; however, subsect. Flagellares and subsect. Hemi-sphaericae were not recognized as separate entities, and nested within subsect. Gemmiparae; (3) subsect. Hircu-loideae and subsect. Rosulares clustered together as sister subclades while subsect. Gemmiparae diverged early. In addition, our results suggest that the paired variation of ITS sequences in sect. Ciliatae is relatively low between the sampled species in spite of their diverse morphology. It is suggested that such a scenario may mirror rapid speciation in this section that probably trigged by the uplifts of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and the extensive selection pressure under the alpine environments.

The sequences of chloroplast trnL-F (including 19 species and 1 varieties) and matK (including 16 species and 1 varieties) regions of 4 genera from Polygonaceae were compared and analyzed to examine the systematic position of Reynoutria Houtt. and Polygonum sibiricum Laxm. The genus Rheum L. from subfamily Rumicoideae was designated as the outgroup. From the two strict consensus trees it was inferred that: (1) the genus Reynoutria was a member of the genus Fallopia with high bootstrap support; (2) Polygonum sibiricum Laxm. was separated from Polygonum and adjacent to genus Fallopia, so this species should be raised to the genus rank and can be called Knorringia sibirica (Laxm.) Tzvel. Moreover, the boundary of the two genera was defined in this article.

Fifty-nine genotypes representing six genera of the True Citrus Fruit Trees Group (Aurantioideae, Rutaceae) were analyzed using AFLP technique to study their taxonomic and phylogenetic relationships. Fifteen primer combinations (out of 64 screened) were selected based on the polymorphism and quality of the bands produced by the primer and used in the present study. A total of 312 bands were obtained, of which 305 (97.8%) were polymorphic. The UPGMA tree of all genotypes was constructed based on the AFLP data using PAUP* beta version 4.0b8 software. Our AFLP molecular tree clearly confirms that the True Citrus Fruit Trees Group is monophyletic and supports the division of the group into genera mainly based on morphological characters, except that the genus Fortunella was nested within the genus Citrus cluster (as a monophyletic sub-branch). The subdivision of the genus Citrus into subgen. Papeda and subgen. Eucitrus as suggested by W. T. Swingle based on morphological characters and the point of view that C. medica, C. grandis and C. reticulata are the three basic species of the subgen. Eucitrus were also supported by our molecular data. In addition, contrary to the expectation based on morphological data, however, our molecular data demonstrated that C. ichangensis is more closely related to C. junos of the subgen. Eucitrus than to the C. hystrix of the subgen. Papeda. Furthermore, our study provided the first evidence that C. mangshanensis is basal to all the loose-skin citrus types. Finally, the taxonomic and phylogenetic relationships among the six genera and the important genotypes of the genus Citrus were dis-cussed in detail.

The family Schisandraceae (Magnoliiadae) contains approximately sixty species which are disjunctly distributed in the southeast of Asia and North America. It was divided into two genera, Schisandra and Kadsura, represented by 29 species in China, 19 in Schisandra and 10 in Kadsura. This paper reviews current knowledge about the chemistry, ethnopharmacology and pharmacology of the family in an attempt to present a preliminary study into the pharmacophylogenetics of the family as a whole. Dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans (I) are considered to be the main chemical components of the family. Despite their traditionally recognized hepatoprotective function, they also exhibit anti-oxidant, anti-cancer and anti-HIV potential. Those dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans (I) possessing hydroxyl or angeloyloxy groups at C-6 or C-9 in the ethylidene-cyclooctane ring tend to exhibit a higher anti-cancer activity. Spirobenzofuranoid dibenzocyclooctadienes (II), mostly present in Kadsura, contain a special tetrahydrofuran ring spanning the biphenyl linkage and these demonstrate particular anti-PAF activities. This supports the traditional use of Kadsura to improve blood circulation and "remove dampness". Spirobenzofuranoid dibenzocyclooctadienes (II) could be considered as the bioactive marker compounds in Kadsura and hence markers for assessing quality. The distribution of all known lignans in the family showed that Kadsura is rela-tively advanced in evolution. Cycloartanone triterpenes occur in both Schisandra and Kadsura. Those with the A-ring open (II) tend to exhibit greater anti-cancer and anti-HIV activity. 7/7/5/6 triterpene lactones (IV), showing strong cytotoxicity, have only recently been discovered in Kadsura longipedunculata and as such have potential as anticancer agents. Recently, novel nortriterpenoids possessing a unique skeleton were found in S. lancifolia and S. micrantha; some exhibited clear anti-cancer or anti-HIV activity and are the subject of separate studies.

In this paper, the paeonol, paeoniflorin and their analogs were analyzed in the roots of 14 species and 2 subspecies of Paeonia L. The existence and content of these compounds were discussed in three sections, sect. Moutan, sect. Paeonia and sect. Onaepia. In sect. Moutan, paeonol and its analogs were high in content in all species. In sect. Paeonia, low content of paeonol and its analogs were found in plants of four taxa, P. lactiflora, P. anomala ssp. veitchii, P. mairei and P. intermedia. None of these compounds was found in sect. Onaepia. Paeonol has a simple structure and is distributed widely in plant; its decrease and loss may be the result of evolution. Therefore, it is deduced that the relationship among the three sections of Paeonia might be that woody sect. Moutan is the more primitive and derived from the ancestor of Paeonia first. For the herbaceous sections, sect. Paeonia is more closely related to sect. Moutan than to sect. Onaepia. In sect. Moutan, there are less paeonol and its analogs in the species of subsect. Vaginata than in those of subsect. Delavayanae. Thus, the former may be considered more advanced. In sect. Paeonia, the taxa with minor content of paeonol and its analogs are diploid except P. mairei. Among them, P. lactiflora and P. anomala ssp. veitchii are relatively primitive by morphology. None of paeonol and its analogs was detected in the species with specialized form.

In the present paper, numerical taxonomy of eight species of the genera Rehmannia and Triaenophora were carried out using 55 morphological, cytological and pollen characters. The principal components analysis (PCA) and UPGMA clustering analysis of NTSYS-pc (version 2.10e) were performed to analyze the Euclidean distance of the relationship of the species in both of the genera for the first time. Our results indicate that Rehmannia and Triaenophora are two distinct groups. All species in this study were separated easily except for Rehmannia elata and R. piasezkii in the dendrogram. The recently reported species Triaenophora shennongjiaensis in the dendrogram was supported as a distinct entity by the numerical taxonomy.

In the present paper, a new sect. Leptothece W. T. Wang & Bing Liu wih its only new species, Anemone xiaowutaishanica W. T. Wang & Bing Liu, of the genus Anemone is described and illustrated. In having vertical rhizome, rosulate leaves, 1-flowered cyme, sessile involucre bracts, linear stamen filaments, tricolpate pollen grains with spinulose tectum, and subulate styles, sect. Leptothece is related to sect. Himalayicae (Ulbr.) Juz. From the latter it differs in its 3-parted or 3-sect involucre bracts, 3 carpels per flower, and strongly bilaterally compressed ovary, and with these advanced characters it is remarkably more advanced than sect. Himalayicae, and might be derived from the latter. Anemone xiaowutaishanica with its small distribution area restricted to a valley in the Mt. Xiaowutai, Hebei Province, China is obviously a stenochoric species, and on the basis of its advanced morphological characters it may be regarded as a neoendemic.

Different opinions regarding the systematic position of Polygonum ciliinerve (Nakai) Ohwi persist in Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae and some provincial floras. The vegetative and reproductive organs of P. ciliinerve were observed using scanning electron microscopy, paraffin sectioning and leaf epidermis isolating methods. The results showed that the main medicinal part of P. ciliinerve was a stem tuber, which originated from an axillary bud on the creeping stem, rather than a root tuber as previously suggested. The leaf upper epidermal cells were nearly oblong in shape; the lower epidermal cells were superficially wavy. Numerous papillae were present on both sides of the leaf veins, and a few of glandular hairs were dispersed on the leaf epidermis of both sides. The transverse sections of main leaf veins and petioles showed 5 and 10 vascular bundles respectively. The pericarp micromorphology showed fovea surface ornamentation. The transverse section of the seed was nearly triangular in shape. These characteristics of P. ciliinerve were obviously different from those of P. multiflorum Thunb. As a result, we suggested that P. ciliinerve should be treated as a species rather than a variant of P. multiflorum.

Marine nanoplanktonic diatoms have been frequently either underestimated or overlooked in phytoplankton investigations due to their small size (2-20 m) which will mostly pass through a regular phytoplankton net of 76 m pore size. For nanoplanktonic diatom classification, water samples (each 2000 mL) were collected from several representative sea areas of China coast. Nanofrustulum Round, Hallsteinsen & Paasche was identified as a newly recorded diatom genus for China under transmission electron microscope (TEM). Its sole species was found, i.e., N. shiloi (Lee, Reimer & McEnery) Round, Hallsteinsen & Paasche. Detailed description of the taxonomic characteristics with TEM photographs of this species and its ecological behavior and distribution are given in this paper. Morphological characteristics comparisons among several resembling genera were discussed.

Peridinium is an important genus of freshwater armoured dinoflagellates with two more intercalary plates (sensu Bourrelly). A few species of Peridinium were known from China heretofore. The plate pattern is one of the important criteria for the taxonomy of Peridinium, and it was difficult to visualize their plate patterns under normal light microscope. For editing of Flora Algarum Sinicarum Aquae Dulcis, 11 species of Peridinium col-lected from various freshwater habitats of China are described. Among them, 6 species are first reported from China. They are P. gatunense Nygaard, P. gutwinskii Woloszynska, P. lomnickii Woloszynska, P. palatinum Lauterborn, P. striolatum Playfair, and P. zonatum Playfair. Epifluorescence microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, and also light microscopy were employed for their structure and patterns of thecal plates.

The formation and development of botanical scientific illustration have a long and tortuous history, which is closely related to the study and development of plant sciences. Botanical scientific illustration saliently differs from other artistic painting in its use and illustrating method. Therefore, an understanding of the historical formation and development of botanical scientific illustration largely depends on the study of illustrating method and use. The main illustrators and their works responsible for the making and development of botanical scientific illustration are reviewed, and three times are subdivided for the history of botanical scientific illustration, i.e. ancient times (herbal study), modern times (introducing the Western botany) and contemporary times (modern botany). Meanwhile, the representative works and main research characteristics in respective times are expounded briefly.

The medicinal herbs which were traditionally used as "Shancigu" are derived from a variety of different plants, resulting in current use of herbal medicine in the name confusing of medicinal material "Shancigu". According to ancient and modern literature in the graphic, and geographical distribution, originated plant species of "Shancigu" have been studied. Simultaneously, we clarified the original plant of "Shancigu" recorded in several ancient literatures through modern taxonomic researches. We concluded that "Shancigu" should come from originally Cremastra appendiculata (D. Don) Makino in Ben Cao Shi Yi (Tang Dynasty), and, afterwards, two other species, i.e., Tulipa edulis (Miq.) Baker and C. appendiculata, were used under one Chinese name "Shancigu" in other ancient literatures, i.e., Da Guan Ben Cao (Song Dynasty) and Compendium of Materia Medica (Ming Dynasty). In modern publications, more species, such as two species of Pleione, were also recorded under the name of "Shancigu", but none of them is the original plant of "Shancigu".