Phenotypic plasticity is the environmental modification of genotypic expression and an important means by which individual plants respond to environmental heterogeneity. The study of phenotypic plasticity in the genus Adenophora, which is very complicated taxo nomically because of great morphological variation, proves to be helpful in both investigating the phenotypic variation so as to evaluate potential taxonomic value of their characters and providing important sources of information on the variation, adaptation and evolution of the genus. Twenty-three populations representing all the six species in Adenophora potaninii complex were transplanted into the garden. Of them six populations were selected for study ing their performance in the field and in the garden, in addition to cultivation experiment under different treatments. The results show that there exists considerable developmental plasticity in some leaf, floral and capsule characters. In particular, the leaf shape and length of calyx lobe display significant developmental variation with the maximum being three times as great as the minimum, which is noteworthy because they were previously considered as diagnostic. The characters of root, caudex, stem and inflorescence are found to be very plastic, especially the root diameter, the number of stems, stem height and inflorescence length with great environmental plasticity. In addition, the populations from different habi tats show distinct amounts of plasticity. On the contrary, the characters of leaf, floral, cap sule and seed are less influenced by environments. It seems that the considerable variation in the characters of leaf is attributed mainly to genetic differences. Finally, the phenotypic plasticity of morphological characters of A. potaninii complex and its taxonomic significanceis discussed.

In order to investigate morphological variations of Elymus sibiricus L., E. nutans Griseb., and E. burchan-buddae (Nevski) Tzvelev ［=Roegneria nutans (Keng) Keng］, and to explore their systematic relationships, six morphological characters were measured and compared between the Elymus species. Interspecific hybridizations between E. nutans and E. sibiricus, and E. burchan-buddae were carried out with the aid of embryo rescue. Chromosome pairing behaviour was also analysed at metaphase- I of meiosis in pollen mother cells of F₁ hybrids. Morphologic characters, such as length of spikes and length of glumes varied considerably between different individuals of each species, whereas length and width of paleas were quite stable and different between species. The interspecific hybrids were completely sterile and their meioses were irregular. Meiotic configuration of E. nutans × E. burchan-buddae was 7.70I +13.40Ⅱ+0.06Ⅲ+0.08 IV, whereas that of E. sibircus×E. nutans was 11.98I+9.61Ⅱ+0.64Ⅲ+0.39Ⅳ+0.01V. It is concluded from the morphological and cytological study that (1) it is possible to identify the three Elymus species using the palea character, in addition to other traditionally applied characters; (2) Elymus nutans and E. burchan-buddae have a comparatively high genomie relationship, while E. nutans and E. sibircus have a relatively low genomic affinity to one another; and (3) a certain chromosome pairing regulator was presented in the hybrid between E. burchan-buddae andE. nutans.

The genus Ligularia Cass. is one of the large genera in Compositae-SenecioneaeTussilagininae. In subtrib. Tussilaginae, Ligularia is closely related to, but more advanced than, the genus Farfugium Lindl. It includes six sections, 11 series and 129 species. All the taxa are distributed in Asia with only two species extending to Europe. There are 119 species in E. Asia, Comprising 96 % of the world total. The highest concentration of species in E. Asia occurs in the Hengduan Mountains. In this area there are four section, six series and 67 species, of which 61 species are local endemics; thus 66% of sections, 54.5% of series and about 52 % of species in the world occur in this small area, indicating that it is a major distribution centre for Ligularia. According to character analysis, sect. Corymbosae ser. Calthifoliae with 5 species was considered as the most primitive group in this genus, which has reniform leaves, palmate veins, a few large capitula (arranging in Corymb-like inflorescence), and semispherical involucre etc. The primitive species, L. dentata and L. hodgsonii, are distributed from E. Sichuan to Japan via Hubei, Hunnan, Anhui, Fujian. This distribution pattern is consistent with that of its allied genus, Farfugium. According to the principle of common origin, the ancestors of the two genera appeared most probably in the same area. It was inferred that the area from E. Sichuan of China to Japan was the original area of the genus Ligularia, However, on the basis of geological history and the modern distribution of this genus, the author considers that central China with E. Sichuan might be the primary original area of Ligularia. Its dispersal route was mainly along the mountains of southern margin of Asia, with relatively few members dispersed northea stwards to NE. Asia. The origi-nal time of the genus Ligularia was at least not later than the middle Cretaceous.

The genus Swertia is one of the large genera in Gentianaceae, including 154 species, 16 series and 11 sections. It is disjunctly distributed in Europe, Asia, Africa and N. America, but entirely absent from Oceania and S. America. According to Takhtajan’s (1978) regionalization of the world flora, Swertia is found in 14 regions. Eastern Asiatic region with 86 species, of which 58 are local endemics, 13 series and 9 sections, ranks the first among all the regions. The highest concentration of the taxa and endemics in Eastern Asiatic region occurs in SW China-Himalayan area (Sikang-Yunnan P. , W. Sichuan, W. Yunnan-Guichou Plateau of China and NE. Burma, N. Burmense P. , E. Himalayan P. and Khasi-Manipur P. ). In this area there are 74 species (48 endemics), 12 series, and 9 sections; thus about half species of the world total, three quarters of series and 82% of sections occur in this small area. Besides, the taxa at different evolutionary stages in Swertia also survive here. It is an indication that SW. China-Himalayan area is a major distribution centre of the genus Swertia. In addition, Sudan-Zambezian Region in Africa, with 22 species, 4 series and 2 sections, is a second distribution centre. The primitive type of the genus Swertia is Sect. Rugosa which consists of 2 series and 23 species. It is highly centred in the mountains of SW. China (Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou and SE. Xizang) where 2 series and 16 species occur. Among them 15 species of Ser. Rugosae were considered as the most primitive groups in this genus. From our study, the outgroup of Swertia is the genus Latouchea Frahch. , which is distributed in Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian. The two groups overlap in distribution in SW. China. According to the principle of common origin, the ancestor of two genera ap peared most probably in this overlapping area. It was inferred that SW. China Was the birth-place of the genus Swertia. Four sections of Swertia have different disjunct distribution patterns: Sect. Ophelia is of Tropic Asia, Africa and Madagascar disjunct distribution; sect. Swertia is of north temperate distribution; sect. Spinosisemina is in Tropical Asia (Trop. India to S. China and Philipines); sect. Platynema also is in Tropical Asia (Java, Sumatra, Himalayas to SW. China). These disjunct patterns indicate that the Swertia floras between the continents or between continent and islands have a connection with each other. From paleogeographical analysis, Swertia plants dispersed to Madagascar before the Late Cretaceous, to SE. Asian Islands in the Pleistocene, to North America in the Miocene. The distribution of Swertia in Madagascar might be later than that in Asia. Therefore the origin time of the genus Swertia was at least not later than the Late Cretaceous, and might be back to the Mid-Cretaceous. The genus Swertia first fully developed and differentiated, forming some taxa at different evolutionary stages (Rugosa, Swertia, Poephila, Ophelia and Platynema etc. ) in the original area, and these taxa quickly dispersed in certain directions during the Late Cretaceous-Middle Tertiary when the global climate was warm and no much change. There seem to be three main dispersal routes from the origin area to different continents; (1) The westward route i. e. from SW. China, along the Himalayas area to Kashmir, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, and then southwestwards into Africa throuth Arabia. Four sections (Poephila, Macranthos, Kingdon-Wardia and Ophelia) took this dispersal route. Most species of sect. Ophelia dispersed along this route, but a few along southern route and north ern route. Sect. Ophelia greatly differentiated in Africa and the African endemic sectionSect. Montana was derived from it. The two sections form there a second distribution center of Swertia. (2) The southward route, i. e. towards S. India through the Himalayas, and towards SE. Asian islands through C. and S. China, Indo-China. Along this dispersal route sect. Platynema, Sect. Spinosisemina and a few species of Sect. Ophelia dispersed; (3) The northward rout, i. e. northwards across N. China, C. Asia to a high latitude of Euasia, and also through E. Asia into N. America. The following groups took this route: sect. Rugosa, sect. Swertia, sect. Frasera, sect. Heteranthos and sect. Ophelia ser. Dichotomae. Therefore, it seems that the genus Swertia originated in SW. China and then dispersed from there to N. and S. Asia, Africa, Europe and North America and formed the moderndistribution pattern of this genus.

A descriptive account of morphology and anatomy of the naturally-occurring cycads of south-eastern China (Hainan, Guangdong and Taiwan) is presented, with a key, il-lustrations, and discussion of their relationships.

Lycoris radiata (L′Her. ) Herb. containing wild and cultural types, is distributed in China and Japan. The karyotype variation in three populations of the species from Anhui is studied in this paper. (1) Wuhu wild population has a karyotype 2n=21+1B= 1m+12st +8t+1B. The chromosomes range in length from 7.50 to 14.10 µm with the ratio of the longest to the shortest 1.88. The karyotype belongs to Stebbins’(1971) 3A. (2) Huangshan wild population has two cytotypes: 2n=22 and 2n=22+1B. Type Ⅰ: The karyotype formula is 2n=22=12st+10t. The chromosomes range in length from 6.85 to 9.95 µm. with the ratio of the longest to the shortest 1.45. The karyotype belongs to 4A. Type Ⅱ: The karyotype formula is 2n=22+1B=6st+14t+2T+1B (plate 1: 7，8). The chromosomes range in length from 6.50 to 11.02 µm. with the ratio of the longest to the shortest 1.70. The karyotype belongs to 4A. (3) Wuhu cultural type has a karyotype 2n=33=30st +3t. The chromosomes range in length from 7.10 to 9.35 µm with the ratio of the longest to the shortest 1.32. The karyotype belongs to 4A. This result agrees well with the previous reports. The diploid types of Lycoris radiata (L´Her.) Herb. are found in Anhui for the firsttime.

The present paper reports 10 new species of Orchidaceae from Xishuangbanna: Bulbophyllum colomaculosum Tsi et S. C. Chen, B. brevispicatum Tsi et S. C. Chen, B. subparviflorum Tsi et S. C. Chen, Gastrodia menghaiensis Tsi et S. C. Chen, Oberonia delicata Tsi et S. C. Chen, Luisia magniflora Tsi et S. C. Chen, L. Longispica Tsi et S. C. Chen, Tainia ovifolia Tsi et S. C. Chen, Eria crassifolia Tsi et S. C. Chen and Phaius banna-nensis Tsi et S. C. Chen.

Five new species of Gesneriaceae from Guangxi of China are described and illustrated. They are Oreocharis heterandra , Didymostigma leiophyllum , Chirita macrodonta ,C. macrorhiza and C. liujiangensis.

A new species Bergenia tianquanensis J. T. Pan and a new variety B. emeiensisC. Y. Wu var. rubellina J. T. Pan both from Sichuan, China, are described in this paper.

One new species Coloniophora shanxiensis Y. J. Ling et S. L. Xie, is described,and one new record, C. spicata (Schmid.) Islam, is reported both from shanxi, China.