The genus Kobresia in Xizang (Tibet) is revised taxonomically on the basis of both herbarium and field observations. Thirty-six species and one subspecies are recognized. The names of six taxa are corrected, and the six correct names are K. esenbeckii, K. fissiglumis, K. gammiei, K. littledalei, K. myosuroides ssp. bistaminata and K. vaginosa. Thirteen previously recognised taxa, K. angusta, K. cercostachys var. capillacea, K. clarkeana, K. curticeps var. gyirongensis, K. deasyi, K. glaucifolia, K. hookeri, K. nudicarpa, K. prainii var. elliptica, K. seticulmis, K. stenocarpa, K. stenocarpa var. simplex and K. williamsii, are treated as synonyms. K. prainii var. elliptica, K. glaucifolia and K. stenocarpa var. simplex are new synonyms. K. handel-mazzettii is a new record to Xizang. Two species newly published, K. pseuduncinoides and K. woodii, should be added to the flora of Xizang. A new key to species and subspecies, and the information of the distribution sites of each taxon in Xizang are given.

Previous taxonomic treatments in Russia and China have considered Corylus mandshurica and C. sieboldiana to be distinct as independent species. A morphometric analysis was conducted to determine if the morphological differentiation from these taxa warrants specific taxonomic recognition with a large sample of field-collected leaves as well as specimens from several herbaria of northeastern Asia. One hundred and fifty two individuals representing Chinese, Korean, and Japanese geographic ranges of the species were scored for 18 morphological characters and the data matrix was used for principal components analysis. The entities that comprise C. sieboldiana complex exhibit widely overlapping ranges in all morphological attributes. The leaf and fruit data may reflect a lack of divergence between taxa. Therefore, we do not regard these to be sufficient for taxonomic splitting of C. mandshurica from C. sieboldiana to warrant the designation of the rank of a species based on morphology. The two taxa were not morphologically well differentiated and their ranges of distribution come together. Therefore, C. mandshurica should be recognized as an infraspecific taxon of C. sieboldiana. C. sieboldiana with short involucres in southern Korea and Japan is often treated as an independent species （C. hallaisanensis） or a variety (C. sieboldiana var. brevirostris), but should be only recognized as a form of C. sieboldiana because this involucral character is highly variable even within the same individual.

A portion (the big intron between exon 5 and 6, ca. 2 kb) of glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT) gene of 15 wild tree peony accessions collected from 15 populations, which represent all the eight wild species in sect. Moutan, was analyzed using PCR-RFLP technique, and this portion of nine accessions, which represent also all the eight wild species, was sequenced for a better understanding of the interspecific relationships in this section. A reduced-median (RM) network of sect. Moutan was constructed with Network 3.0 computer program using the PCR-RFLP data obtained from the digestion experiments of 12 selected restriction enzymes. Both maximum parsimony (MP) and neighbor-joining (NJ) trees of sect. Moutan were constructed with PAUP*4.0 program using the sequences newly obtained in this study and from GenBank. As a result, a well resolved and highly supported gene tree of sect. Moutan (by bootstrap values) was obtained. The tree is basically in accordance with that constructed from morphological data. The phylogenetic relationships among species in sect. Moutan are discussed in detail.

There exist many taxonomic uncertainties in the genus Actinidia Lindl. as to the circumscription of sections and treatment of closely related species because of natural interspecific crossing. Little has been attempted to use micromorphological characters to address the problems. Pollen morphology of 21 species, 6 varieties and 4 interspecific hybrids (F1) of the genus Actinidia was studied using SEM. A detailed description of the pollen grains was presented and a key to the species of the genus was given based on the pollen morphology observed. The results were summarized as follows: (1) The pollen grains are mainly prolate to subspheroidal in shape, and there were less distinct interspecific differences in the shape than those in size and ornamentation. (2) Most species introduced from the wild have three colporate apertures rather than three colporoid apertures as previously reported, the reason for which could be presumed that the pollen materials observed were harvested from specimens collected from different places with different habitats and that the plants might have undergone various crossings in the wild. (3) The pollen grains of interspecific hybrids were hollow and infertile, which may be due to the different ploidy levels between the parental species, a phenomenon common in the genus Actinidia. （4） The pollen of cultivated staminate varieties was compared with that of the wild types, and the ornamentation became finer than that of the later ones. This characteristic was presumed to be an important evolutionary trait beneficial to pollination in dioecious plants, a phenomenon which is worthy of further study. (5) The pollen size of male plant individuals is found to be somewhat correlated with the fruit size, a phenomenon which may be helpful for early selection of hybrids.

AbstractHemiboea subcapitata Clarke var. pterocaulis Z. Y. Li, a new variety of the Gesneriaceae from Guangxi, China, is described. The variety is different from the typical one by having winged stem and earlier flowering period.

AbstractA new variety of the Primulaceae from the Mt. Wuliangshan, Jingdong County, Yunnan, China, Primula sinolisteri var. longicalyx D. W. Xue & C. Q. Zhang, is described and illustrated. It is different from the typical one by having corolla with a rin

Wikstroemia trichotoma (Thunb.) Makino var. flavianthera S. Y. Liu, a new variety of the Thymelaeaceae from Guangxi, China, is described in detail. This variety is different from the typical one by having more leaf nerves, up to 11 pairs, calyx tube not

Based on herbarium and field observations, Chaetoseris hispida Shih is considered as a synonym of Ch. cyanea (D. Don) Shih.

An examination of the type specimens of Astragalus yatungensis Ni & P. C. Li and A. monanthus K. T. Fu has shown that they should be synonymous with A. donianus DC.

The cultivated tree peonies have long been scientifically called Paeonia suffruticosa. After “Feng Dan", a tree peony cultivated for medicinal purpose, was described as a new species, P. ostii, in 1992, the name P. suffruticosa is still used to represent

Deeply understanding and correctly translating alien scientific terms will be helpful for the development of ongoing disciplines concerned and beneficial to academic exchanges. Recently, pollination biology has become a thriving field of inquiry of ecolog