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Two new species of the genus Phanera, P. laotica Mattapha & Lanors. and P. rubra Lanors. & Mattapha, are described and illustrated. Their taxonomic affinities are discussed. They were discovered in central Lao PDR and are assessed here as endemic and rare species.

Diplectria maxwellii Karton., a new species from Sarawak, Borneo, is described and illustrated. The affinities with the closely related species D. stipularis (Blume) Kuntze are discussed.

The three species of the genus Rhinacanthus Nees occurring in Angola and Namibia are documented, including a full description of the new species R. angolensis I. Darbysh. and an expanded description of the scarce species R. kaokoensis K. Balkwill & S. D. Will. A key to their identification is provided, together with notes on their conservation status and species affinities.

A new species of Justicia L. (Acanthaceae), J. gambleana K. M. P. Kumar, Robi & Hareesh sp. nov. from the Kerala part of the Western Ghats, is described and illustrated. Its IUCN status, distribution and phenology are provided, and its affinities are discussed.

Four new species of Chionolaena (C. adpressifolia, C. campestris, C. canastrensis and C. juniperina) are described and illustrated from Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo States, Brazil and their affinities assessed. A key to Chionolaena in South America is given.

A new species of Justicia L. (Acanthaceae), J. sivadasanii Sunil, K. M. P. Kumar & Naveen Kum., from the Western Ghats of India is described and illustrated. Its IUCN status, distribution and phenology are provided along with colour photographs, and its affinities are discussed.

The new species Capparis kebarensis Fici (Capparaceae) is here described and illustrated. Its affinities are discussed.

Summary. A new species of Staurogyne (Acanthaceae), S. andamanica, is described and illustrated. Its affinities with S. zeylanica and conservation status are discussed.

Myosotic cameroonensis Cheek & R Becker (Boraginacene) is described from Cameroon. Its conservation status and taxonomic affinities are assessed and an updated key to the Tropical African species of the genus is presented.

Afrothismia baerae Cheek (Burmanniaceae) is newly described from a coastal forest remnant in Kenya. Its affinities and conservation status are assessed.

Impatiens frithii is described as new from the Bakossi Mts and also from Mt Etinde near Mt Cameroon. It is unusual among African Impatiens in being epiphytic. The new species is illustrated and its taxonomic affinities and ecology are discussed.

Hyperacanthus ambovombensis is described as a new species, and represents a new generic record for Madagascar. The affinities of H. ambovombensis to the African species of Hyperacanthus (H. amoenus and H. microphyllus) are discussed.

Two new species of Maesa are described from New Guinea: M. amplexicaulis from Papua/Irian Jaya, and M. gracilis from Papua New Guinea. The new species are illustrated and their taxonomic affinities are discussed. Maesa amplexicaulis is the first member of the genus to be described with amplexicaul leaves, and shares several characters with M. ruficaulis. The status and affinities of M. ruficaulis are discussed in the light of recent collections from Papua/Irian Jaya.

Summary. A new species of Trixis, T pruskii, from the Chapada Diamantina of Bahia State, Brazil, is described and illustrated, and its relationships with other species discussed; its closest affinities appear to be with the widespread T inula from Central and northern South America. A key to the five species now recognized from Bahia is provided.

Summary. Two new bamboo genera, Valiha and Cathariostachys, are described from Madagascar. Valiha consists of two species: V diffusa S. Dransf. and V perrieri (A. Camus) S. Dransf., the latter transferred from Ochlandra. Cathariostachys comprises two species: C. capitata (Kunth) S. Dransf., transferred from Nastus, and C. madagascariensis (A. Camus) S. Dransf., transferred from Cephalostachyum. Their affinities with other genera are discussed.

Summary. Two new monocotyledon families Anemarrhenaceae and Behniaceae are described for the monotypic but somewhat isolated genera Anemarrhena and Behnia. The differences from previous morphology-based associations near Anthericaceae and Luzuriagaceae respectively are considered, and their current relationships based in part on molecular sequence data are discussed. Both families are considered to be part of a 'higher' asparagoid clade leading to Asparagaceae and Convalliariaceae, but with no obvious close morphological affinities to other families in the clade.

Medusagyne oppositifolia Baker is the sole member of Medusagynaceae Engl. & Gilg and its phylogenetic position has been unclear. Analysis of rbcL sequence data indicates a close and strongly supported relationship to Ochnaceae and Quiinaceae, but does not resolve the relationships between these taxa. Together the three families form a monophyletic group with a somewhat more distant relationship to other linalean groups including Malpighiaceae, Linaceae and phyllanthoid Euphorbiaceae.

Rhabdodendron is the sole genus in Rhabdodendraceae and affinities have been suggested with Chrysobalanaceae, Rutaceae and Phytolaccaceae. Analysis of rbcL sequence data indicates a placement within Caryophyllidae sensu Chase, Soltis, Olmstead et al. 1993, but without a particularly close relationship to any of the other families. On this basis we support the familial rank Rhabdodendraceae and place it in Caryophyllidae, without reference to a particular order. The molecular results are discussed in the light of the morphological, anatomical and biochemical characters of Rhabdodendron.

Chromosome counts are given for 22 taxa in the genus Aloe L. collected in Somalia. All taxa were diploid (2n = 14) except A. cremnophila and A. inermis (tetraploid, 2n = 28) and a few specimens ofA.jucunda (triploid, 2n = 21). Some specimens ofA. pirottae were heterozygous for a chromosome interchange. The chromosomal stability and affinities of East African tetraploid aloes are discussed.

A taxonomic revision is presented for Cyrtandra in the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands. A total of 24 species are recognized, including 17 new species, and their distributions are portrayed on four maps. Field and herbarium studies show that 8 evolutionary lines are represented in the region, 7 of these with strong affinities to New Guinea. The 7 lineages in the Bismarck Archipelago are all New Guinean, and five of these extend to the Solomon Islands. Four Solomon Islands lineages are common to Fiji.

Petit, in Bull. Jard. Bot. Brux. 31: 531 (1964), suggested that the systematic position of Tarenna soyauxii (Hiern) Bremek. needed re-examination. It was excluded from Tarenna by N. Halle in Fl. Gabon 17, Rubiacdes 2: 92 (1970) who indicated that a new genus in the tribe Coffeeae (Ixoreae) should be described to accommodate it. In my opinion T. soyauxii shows strong affinities to both Tarenna and Rutidea, but is not congeneric with either. I adopt Nicolas Halle's suggestion and here formally describe a new genus and name it in his honour.

Summary. While collecting in Mauritius in connection with the 'Flore des Mascareignes' project the author discovered an unusual new species of Wahlenbergia, a genus new to the Mascarene Islands. It is described and its affinities are discussed.

Paragelonium Leandri, an alleged Malagasy palaeoendemic genus, proves to be congeneric with the African genus Aristogeitonia Prain. The required new combination for the sole species is accordingly made, and a new species of Aristogeitonia is described. A new tribe is established for the genus Benoistia Perr. & Leandri, and a new species is described. The original placement of Claoxylopsis Leandri is confirmed and two new species are described.

Since Milne-Redhead established the family Montiniaceae (in Hook., Ic. PI., t. 3541-4 (1955)) a good deal of new material has been collected. He had hoped to prepare accounts of the family for the 'Flora of Tropical East Africa' and 'Flore de Madagascar' but was awaiting more perfect material of two of the five taxa involved; since this had not been collected before his retirement nothing further was done. The family, although of uncertain affinities, certainly comes within the groups under my care and I have decided to write up the accounts despite still manifestly imperfect material of one of the taxa; the following notes were found necessary. Mr. Milne-Redhead noted the occurrence of the genus Grevea in tropical Africa and gave a full discussion of its affinities, finally deciding to erect a new family to contain it and Montinia. Despite the marked differences between these two genera, particularly in their wood anatomy (which is so diverse that Dr. Metcalfe commented that he would never have considered

Anatomical and morphological details are recorded for the species Davallia denticulata (Burm. f.) Mett., D. solida (Forst.) Sw., Humata repens (L. f.) Diels, Araiostegia membranulosa (Wall. ex Hook.) Holtt., A. multidentata (Wall. ex Hook.) Copel. and Davallodes borneense (Hook.) Copel. The distinctive characters of the genera are discussed, based on the details described and also on a consideration of other species. A new assessment is made of the distinctions between Araiostegia and Davallodes; this involves consideration of Paradavallodes Ching, a genus established to include Araiostegia membranulosa and A. multidentata. It is concluded that the species included by Ching in Paradavallodes are not sufficiently distinct from those left by him in Araiostegia to warrant recognition of the new genus. The species originally named Davallia membranulosa Wall. ex Hook., placed by Copeland in Davallodes and by Ching in Paradavallodes, is therefore here transferred to Araiostegia. The concluding discussion includes reference to the status and contents of the family Davalliaceae and its possible relationships to other families; it is suggested that (as here delimited) it is an epiphytically adapted offshoot from the terrestrial group of ferns which includes Tectaria.

It is strange that Harms, when discussing the affinities of T. stolzii, made no mention of T. wentzelianum which he had described from much the same area fourteen years previously. The accumulation of fresh material, all of it assignable to var. stolzii with the exception of one specimen, Procter 1792 from Njombe District above Matomba, which is var. wentzelianum, has so diminished the difference between the two taxa that they cannot be considered as more than varietally distinct. The differences between them can be set out as follows.