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Letouzey & White (1970) describe 36 species of Diospyros from Cameroon (reduced to 35 by the recognition of D. simulans F. White as a synonym of D. cinnabarina (Gfirke) F. White (White 1978)). All but six of these are found in evergreen rainforest. Mt Kupe is the first high mountain (2100 m alt.) northeast of Mt Cameroon in the series of highlands and mountains that lie at the boundary between West Africa and the Congo basin. Mt Kupe has been described as an island of rainforest "arising from a sea of farm-bush and banana plantations" (Collar & Stuart 1988). The ecology and importance to conservation of the surviving forest (all above 500 m alt.) on Mt Kupe, is summarized in Stoffelen et al. (1997) and in Cheek & Cable (1996). While we were conducting botanical inventory work on Mt Kupe in January February and October November of 1995, few specimens of Diospyros were encountered. D. obliquifolia (Hiern ex Girke) F. White, D. cinnabarina, and D. pseudomespilus Mildbr. were encountered as isolated individuals. However, on the south side of the mountain above Kupe village, one small, gregarious species of Diospyros with conspicuous yellow-orange fruits was common. This has proven to be a previously undescribed species, so far known only from the south side of Mt Kupe.

We recently published a skeletal world revision of Nepenthes (Jebb & Cheek 1997) in preparation for a Flora Malesiana account of the genus. Since then a further new species has come to light (Nerz et al. 1998). We describe two more species here, bringing the total known in the genus to 85. The species below are based on specimens collected in Palawan, Philippines by a joint expedition from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh and the Philippine National Herbarium in January and February 1998. The first species name is from the Latin, meaning wonderful, the second honours one of the collectors. Both species belong to species groups previously known only from Borneo. Exact collection localities have been withheld in view of the threat to rare and new species from plant collectors.

In preparation for checklists and florulas of the plants of Mt Cameroon and other areas in S W Cameroon (Cheek et al. 1996), the nomenclature of plants of this area is being reviewed. Blaeria spicata is one of only three species of Ericaceae in West Africa, all of which occur on Mt Cameroon. Blaeria has been distinguished from Erica largely by having four, rather than eight stamens. Recently Oliver (1993) has shown that this distinction does not hold and has made the nomenclatural changes necessary to treat the South African species of Blaeria as Erica. He did not deal with the Tropical African species of Blaeria, and so this is attended to here for the following species

The genus Naregamia Wight & Arn., with one species in India and another in Angola, was maintained by Pennington & Styles (1975). It was distinguished from Turraea largely by the seeds, but those of the Malagasy species Turraea leroyana Cheek closely resemble those of Naregamia (Cheek 1990). Compound leaves and the lack of staminal appendages also characterised Naregamia, but T streyi F. White & Styles has compound leaves and several species of Turraea lack staminal appendages. Naregamia is here reduced to synonymy

Summary. A new species of Pinguicula from the Atlantic coast of Mexico, P. greenwoodii, is described in the previously monotypic section Homophyllum Casper.

The discovery of the orthodox pattern of seed physiology (Tompsett 1987) in Dipterocarpus alatus and two other species of the genus from mainly seasonally dry areas caused considerable interest (all other members of the family are of recalcitrant seed physiology type where known) owing to the enormous importance of this family as timber trees in S. E. Asia. This discovery prompted a search for further species of potentially orthodox seed physiology. Attention was focused on other species of Dipterocarpus growing in similar habitat types, such as seasonally dry forest, in the suspicion that seed physiology may be linked with the habitat type. Examination of further species of Dipterocarpus was carried out in collaboration with the first author (Smitinand 1958a, 1958b; Smitinand et al. 1980). In the course of the investigation, it became apparent that Dipterocarpus alatus is more widespread than once thought. This species has been regarded as extending from eastern India and the Andaman Islands to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, south to the border of Thailand with Peninsular Malaysia (Smitinand 1958a, Smitinand et al. 1990). The authors were surprised to find material of this species from Luzon in the Philippines under the name of D. philippinensis Foxw. Although the type material seems to have been mislaid, two complete collections, Sulit & Mabesa 1462 and Rojo & De Vila 182, labelled as D. philippinensis (loaned from the Manila herbarium) collected from Bataan province near Manila, match perfectly with Indo-Chinese material of D. alatus, hitherto unrecorded from the Philippines. The description in Foxworthy's protologue, together with an excellent photographic plate published of the type (also from Bataan province) agree well with D. alatus. Merrill (1923, 3: 90) lists two other collections of the species (again as D. philippinensis), namely Gonzalez in F. B. 27444 and Pascual in F. B. 28800 and he records it from two additional provinces namely Abra and Nueva Vizcaya. According to Rojo (pers. comm.), the dry area seen in Bataan extends to Mindoro in the south. It is possible that D. alatus once occurred there. Foxworthy, in his protologue, makes no comparison with or mention of D. alatus. It seems likely that, had he made comparison with this species, he would not have

Summary. Corchorus macropterus Leach & Cheek, very unusual in its strongly winged fruit, is described as a new species. Its relationship with C. cunninghamii F. Muell. is discussed. This striking Corchorus came to light during preliminary work on the genus in the Northern Territory of Australia by Greg Leach. Munir's specimen at Kew clearly represents a new species, unique amongst Australian species of Corchorus in its strongly winged fruits. Arnhem Land is an area that is rich in endemic taxa but still poorly known floristically. Led by the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR), much interest has lately been shown in the wild species of Corchorus with respect to their potential for introducing disease and drought resistance qualities to the commercial fibre-crop species C. capsularis L. and C. olitorius L. (Edmonds 1990). Corchorus macropterus Leach & Cheek sp. nov. a C. cunninghamii F. Muell. sepalis aristatis, staminibus 140, fructibus valde alatis et apicibus obtusis differt. Typus: Australia, A. A. Munir 5838 (holotypus DNA, isotypi AD, BRI, CANB, K, L). (Table 1).

During the autumn of 1988, Dr Lobin of the University of Saarbrucken, W. Germany, visited the Kew Herbarium in order to obtain names for the botanical collections that he had made in Somalia, and also for those accumulated by Mr Ralf Peveling at the Balcad Nature Reserve (Anon. 1987) near Mogadishu. Amongst the specimens made by the latter was found an undescribed species of Turraea which matched three other fragmentary collections in the Kew herbarium. These had been annotated by Mr. Jan Gillett as 'Turraea parvifolia Deflers forma vel sp. aff.' and reference is made to them by Kuchar (1986). In fact, the curved staminal tube and large ovoid receptaculum pollinis of Peveling's species suggest an equally close link with the predominantly Kenyan species Turraea fischeri Guerke and Turraea cornucopia Styles & White.

The genus Malleastrum was first segregated from Cipadessa Blume and published by Leroy (1964) who enumerated 11 species from Madagascar, with a single species occurring in the Comores. Since then, Fosberg (1974) has described another species from Aldabra. Malleastrum was maintained at generic level by Pennington & Styles (1975). Description of further new species is currently in press with Adansonia. The new species was found during collecting by the Universite d'Antananarivo, Madagascar and the Parc Botanique et Zoologique de Tzimbazaza at Ambohitantely (Reserve Speciale No. 1), for the inventory of the protected area near Ankazobe, which represents one of the last remnants of the forests generally believed once to have covered the central highlands.

J. G. Baker's Oncoba ('Flacourtiaceae) is revealed as being Turraea sericea Sm. (Meliaceae). His error is explained. A detailed description and illustration of the species and notes on its flower biology and ethnobotany are presented. The affinity of the species is shown to be with two East African species rather than other species in Madagascar. This small group seems to be the element of Turraea closest to Humbertioturraea.

Turraea leroyana, a new species from western Madagascar is described. Its seeds, unlike the smooth and glossy condition normal in Turraea, are verrucate and micro-papillate, like those of Naregamia, a segregate genus recognized largely on the basis of this character. The status of Naregamia is discussed. Turraea leroyana is also unusual in that it has bud scales-characteristic of the Swietenioideae-not previously recorded in the tribe Turraeeae (Melioideae).

Greuter, W. et al. 1988. International code of botanical nomenclature. Regnum Veg. 118. Ortiz, S. In Press. Lectotypification of the names of certain plants described by Lange and endemic in Galicia (NW Spain). Webbia. Rollins, R. C. 1972. The need for care in choosing lectotypes. Taxon 21: 635-637. Voster, P. 1986. Use of the term paralectotype/lectoparatype. Taxon 35: 316-369. Willkomm, H. M. and J. M. C. Lange. 1861-1880. Prodromusflorae hispanicae. Stuttgart.

Despite the severe threats to plant habitats and high levels of extinction risk for plant species in many parts of the world, plant conservation priorities are often poorly represented in national and global frameworks because of a lack of data in an accessible and consistent format to inform conservation decision making. The Important Plant Areas (IPAs) criteria system offers a pragmatic yet scientifically rigorous means of delivering these datasets, enabling informed national- or regional-scale conservation prioritisation, and contributing significantly towards global prioritisation systems including the International Union for Conservation of Nature Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) Standard. In this paper, we review the IPA rationale and progress on IPA identification to date, including the perceived limitations of the process and how these may be overcome. We then present a revised set of criteria for use globally, developed through the combined experiences of IPA identification over the past decade and a half and through a recent global consultation process. An overview of how the revised IPA criteria can work alongside the newly published KBA Standard is also provided. IPA criteria are based around a sound, scientific, global framework which acknowledges the practical problems of gathering plant and habitat data in many regions of the world, and recognises the role of peer reviewed expert opinion in the selection process. National and sub-national engagement in IPA identification is essential, providing a primary route towards long term conservation of key sites for plant diversity. The IPA criteria can be applied to the conservation of all organism groups within the plant and fungal kingdoms.

Plant surveys were undertaken in 1995 in the 1922 and 1959 lava flows in order to assess species richness on these lava flows on Mount Cameroon. A total of 128 species were recorded out of which 21 (16%) were only found on lava flow and nowhere else in other ecosystems in Cameroon; they could be considered as a contribution of the lava flows to the maintenance of overall species diversity of the mountain area. Also, apart from the lava flow area it is difficult to find in one area such a high diversity of ferns, orchids and even woody species such as Ficus species and Hymenodictyon biafra- num. The physiognomy of the recovering vegetation on lava flow is dominated at different stages of succession by different groups of plants, which also illustrates the successional pathway. The bare rock is first inhabited by lichens and mosses, followed by ferns, then herbs and climbers with stunted woody pioneers, and finally by immature woody pioneers. Comparison of observed data on species composition, basal area and density of plants on the 1922 lava flow and similar parameters in the intact nearby rainforest indicated that the turnover time on lava flow in the Mount Cameroon environment is at least 300 to 600 years.

Deux nouvelles combinaisons sont proposees pour Astrotrichilia et sept pour Humbertioturraea

While I was helping Dr Kaj Vollesen and Ms Sally Bidgood to name their collections of Meliaceae, made during March-May 1988 in eastern Tanzania, an unusual Turraea which they had collected in Kimboza Forest came to light. Initially, it was thought to be Turraea vogelioides Bagshw. & Bak. f. although its rather larger leaves and distribution (far to the East of any other collection) were noted as unusual. Later, I returned to the subject and, having examined the flowers more carefully, realised that although closely related to three other East African species, the Kimboza plant was clearly distinct.

This striking species first came to light as a fruiting specimen from the Mwanihana Forest Reserve (Lovett et al. 854B). Cursory examination of the seeds showed them to be very similar to those of Trichilia capitata Klotzsch, the most distinct of the African Trichilia (see e.g. White & Styles 1963 and de Wilde 1968) but differing in several important aspects. Comparison of the leaves with those of T. capitata showed further differences. In July 1988, through the kindness ofJon Lovett, two further specimens from the Uzungwa Mts became available: Rodgers & Homewood 1035 with better preserved, fully ripe fruit showing the appendaged fruit surface more prominently than in the first collection and Lovett 232, a unicate with flowers which enabled a full description to be made and an acceptable type to be cited.