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Aloe ×selmarii (Asphodelaceae subfam. Alooideae), a hybrid between A. davyana var. davyana and A. parvibracteata, is described. Although the natural distribution ranges of the parent species do not overlap, this nothospecies is often encountered as a result of the cultivation of A. parvibracteata outside its natural range, in areas where A. davyana var. davyana occurs naturally.

Following the reinstatement of Aloe davyana Schönland (1905: 288) (Fig. 1A) as an accepted taxon at the rank of species, rather than at that of variety under A. greatheadii Schönland (1904: 121) (Smith et al. 2020), we here reinstate A. davyana var. subolifera Groenewald (1939: t. 732). Aloe davyana var. subolifera was accepted by all aloe researchers until it was placed in the synonymy of a broadened concept of A. greatheadii var. davyana (Schönl.) Glen & Hardy (1987: 490), a view with which we do not agree.

Aloe davyana (Asphodelaceae subfam. Alooideae), a winter-flowering aloe that is endemic to the north-central interior of South Africa, is reinstated at the rank of species based on plant size, clumping habit, leaf colour and ornamentation, inflorescence architecture, and several flower characters. In the past it was sometimes treated as A. greatheadii var. davyana.

The KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa has a varied topography, geology and climate and presents diverse habitats that support a rich and diverse flora. Aloes are well represented in KwaZulu-Natal, with four genera [Aloe L., Aloiampelos Klopper & Gideon F.Sm., Aloidendron (A.Berger) Klopper & Gideon F.Sm. and Aristaloe Boatwr. & J.C.Manning] and 49 taxa occurring in the province. Fourteen of these are endemic and eleven near-endemic to the province. A floristic treatment of the aloes of KwaZulu-Natal is presented in the form of a synoptic review. Included are an identification key to the aloes that occur naturally in the province, species-level distribution maps and accompanying images, so providing for the first time, an atlas of aloe occurrence in this part of the subcontinent.

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Updated country and regional plant checklists for southern Africa have been available for several decades. These form the backbone of foundational and applied biodiversity-related processes, e.g., herbarium specimen curation, conservation assessments, and biodiversity policy and planning activities. A plant taxonomic backbone for South Africa has been maintained electronically since the 1970s; originally in the custom-built National Herbarium, Pretoria Computerised Information System (PRECIS) database; and currently in the Botanical Database of Southern Africa (BODATSA), using Botanical Research & Herbarium Management System (BRAHMS) software. The BODATSA species table contains ca. 129,000 names of fungi, algae, mosses, lycophytes and ferns, conifers, and flowering plants. Taxonomic backbone data is continuously expanded, updated, and improved following strict policies and standards in an attempt to keep it up-to-date and current. The South African National Plant Checklist (SANPC) Policy stipulates that a single classification is followed for taxonomic groups at the family level and above. Thus a classification system was chosen for each plant group represented in the backbone. For genera and below, the latest published evidence-based classification is followed. Where there are opposing classifications for a group based on similar data, the SANPC Committee decides which classification is most suitable from a southern African perspective. Researchers can also make an appeal to the Committee not to follow the latest publication, if it is controversial. Updating primarily involves keeping track of literature references and the taxon additions, synonymies, and other taxonomic and nomenclatural changes they represent. Attributes affected by such changes are adjusted in the taxon module of BODATSA. Currently the taxonomic backbone for indigenous and naturalised mosses, liverworts, hornworts, ferns and lycophytes, conifers, and flowering plants is actively maintained and updated. Fungal names are not curated in BODATSA, as the Mycology Unit of the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) of South Africa maintains a taxonomic backbone for fungi. In future, all fungal names will be migrated to a separate instance of BRAHMS, and links to the ARC database will be established to update the fungal backbone. Previously algae were not included in BODATSA or the SANPC, but algal names are now being added to the backbone. Only names of green and red algae will be added initially. Maintenance of the names for indigenous taxa in southern Africa was always prioritised in the taxonomic backbone. Recently, the scope was expanded to also focus more on our naturalised flora. For these taxa, expansion involved tagging some existing names as naturalised or invasive and adding others. Thus far this dataset has been managed differently, and we realize that to some extent, this will need to continue going forward since information here are more about presence or absence, and confirmation of naturalised status. BODATSA also houses 1.37 million specimen records for more than 2 million specimens housed in the three herbaria of the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI): Compton Herbarium (NBG & SAM), Cape Town; KwaZulu-Natal Herbarium (NH), Durban; and National Herbarium (PRE), Pretoria. Determinations of specimen records are directly linked to names in the taxonomic backbone. Any changes in the backbone thus filter down to the specimen records and should ideally also be reflected in the physical herbarium collections. Checklists for South Africa and the Flora of southern African region were initially published in hardcopy, with some later made available in pdf format. An official yearly release of the SANPC (currently containing just under 40,000 names for indigenous and naturalised mosses, liverworts, hornworts, lycophytes and ferns, conifers, and flowering plants occurring in South Africa) is now made available online as a downloadable spreadsheet, together with other checklist-related documents. This part of the backbone is also accessible in the searchable online platform, Plants of southern Africa (POSA). In line with global initiatives to mobilise plant biodiversity data, this platform provides specimen record data as well, and will soon link descriptive data from the e-Flora of South Africa project to the backbone (once the National Biodiversity Information System website upgrade is finalised). The SANPC connects with several international initiatives and is utilised to update the taxonomic backbones of, amongst others, the World Flora Online (WFO) Project (including the WFO Plant List) and the African Plants Database. This contribution will briefly outline the history of compiling, updating, and disseminating the taxonomic backbone of southern African plants. It will provide information on current data management processes and procedures. Challenges relating to updating the taxonomic backbone, will be highlighted and discussed.

Van Wyk, Abraham E., Klopper, Ronell R. (2021): Hilliardiella oligocephala, the correct name for H. elaeagnoides (Asteraceae: Vernonieae). Phytotaxa 513 (2): 166-168, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.513.2.8, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.513.2.8

The little-known Aloe labiaflava (Asphodelaceae subfam. Alooideae), which has for long been regarded as a hybrid between A. davyana and A. longibracteata, is reinstated as an accepted species endemic to a small area in the western Mpumalanga province of South Africa. It differs from both A. davyana and A. longibracteata in several reproductive morphological characters not present in these two species, especially by almost invariably producing only a single inflorescence per flowering season and by having a perianth that is distinctly flared at the mouth, with especially the external, apical ⅓ of the perianth conspicuously yellow.

Aloe arborescens Mill. ‘Estelle Potgieter’ (Asphodelaceae subfam. Alooideae), a new cultivar, is established in this variable species. Aloes at the South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, South Africa, are discussed.

As part of a revised generic classification of Aloe Linnaeus (1753: 319) sensu lato (Grace et al. 2013), Aloidendron (Berger 1905: 56) Klopper & Gideon F.Sm. in Grace et al. (2013: 9) was established to accommodate six tree aloe species that Berger (1905) previously placed in two sections, Aloe sect. Aloidendron Berger (1905: 56) and A. sect. Dracoaloë Berger (1905: 56). The six species transferred to Aloidendron were: A. barberae (Dyer 1874: 566) Klopper & Gideon F. Sm. in Grace et al. (2013: 9), A. dichotomum (Masson 1776: 310) Klopper & Gideon F.Sm. in Grace et al. (2013: 9), A. eminens (Reynolds & Bally 1958: 187) Klopper & Gideon F.Sm. in Grace et al. (2013: 9), A. pillansii (Guthrie 1928: 15) Klopper & Gideon F.Sm. in Grace et al. (2013: 9), A. ramosissimum (Pillans 1939: 66) Klopper & Gideon F.Sm. in Grace et al. (2013: 9), and A. tongaense (Van Jaarsveld 2010: 71) Klopper & Gideon F.Sm. in Grace et al. (2013: 10). These tree aloes, but not A. sabaeum (Schweinf.) Boatwr. & J.C.Manning in Manning et al. (2014: 67) (see next paragraph), have been treated by Van Jaarsveld & Judd (2015).

The Species Plantarum Programme: Flora of the World (SPPFW) has been in existence for slightly more than two decades and during this time published basic taxonomic information for just over 1000 species, in 11 families. While an admirable initiative, at this pace it will take about 350 years to reach completion. At the 10th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which was held in Nagoya, Japan, in October 2010, the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) was updated for the period up to 2020 (the first phase of the GSPC had been adopted in 2002). The first target of the Strategy aims to produce an online flora for all known plants of the world by 2020, in about three years therefore. Governments that are parties to the CBD are due to report over the next few years on progress with achieving all of the 16 GSPC targets, including this challenging first target. While many individual countries have initiatives to prepare online digital floras of their own ter...

The National Research Foundation (grant reference number: UID92629) and Royal Society (grant reference number: SA140038) are thanked for the funding that was awarded to host an e-Flora workshop in South Africa.

While revising the southern African species of Pelargonium L’Hér. in Aiton (1789a: 417) sect. Peristera De Candolle (1824: 654) (Le Roux 2019), it was found that two names are in circulation for a single species. This matter was not addressed in the revision by Le Roux (2019) as P. althaeoides (Linnaeus 1753: 679) L’Hér. in Aiton (1789a: 420) was moved from Pelargonium sect. Peristera [subgen. Parvulipetalum Röschenbl. & F.Albers in Röschenbleck et al. (2014: 57)] to section Campylia (Lindl. ex Sweet 1820: pl. 43) De Candolle (1824: 656) (subgen. Pelargonium) in a molecular study by Röschenbleck et al. (2014). The matter therefore requires clarification.

Aloe barbertoniae Pole-Evans, which has previously been included in the synonymy of A. greatheadii Schonland var. davyana (Schonland) Glen & D.S.Hardy, is here reinstated. This species is adapted to the subtropics of northeastern South Africa where it occurs in the Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces. It can be distinguished from A. greatheadii var. davyana by generally being a more robust plant with longer leaves and larger flowers, as well as an inflorescence that has more branches and that often rebranch. Although both the floral bracts and pedicels are shorter than in A. greatheadii var. davyana, the lowermost floral bracts of A. barbertoniae are markedly longer than the pedicels (not of equal length). The dull stripes on the perianth segments are less conspicuous than in A. greatheadii var. davyana.

The natural hybrid between Aloe arborescens Mill. and A. chortolirioides A.Berger var. chortolirioides (Asphodelaceae) is here formally described as a nothospecies, A. ×inopinata Gideon F.Sm., N.R.Crouch & Oosth. The hybrid occurs at Kamhlabane, about 37 km [22 miles] east of Barberton, as well as at Twello 373JU in the Barberton district, Mpumalanga. It has been known in horticulture for many years, following the introduction of wild-sourced material by Gilbert W. Reynolds.

Aloe candelabrum A.Berger (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae), a stately, single-stemmed species from the KwaZulu-Natal province in eastern South Africa, which had been included in the synonymy of A. ferox Mill. for some years, is reinstated. The entire distribution range of A. candelabrum falls within the Maputoland-Pondoland Region of Endemism on the eastern seaboard of South Africa. In contrast, Aloe ferox occurs widely in the Western and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa, the southern Free State province, as well as southern Lesotho. It does not occur in KwaZulu-Natal.

Background: A Nomenclature Section meeting to amend the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants is held every six years, a week before the International Botanical Congress.Objectives: To report on some of the outcomes of the Nomenclature Section of the XIXth International Botanical Congress that was held in Shenzhen, China, in July 2017.Method: Outcomes that are especially relevant to South African botanists and mycologists are summarised from published Nomenclature and General Committee reports, as well as the published report of congress action.Results: This short note summarises and highlights some of the decisions taken at the Nomenclature Section in China, especially those that are important for South African botanists and mycologists.

Bradleya 31/2013 Summary: We show that of four previously unrecorded, but recently unearthed names in Aloe L. (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae), none has an impact on the species-rank nomenclature of the genus as currently accepted. Although nomenclatural stability is not here impacted, we argue that such long-hidden names that are now visible as part of the nomenclature applicable to Aloe have the potential to unnecessarily or inappropriately disrupt the status quo. The same will apply to other taxa for which the existence of historical names has been recorded. A formal mechanism must be introduced through the Code to lessen or, ideally, entirely prevent such names displacing ones long in use.

Plants matching the concept for Aloe monteiroae Baker, for long considered as an imperfectly known species, have been discovered at Komatipoort, about 50km west of the type locality. Observations in situ and in subsequent cultivation reveal a remarkable plasticity of leaf and inflorescence form, including the production of short, simple racemes. We conclude that the holotype of A. monteiroae, prepared from a plant cultivated at Kew but originating at Delagoa Bay (Maputo Bay), Mozambique, most likely represents a depauperate form of the highly variable Aloe parvibracteata Schonland. The widely used substantive epithet ‘monteiroi’ is amended to ‘monteiroae’ to correct an orthographic error. The name Aloe monteiroae Baker predates the name Aloe parvibracteata and should therefore be adopted for the species. However, for the sake of nomenclatural stability, a conservation proposal has been submitted to Taxon to prevent the familiar name Aloe parvibracteata from being replaced by the relatively obscure name Aloe monteiroae.

widely distributed in southern Africa, Aloe maculata All. is well defined by a suite of characters that includes maculate (spotted) leaves, flattopped inflorescences and uniformly coloured flowers. Being a predominantly mild-climate species, it rarely ventures into the more severe southern African interior escarpment, where one of its variants, var. ficksburgensis Reynolds − to date only validly published in combination with the name Aloe saponaria (Aiton) Haw. − occur. We here make the new combination at subspecific level, A. maculata subsp. ficksburgensis (Reynolds) Gideon F.Sm. & Figueiredo, and record its occurrence near Winburg in central South Africa, about 80 km west of previously known records.

ulate Aloe L. (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae), A. braamvanwykii Gideon F.Sm. & Figueiredo is described from near Wolmaransstad in the NorthWest Province of South Africa. The species is related to five other summer-flowering maculate aloes in the A. zebrina-complex: A. ammophila Reynolds, A. komatiensis Reynolds, A. lettyae Reynolds, A. transvaalensis Kuntze (probably its nearest relative) and A. vandermerwei Reynolds, but differs from these five species in several aspects. Aloe ammophila, A. komatiensis, A. transvaalensis and A. vandermerwei have previously been included in the synonymy of A. zebrina Baker, and are here reinstated. Aloe braamvanwykii is adapted to the climatic extremes of the country’s central north-western grasslands where it is subject to very low winter and high summer temperatures.

Background: Biannual Council meetings are held with the aim of developing a World Flora Online (WFO) in response to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (2011–2020).Objectives: To report on the sixth WFO Council meeting held in Pretoria, South Africa, on November 2016.Method: A WFO Council meeting (preceded by Taxonomic and Technical Working Group meetings) was hosted by the South African National Biodiversity Institute in Pretoria.Results: Significant progress with the development of the WFO portal was made.Conclusion: The WFO portal will be launched at the International Botanical Congress in China in 2017.

Summary : The island of Madagascar harbours 128 species (161 taxa) of Aloe L., which are all en demic to this biodiversity hotspot. Most Malagasy aloes have very restricted distribution ranges and are represented by small populations. Madagas can aloes are very popular in horticulture and an important part of the ornamental plant export in dustry. The aloes of Madagascar are prone to human pressures that affect the degradation of their natural habitats and their survival. How ever, there has not been a treatment to assess the conservation status of the Malagasy aloes. Here, for the first time, we aim to provide a risk assess ment and make available preliminary conserva tion statuses for all the known aloes of Madagascar. Specimen information from different herbaria and different websites have been gath ered and compiled into a BRAHMS database. The Conservation Assessment Tool was used for data analysis during the conservation assessments. It was found that around 39% of Madagascan aloes are threatened, with only 4% being Least Con cern. Of great significance is the fact that almost 50% of the aloes in Madagascar are regarded as Data Deficient, likely leading to a huge underes timate of the percentage of threatened aloes. Fur ther research into Data Deficient taxa and a comprehensive conservation assessment for all the aloes of Madagascar is required. These results will inform priorities in conservation projects con cerning aloes and the areas where they occur. Zusammenfassung : Die Insel Madagaskar ist die Heimat von 128 Arten (161 Taxa) von Aloe L., und alle sind in diesem Biodiversitats-Hotspot en demisch. Die meisten madagassischen Aloen haben eine sehr beschrankte Verbreitung und sind durch kleine Populationen gekennzeichnet. Madagassiche Aloe-Arten sind im gartnerischen Bereich geschatzt, und sie stellen einen wichtigen Teil der Zierpflanzenexportindustrie dar. Die Aloen von Madagaskar werden durch anthropo gene Faktoren bedrangt, welche zur Degradation ihrer Standorte fuhren und das Uberleben gefahrden. Bisher gab es jedoch keine formelle Beurteilung des Gefahrdungsstatus' der mada gassichen Aloen. Hier versuchen wir fur das erste Mal uberhaupt eine Beurteilung der Risiken, und wir machen fur alle bekannten madagassischen Aloen eine vorlaufige Einschatzung des Gefahrdungsstandes. Es wurden Angaben zu Belegen aus verschiedenen Herbarien und von verschiedenen Webseiten zusammengetragen und in eine BRAHMS-Datenbank zusammengestellt. Das Werkzeug fur die Beurteilung des Gefahrdungsstatus wurde dann wahrend der Evaluation zur Datenanalyse verwendet. Es zeigte sich, dass rund 39% der madagassischen Aloe-Arten gefahrdet sind, und nur 4% gehoren in die Kategorie "Least Concern". Von besonderer Wichtigkeit ist die Tatsache, dass fur fast 50% der madagassischen Aloen unzureichende Angaben vorhanden sind, was wahrscheinlich zu einer deutlichen Unterschatzung des Prozentsatzes gefahrderter Aloen fuhrt. Es braucht weitere Un

Ceterachoid aspleniums in southern Africa have long been treated as a single widespread and variable taxon, Asplenium cordatum (Thunb.) Sw. (= Ceterach cordatum Thunb.). In addition to A. cordatum, a further two ceterachoid taxa are now recognized as occurring in the Flora of southern Africa (FSA) region, namely A. capense (Kunze) Bir, Fraser-Jenk. Lovis and A. phillipsianum (Kümmerle) Bir, Fraser-Jenk. Lovis. We provide full descriptions and distributions of these three taxa.