BACKGROUND AND AIMS Gagea is a Eurasian genus of petaloid monocots, with a few species in North Africa, comprising between 70 and approximately 275 species depending on the author. Lloydia (thought to be the closest relative of Gagea) consists of 12-20 species that have a mostly eastern Asian distribution. Delimitation of these genera and their subdivisions are unresolved questions in Liliaceae...

Echinops wakhanicus Rech.f. (Compositae: Cardueae: Echinopsinae) is described and illustrated, its taxonomic position discussed. Field observations seed collection of the species are mentioned. The genus discussed, comments made on infrageneric classification, placement E. in sect. Oligolepis. terminology used describing flowering structure discussed; term synflorescence preferred. Tribal subtr...

The genus Remusatia (Araceae) includes four species distributed in the tropical and subtropical Old World. The phylogeny of Remusatia was constructed using parsimony and Bayesian analyses of sequence data from three plastid regions (the rbcL gene, the trnL-trnF intergenic spacer, and the rps16 intron). Phylogenetic analyses of the concatenated plastid data suggested that the monophyly of Remusa...

We describe a new species of Glassfrog, Centrolene mariaelenae n. sp., from the Contrafuerte de Tzunantza, southeastern Ecuador. The new species is assigned to the Centrolene gorzulai species group, a clade previously known only from the Guayana Shield region, because the parietal peritoneum is transparent and the hepatic peritoneum is covered by guanophores. We analyze the diversity patterns o...

We present phylogenetic analyses of 37 taxa of Fritillaria (Liliaceae), 15 species of Lilium, and several outgroup taxa from Liliaceae s.s. to investigate the generic delimitation of Fritillaria in relation to Lilium as well as infrageneric relationships within Fritillaria. We used DNA sequences from the maturase-coding plastid matK gene and the trnK intron, the intron of the ribosomal protein-...

Systematic investigations and phylogenetic analyses have indicated that Astelia, as currently circumscribed, is paraphyletic, with Collospermum nested within it. Further, AsteliasubgenusAstelia is polyphyletic, and Astelia subgenera Asteliopsis and Tricella are paraphyletic, as currently circumscribed. Revision of the subgeneric classification of Astelia is warranted to ensure classification ac...

The cliff fern family Woodsiaceae has experienced frequent taxonomic changes at the familial and generic ranks since its establishment. The bulk of its species were placed in Woodsia, while Cheilanthopsis, Hymenocystis, Physematium, and Protowoodsia are segregates recognized by some authors. Phylogenetic relationships among the genera of Woodsiaceae remain unclear because of the extreme morphol...

The traditional classification of Gymnopilus (Agaricales) recognizes two primary groups, Annulati and Gymnopilus, based on the presence or absence of a membranous partial veil. While our analyses of DNA sequence data from the nuclear ribosomal ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 (ITS) gene supports the monophyly of the genus, these traditional subgroups were not recovered. Five well-supported clades within the genu...