Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) nrDNA sequences of 42 accessions (representing 28 species) of Aframomum revealed an unusually low level of sequence variation, suggesting a recent radiation of the genus in Africa. The sample of species analysed includes all the main morphological variation and is based on wide geographical sampling. The Aframomum sequences varied from 187bp to 190bp (ITS 1) and 215bp to 216bp (ITS 2). Pair-wise sequence difference between accessions varied from 0% (e.g. A. luteoalbum and A. thonneri) to 2.74% (e.g. A. sp. nov. B to A. pseudostipulare). This contrasts with a comparable data set for the SE Asian genus Alpinia in the same tribe (Alpineae) in which maximum pair-wise difference is six times greater (range 0.5–15.6%). A parsimony analysis of the in-group and out-group taxa supports the monophyly of the genus Aframomum, but does not resolve the relationships between the in-group species. Four putative multi-species groups, however, have some jackknife support. The species sampled vary greatly in vegetative, floral and fruit characters. This morphological variation is not reflected in the ITS sequence data. This may be a result of rapid radiation under conditions of Pleistocene climatic change and effective dispersal of seeds by primates.

Based on studies of types and recent collections, the number of species of Etlingera Giseke in the Philippines is doubled from eight to 16. Three species (Etlingera alba, E. brevilabrum and E. sessilanthera) are reported here for the first time, E. pandanicarpa is synonymised with the Bornean E. fimbriobracteata, and four new combinations (E. bulusanensis, E. linearifolia, E. pubimarginata and E. subviridis) and one new name (E. pilosa) are published here. Nine lectotypifications are proposed, of which three represent second-step designations. About two-thirds of the species are currently thought to be endemic, but future fieldwork is likely to result in more species of Etlingera in the Philippines, either endemic or as new records from neighbouring islands.

Pyrene and pollen morphology of several neo‐ and paleotropical Geophila species is documented and discussed. Pyrenes show distinct morphological variation. They have one central or several adaxial ribs and are straight or twisted. Neotropical species only have twisted pyrenes, whereas Madagascan species have straight ones. Both pyrene types occur on the tropical African mainland and in tropical Asia. The genus is eurypalynous, including inaperturate, colpate and pantoporate pollen. The paper includes the first record of operculate pollen in the Rubiaceae, viz. in Geophila repens var. repens. Pyrenes as well as pollen morphology indicate that the varieties of the pantropical species G. repens need recognition at the specific level.

Two new Orchidantha species discovered in Sarawak, O. micrantha and O. megalantha, are described and illustrated. They may well represent the species with the smallest and the largest flowers currently known in the genus and certainly from Borneo. With its small flowers, O. micrantha is similar to O. borneensis to which it is compared. The large-flowered O. megalantha is compared to the morphologically closest species, O. holttumii, from nearby Brunei. The conservation status of both new species is assessed and a key is provided to all Bornean species.

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New collections of Geophila ingens are used for a detailed documentation, description, and discussion of the ecology and affinities of this poorly known African species. It is mainly characterised by its variable leaves, the stamen insertion below the internal indumentum of the corolla tube and the straight pyrenes. The ovate leaf blades with frequently rounded bases and the sometimes slightly woody base of the stems indicate that G. ingens may be a primitive representative of the genus. G. ingens occurs and reproduces in closed canopy forests. It has a macrodisjunct distribution (Cameroon, Congo‐Kinshasa and Uganda), corroborating existing hypotheses on the location of glacial forest refuges.

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A new species, Etlingera frederikii, is described and illustrated, and is the first record of the genus in the Bougainville Region. Etlingera frederikii and E. cevuga, which occurs in Fiji and Samoa, are the two most easterly species in the distribution range of the genus. The new species differs from Etlingera cevuga in its much larger leaves, with a conspicuously silky-haired band on the ligule; the smaller, narrowly ovoid to cylindrical inflorescence with pale brown bracts (not hemiglobose with reddish brown bracts); and fewer, smaller flowers.