This study supports the adoption of a broadly defined Salvia and treats EA Salvia as a subgenus, Glutinaria, recognizing eight sections within this subgenus. Stamen type A is ostensibly plesiomorphic within EA Salvia, and the other five types may have been derived from it. Staminal morphology has evolved in parallel within the EA Salvia, and staminal structure alone is inadequate to delimit infrageneric categories.

No abstract

To determine evolutionary relationships among all Japanese members of the genus Salvia (Lamiaceae), we conducted molecular phylogenetic analyses of two chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) regions (rbcL and the intergenic spacer region of trnL-trnF:trnL-trnF) and one nuclear DNA (nrDNA) region (internal transcribed spacer, ITS). In cpDNA, nrDNA, and cpDNA+nrDNA trees, we found evidence that all Japanese and two Taiwanese Salvia species are included in a clade with other Asian Salvia, and Japanese Salvia species were distributed among three subclades: (1) S. plebeia (subgenus Sclarea), (2) species belonging to subg. Salvia, and (3) species belonging to subg. Allagospadonopsis. At the specific level our findings suggest: a close relationship between S. nipponica and S. glabrescens, no support for monophyly of S. lutescens and its varieties in cpDNA, nrDNA and cpDNA+nrDNA trees, and that S. pygmaea var. simplicior may be more closely related to S. japonica than to other varieties of S. pygmaea.

Molecular phylogenetic analyses of the genus Globba, Zingiberaceae, using the trnK gene (including the matK gene) of chloroplast DNA and the internal transcribed spacers of nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS) sequence data, were carried out in order to understand whether triploid formation was a rare event in Globba. The topologies of both the trnK gene and the ITS trees were almost identical except the position of G. patens var. costulata. Triploids were scattered into several clades. These results suggest that multiple triploid formations had taken place and that such formations may be one of the most important force for speciation of Globba. The monophyly of both sects. Ceratanthera and Globba was not positively supported.

Major international herbaria, natural history museums and universities have recently begun to digitise their collections to facilitate studies and improve access to collections. In Japan, more than 10 million herbarium specimens are housed in various universities/museums; however, only 1% of these have been digitised. In this paper, we describe a new method for imaging herbarium specimens that is applicable to local/small herbaria. It is safe, fast, simple and inexpensive, but also satisfies usage guidelines for minimum image quality and can produce digital files suitable for long-term storage and future post production. During an eight-month trial at the Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo, with three part-time workers using a custom-made copy stand and a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera with a large LED light bank system, we were able to image 73,180 herbarium specimens (571 per day on average), obtaining two RAW and two JPEG files for each specimen.

Flexistyly is a unique floral mechanism involving extreme curving of the style. It was first described in Chinese ginger (Amomum, Zingiberaceae). This is a pioneer report on flexistylous gingers of Malesia, where most species of this family grow. We observed the floral behaviour and flower visitors in Alpinia nieuwenhuizii Val., a Bornean endemic.Although the floral behaviour and effective pollinators (carpenter bees, Xylocopa) were similar between the Bornean species and the previously reported flexistylous Alpinia, the pollinator behaviour between them strikingly differed with regard to the visit frequency of the pollinators showing a bimodal pattern during the day. This was a better match for the floral behaviour of the flexistylous Alpinia. Some gender differentiation observed between the two types of morphs is also discussed in the present study.

Meehania montis-koyae Ohwi (Lamiaceae), which has been considered a narrow endemic and endangered species in Japan, was found in eastern China in 2011. China and Japan belong to the same floristic region and share many plant species, but it is very rare that Japanese narrow endemic species are newly found outside of the country. We examined herbarium specimens of both countries, and conducted analyses of molecular phylogenetics, population genetics, and divergence time estimation using two nuclear (ITS and ETS) gene regions and MIG-seq data. Chinese plants tend to become larger than Japanese, and they are different in leaf shape and floral features. Molecular phylogenetic analysis shows Chinese and Japanese M. montis-koyae are the closest relatives to each other. Population genetic analysis indicates no current gene flow between the Chinese and Japanese populations, and divergence time analysis shows they were separated during the late Miocene. We reach the conclusion that Chinese and Japanese M. montis-koyae have already become distinct biological entities, and a new taxon name Meehania zheminensis A. Takano, Pan Li, G.-H.Xia is proposed for the Chinese plants. A key to Asian Meehania species is provided.

A new genus from Borneo, Borneocola Y.Y.Sam, is described here. The genus currently contains eight species previously classified as members of the Scaphochlamys Baker. The finding is based on the results of the morphological and molecular studies of Scaphochlamys throughout its geographical range and its closely allied sister groups, Distichochlamys M.F.Newman and Myxochlamys A.Takano & Nagam. Borneocola is nested within the tribe Zingibereae and its monophyly is strongly supported by both ITS and matK sequence data. The genus is characterised by several thin, translucent and marcescent floral bracts, absence of coloured streaks on the labellum and capitate stigma with two dorsal knobs. The genus is distributed in northwest Borneo and all species are very rare and highly endemic.