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Range shifts (especially during the Pleistocene), polyploidisation and hybridization are major factors affecting high-mountain biodiversity. A good system to study their role in the European high mountains is the Doronicum clusii aggregate (Asteraceae), whose four taxa (D. clusii s.s., D. stiriacum, D. glaciale subsp. glaciale and D. glaciale subsp. calcareum) are differentiated geographically, ecologically (basiphilous versus silicicolous) and/or via their ploidy levels (diploid versus tetraploid). Here, we use DNA sequences (three plastid and one nuclear spacer) and AFLP fingerprinting data generated for 58 populations to infer phylogenetic relationships, origin of polyploids—whose ploidy level was confirmed by chromosomally calibrated DNA ploidy level estimates—and phylogeographic history. Taxonomic conclusions were informed, among others, by a Gaussian clustering method for species delimitation using dominant multilocus data. Based on molecular data we identified three lineages: (i) silicicolous diploid D. clusii s.s. in the Alps, (ii) silicicolous tetraploid D. stiriacum in the eastern Alps (outside the range of D. clusii s.s.) and the Carpathians and (iii) the basiphilous diploids D. glaciale subsp. glaciale (eastern Alps) and D. glaciale subsp. calcareum (northeastern Alps); each taxon was identified as distinct by the Gaussian clustering, but the separation of D. glaciale subsp. calcareum and D. glaciale subsp. glaciale was not stable, supporting their taxonomic treatment as subspecies. Carpathian and Alpine populations of D. stiriacum were genetically differentiated suggesting phases of vicariance, probably during the Pleistocene. The origin (autopolyploid versus allopolyploid) of D. stiriacum remained unclear. Doronicum glaciale subsp. calcareum was genetically and morphologically weakly separated from D. glaciale subsp. glaciale but exhibited significantly higher genetic diversity and rarity. This suggests that the more widespread D. glaciale subsp. glaciale originated from D. glaciale subsp. calcareum, which is restricted to a prominent Pleistocene refugium previously identified in other alpine plant species.

In the course of a taxonomic revision of the Doronicum clusii agg. (Asteraceae), we present an updated and commented distribution map of D. clusii (All.) Tausch and D. stiriacum (Vill.) Dalla Torre from the Alps and Carpathians, completed with information on biogeography and taxonomy. We show that D. stiriacum was erroneously indicated for the Carpathians south and southeast of the Rodna Mountains in Romania and for the Western Alps. In the Western Carpathians, it has only been rarely mentioned for the Nízke Tatry (Lower Tatras) and the Belianske Tatry (Belá Tatras) in Slovakia.

Distribution areas of narrowly endemic species in the European Alps often coincide with Pleistocene refugia, suggesting that allopatric divergence due to Pleistocene range shifts might have been instrumental in their origin. Here, we infer the phylogenetic position of the locally endemic Doronicum cataractarum testing previous hypotheses with respect to its biogeographic and temporal origin (Tertiary origin with southwest Asian affinities versus possibly Pleistocene origin in the Alps). To this end, we extended existing genus-wide data sets of nuclear and plastid DNA sequences and obtained sequences from two hitherto not used low copy nuclear markers. These data sets were analyzed, as single markers and jointly in a concatenated matrix, using maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood. Temporal and spatial origins of D. cataractarum were inferred using mean path lengths and dispersal-vicariance analysis, respectively. Phylogenetic resolution was limited, but several geographically coherent groups were identified, including the Grandiflora group comprising southern and central European mountain species. Congruently, D. cataractarum was inferred as most closely related to Alpine species from the Grandiflora group (D. clusii, D. stiriacum and D. glaciale), but neither to southwest Asian species nor to European D. austriacum. The origin of D. cataractarum was conservatively dated to about 1.9 Mya and inferred to have taken place in the Alps. The striking morphological differences between D. cataractarum and the most closely related species likely are the result of adaptation to different habitats or, alternatively, the presence of plesiomorphic traits in D. cataractarum.

The first records of Calamagrostis purpurea, an apomictic wetland grass species with a Euro-Siberian, predominantly boreal distribution, are reported for the Carpathians. This significantly expands the species’ range in Central Europe eastwards from the known localities in Austria and Czechia. Due to in situ finds and revision of the herbarium vouchers, C. purpurea was discovered in the Western Carpathians in Slovakia (the Nízke Tatry Mts) as well as in the Eastern Carpathians in Ukraine (the Chornohora Mts) and Romania (Dorna Depression, the Harghita, Bodoc Mts, Intorsura Buzaului Depression) at 6 sites in total. All these newly found localities are situated within 870–1570 m a.s.l. The locality in the Nízke Tatry Mts is at the highest elevation, while those in the Romanian Carpathians are the southeasternmost in Central Europe. In the Carpathians, C. purpurea is confined to undisturbed wetland habitats, which implies its relict origin in the region. A distribution map, habitat characteristics, morphological description, and images of the plants from the Carpatians are provided. Carpathian populations tested with flow cytometry are DNA-octoploid (the predominant ploidy level of the species in Europe). Because of the species’ rarity and vulnerability, it is suggested to include C. purpurea in the next editions of the Red Data Books and/or Red Lists of the corresponding countries.

A new population of the Pancarpathian endemic species Arabidopsis neglecta was discovered in the Svydovets Massif at Komyn in 2018. It is the fifth population known so far for the Svydovets. A short description of the subalpine-alpine scree habitat (Rumici scutati-Rhodioletum roseae) is given. Many of the co-occuring species are listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine (2009); however, A. neglecta is not included in the current edition of the Red Data Book of Ukraine. Though, its micropopulations on steep slopes of glacial cirques are highly vulnerable due to climate change and some other factors.

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