Recent fieldwork in Terengganu, Peninsular Malaysia, resulted in the collection of an endemic new species of Ardisia, described here as Ardisiarecurvipetala Julius, Siti-Munirah & Utteridge. The species is a member of subgenus (§) Crispardisia on account of its vascularised glands (bacterial nodules) on the leaf margin and the terminal inflorescence on a specialised lateral branch subtended by a normal leaf (rather than a reduced bract-like leaf). Ardisiarecurvipetala is unique amongst all members of §Crispardisia by having leaf margins with both vascularised glands and pustule-like structures and can be further distinguished from other Peninsular Malaysian members of this subgenus by the lamina raised between the leaf venation giving a somewhat bullate appearance, unbranched inflorescences, brownish-red pedicels and recurved corolla lobes, each with a creamy-white apex and a small pink patch at the base. Ardisiarecurvipetala is known only from a single location in Terengganu and its conservation status is assessed as Data Deficient (DD).
A checklist of the bryophyte flora of Mount Tebu Forest Reserve in Terengganu, Peninsular Malaysia, is presented. A total of 189 taxa in 71 genera and 26 families were enumerated. This figure represents 63% of the 298 bryophyte species recorded so far for the State of Terengganu. Out of 189 taxa of bryophytes, 26 liverworts are new additions to the bryoflora of Terengganu. The most prominent liverwort family is represented by Lejeuneaceae, with 54 species from 17 genera, while the moss family is the Sematophyllaceae, with 34 taxa in 13 genera. The majority of the species are epiphytes, either corticolous or ramicolous. Almost half of the bryophyte species have wider elevational ranges and occur from the lowlands to the summit of Mount Tebu.
Ardisiakrauensis, a new species of Primulaceae from Peninsular Malaysia, is described and illustrated. The new species is assignable into subgenus (§) Pyrgus on account of specialised lateral reproductive branches bearing a terminal inflorescence subtended by foliose bracts. Morphologically, the new species mostly resembles Ardisiarigida in having elliptic leaves. However, the new species can be distinguished by the combination of its lateral veins number, the inflorescence branching pattern, the rachis and flower colour, and the stigma shape. Ardisiakrauensis is found in an entirely protected habitat, thus, it is assessed as Least Concern (LC).
The genus Magnolia (Magnoliaceae) has a wide and disjunct geographic distribution ranging from Eastern and South Asia to Malaysia, extending across the Neartics and reaching into the Neotropics. Regarding its infrageneric classification, the genus is divided into three subgenera: Yulania, Gynopodium and Magnolia, the latter including the section Talauma in which the native Brazilian taxa are classified. The species of Magnoliasect.Talauma can be recognized by two parallel longitudinal scars on the petiole formed by the shedding of the stipules, in addition to a woody syncarp that breaks into irregular plates at dehiscence. Currently, in Brazil, species recognition is not clear on national platforms that are widely used by the Brazilian botanical community (e.g. Flora do Brasil), with only two native Magnolia species being accepted: M.amazonica and M.ovata. The lack of knowledge about the species and their respective characteristics has resulted in many identification errors in Brazilian herbaria, which contributes to the lack of knowledge about their current conservation status. We conducted a complete taxonomic revision based on extensive fieldwork, a herbarium survey, along with literature study. Based on this, we propose to recognize three previously described species, supporting the acceptance of five native Magnolias occurring in Brazil, namely: M.amazonica, M.brasiliensis, M.irwiniana, M.ovata and M.sellowiana. However, we follow the Flora do Brasil in maintaining M.paranaensis as a synonym of M.ovata. Additionally, we designate a lectotype for M.sellowiana. We present morphological descriptions and the geographic distribution for each species, in addition to an identification key to all of these plus the two introduced ornamental species from Asia and North America, illustrations, photographs, ecological data, updated conservation status and taxonomic notes.