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A taxonomic revision of Korean Ligustrum species is presented based on critical observations of wild populations and herbarium specimens. Species delimitations were re-evaluated on the basis of morphological characters, such as plant height, texture and shape of leaf, shape of inflorescence, shape of drupe and seed, and texture of endocarp. From the results, L. leucanthum (= L. acutissimum), being recorded in Korea, is excluded from the Korean flora because it comes from misidentifications of the herbarium specimen, whose identity is L. obtusifolium. We also treated L.obtusifolium subsp. suave and L. obtusifolium subsp. microphyllum as synonyms of L.obtusifolium. Ligustrum quihoui var. latifolium is placed into synonym of L. quihoui. In addition, the record of L. ovalifolium from Korea has proved to be a misidentification of herbarium specimens, the correct identity of which is L. salicinum. Consequently, we recognized the following six Ligustrum species in Korea: L. japonicum, L. lucidum, L. quihoui, L. salicinum, L. foliosum, and L. obtusifolium. Photographs and a key to six species of Ligustrum were provided in addition to complete descriptions including information on nomenclatural types, synonyms, and taxonomic notes.

Adenostemma madurense D.C. belongs to the family Asteraceae and is a wild annual herb found in Korea. In this study, we determined the phylogenetic position of A. madurense by identifying its complete chloroplast sequence. The result indicated a genome size of 150,054 bp, which was composed of a large single copy of 82,008 bp, two inverted repeats of 24,952 bp each, and a small singlecopy of 18,142 bp. Overall, 128 unique genes were identified, including 85 protein-coding, 35 tRNA, and 8 rRNA genes. A comparison of the A. madurense and A. lavenia chloroplast genomes revealed seven variations. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that A. madurense formed a clade with A. lavenia and had a well-supported phylogenetic relationship with Asteraceae. The first complete chloroplast genome of A. madurense was obtained, which would be helpful in explaining the process of speciation in Adenostemma and the development of molecular markers.

We determined the complete chloroplast genome sequence of Ligustrum foliosum Nakai, an endemic species of Korea. The plastome was 165,731 bp long, with a large single copy (90,009 bp), a small single copy (11,448 bp), and a pair of inverted repeats (32,137 bp). Moreover, 113 genes were encoded, including 79 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and 4 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis of 18 species using concatenated 78 protein-coding genes (excluding one pseudogene) revealed that L. foliosum is most closely related to L. quihoui, having strong bootstrap values. This study is the first report of the chloroplast genome of L. foliosum and provides important information for future phylogenetic studies on Ligustrum and distinguishing closely related species of Ligustrum.