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Peliosanthes longiracemosa, a new species from limestone areas of northern Vietnam, is described and illustrated. It is most similar to P. macrostegia in having a distally incurved staminal corona and a distinct pyramidal style, but clearly distinguishable chiefly by the broader leaf blades with more longitudinal veins and closer transverse veinlets, relatively longer, more slender raceme, more numerous widely expanded flowers with recurved perianth segments, and more incrassate, depressed globose staminal corona. Information on the habitat and phenology as well as notes on the taxonomic relationships with other congeners is also provided.

Heteropolygonatum ginfushanicum is an endemic epiphytic herb in China. The complete chloroplast (cp) genome of H. ginfushanicum is reported in this study. The total length of the cp genome is 155,508 bp with a typical quadripartite structure consisting of a large single copy region (LSC) of 84,552 bp and a small single copy region (SSC) of 18,528 bp, separated by a pair of 26,214 bp inverted repeats (IRs). It encodes a total of 113 unique genes, including 79 protein-coding, 30 tRNA, and four rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that H. ginfushanicum is sister to Heteropolygonatum marmoratum within subfamily Nolinoideae.

Aspidistra thuongiana is described and illustrated as a new species from the South Central Coast region of Vietnam. The new species has bright yellow flower and a slender pistil with a minute stigma. It is morphologically close to A. longipedunculata, but differs in shorter peduncle, bowl-shaped (vs. campanulate) perigone, shorter ovate (vs. oblong) erect to spreading (vs. recurved) perigone lobes and stamens inserted at the base (vs. middle) of perigone tube. Data on nuclear 5S-NTS region of the new species are provided, aimed to serve as a molecular characterization for comparison with its congeners.

Maianthemum is a genus with more than 35 species from the tribe Polygonateae (Asparagaceae), widely distributed between North to Central Americas and eastern Asia with high diversity in the eastern Himalayas to the Hengduan Mountains of SW China. Although most species from SW China form a well-supported clade, phylogenetic relationships within this clade remain unclear. With a broad level of taxon sampling and an extensive character sampling from eight DNA regions, this study intends to revisit the phylogeny and biogeography of the genus to better understand the divergence patterns of species from SW China. Phylogenetic results suggested the monophyly of Maianthemum with recognition of nine strongly supported clades, but backbone relationships among these clades remained largely uncertain. For the SW China clade, individuals from the same species are grouped into different lineages. Our results revealed that the fast radiation of the SW China clade was occurred in the eastern Himalayas, followed by subsequent radiation in the Hengduan Mountains in the Pliocene. Intercontinental disjunctions of Maianthemum in the Northern Hemisphere appear to have occurred multiple times during the late Miocene to the Pliocene, likely resulted by a combination of both vicariance and long-distance dispersal events.

Rohdea dangii, a new species from limestone areas of Son La and Dien Bien Provinces in northwestern Vietnam, is described and illustrated. It is apparently most closely related to R. tonkinensis described from northern Vietnam, for these two species share an elongate aerial stem with no cataphylls (except for those at the base of the peduncle), narrowly elliptic leaf blades and filaments conspicuously incrassate in the lower decurrent portions. It is, however, readily distinguishable mainly by the longer, thicker rhizome, non-sheathing amplexicaule leaf blades, half-terete peduncle, much shorter bracts mostly not exceeding the flowers, and crateriform perigone tube. The taxonomic relationships of the new species to R. wattii and two other species with an aerial stem were also briefly discussed.

Aspidistra magnifica, a new species from Mount Cà Đam, Quảng Ngãi Province, Central Vietnam, is described and illustrated. It is similar to A. maguanensis in having purple-black flowers, twelve perigone lobes and stamens, and a table-shaped pistil, but differs by its somewhat elliptic leaf blades, short flowering peduncles, much large broadly campanulate to bowl shaped perigone tube, longer outcurved perigone lobes and larger rounded stigma. A morphological description, two colour plates, the distribution, ecological information, the conservation status, and a comparison table of similar species are given.

Two new species of Asparagaceae (subfamily Nolinoideae), Peliosanthes nagalandensis and P. tobuensis, from the state of Nagaland, Northeastern India, are described and illustrated. P. nagalandensis is most closely related to P. arunachalensis, but differs mainly by the longer leaf blades, distinctly sigmoid flowering stem with a shorter peduncle and longer raceme, more numerous green to purple flowers, distally finely denticulate-erose perianth segments, basally hamately recurved anthers and papillulate pistil with an apically slightly concave ovary and a columnar style. While P. tobuensis is close to P. arunachalensis and P. sinica, but differs mainly by the strongly incurved, entire corona and ovoid pistil with obtusely conical indistinct style.

Mainland Southeast Asia, particularly southern China and eastern Indochina, is known as an important centre of diversity for Asparagaceae (Averynov & Tanaka 2012). Tupistra Ker Gawler (1814: 1655) belonging to the subfamily Nolinoideae (Chase et al. 2009) comprises a little more than 30 species (Averyanov et al. 2019). They spread across southern and south-eastern Asia, including Nepal, Bhutan, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, China, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia (Tanaka 2010a). The genus is characterized usually by the leaves tapering into petiole, a relatively large stigma broader than the style, except for the very uncommon species T. siphonantha Tanaka, Vislobokov & Hannon (2018: 32), a stout terete style almost as thick as the ovary and tuberculate (rarely smooth), globular berry-like fruits (Tanaka 2010a). Eight species of Tupistra have been reported for India: T. ashihoi Roy, Odyuo & Averyanov (2017:52), T. clarkei Hooker (1892: 325), T. khasiana Roy, Mao & Averyanov (2017: 257), T. nagarum Odyuo, Roy & Mao (2018:2), T. nutans Wall. ex Lindley (1839: 1223), T. stoliczkana Kurz (1876: 199), T. tupistroides (Kunth 1848: 12) Dandy (1932: 329), and T. leonidii Roy & Mao (2018: 37). Among them, T. ashihoi and T. stoliczkana have an upright flowering stem, whereas the others have a flowering stem curved downwards.

A new species of Peliosanthes named P. ligniradicis from Arunachal Pradesh, NE India, is described and illustrated here. It somewhat resembles P. subspicata described from NE India, but is distinguishable by the thicker, stilt-like, semi-woody roots, somewhat elongate (sub) moniliform stem, ovate-oblong or oblong perianth segments, and basally hexagonal and apically 6-crenate.

Recent molecular phylogenetic studies showed that the genus Sansevieria (excluding S. sambiranensis) forms a monophyletic clade nested within the paraphyletic genus Dracaena. Consequently, the genus Sansevieria was sunk into the genus Dracaena and new combinations were published to accommodate the transfer of taxa from Sansevieria into Dracaena. Since the inclusion of Sansevieria into Dracaena, new taxa have been published in Sansevieria. This paper presents fourteen name changes including twelve new combinations in Dracaena and two rank adjustments, one new synonym, and one lectotypification aiming at further standardisation of the taxonomy of Dracaena.

Two new species of Ophiopogon, O. dolichocaulis from Son La Province and O. trigonantherus from Cao Bang Province in northern Vietnam, are described and illustrated. The former is similar to O. chingii, while the latter is similar to O. rupestris and O. dracaenoides. This paper not only details their taxonomic features and relationships to similar species but also provides ecological data on their habitats and phenology.

Aspidistra micrantha is described and illustrated as a new species from southern Vietnam (Quang Nam province, Song Thanh Nature Reserve). The new species has globoid flowers, which are the smallest within the genus Aspidistra. In floral structure, the closest species to A. micrantha is A. urceolata, which is endemic to the Guizhou province of China, but strongly differs from the latter in some morphological features of the rhizome, leaves and position of anthers.

Polygonatum is widely distributed in the northern hemisphere, especially in eastern Asia. There has been no comprehensive taxonomic study of Taiwanese taxa for some time, and researchers could not agree on a consistent treatment of the genus. Therefore, we revised the genus by literature review and type specimen examination along with comparison of morphology, karyotype and pollen characteristics. Only one species P.arisanense Hayata was recognized in this study. P.chingshuishanianum Ying and P.formosanum (Hayata) Masamune & Simada are regarded as varieties of P.arisanense and are here presented as two new combinations, P.arisanensevar.chingshuishanianum and P.arisanensevar.formosanum.

The subfamily Nolinoideae of Asparagaceae is an extremely morphologically heterogeneous group, which is comprised of seven lineages, formerly known as Eriospermaceae, Polygonateae, Ophiopogoneae, Convallarieae, Ruscaceae s.s., Dracaenaceae, and Nolinaceae from different families or even orders. Their drastically divergent morphologies and low level of molecular resolution have hindered our understanding on their evolutionary history. To resolve reliable and clear phylogenetic relationships of the Nolinoideae, a phylogenetic study was conducted based on transcriptomic sequencing of 15 species representing all the seven lineages. A dataset containing up to 2,850,331 sites across 2,126 genes was analyzed using both concatenated and coalescent methods. Except for Eriospermum as outgroup, the transcriptomic data strongly resolved the remaining six lineages into two groups, one is a paraphyletic grade including the woody lineages of dracaenoids, ruscoids, and nolinoids and a monophyletic herbaceous clade. Within the herbaceous group, the Ophiopogoneae + Theropogon is sister to a clade that is composed of Convallarieae and the monophyletic Polygonateae. Our work provides a first robust deep relationship of the highly heterogeneous Nolinoideae and paves the way for further investigations of its complex evolution.

Pollen grains of 3 species from the genus Chrysodracon and 20 species from the genus Dracaena were examined by light, scanning electron and fluorescence microscopy. The basic shape of the pollen grains is subprolate and prolate, but prolate-spheroidal pollen grains may also be found. Pollen of Chrysodracon and Dracaeana is dispersed as monads, rarely as dyads. In terms of size, the pollen grains studied were classified as medium-sized and large. There are two different types of apertures: monosulcate and monoulcerate in Dracaena and monoulcerate in Chrysodracon. The surface of the non-apertural areas is psilate-perforate, irregularly folded, microreticulate and fossulate. Ornamentation of the apertural region is microreticulate, microreticulate-baculate, baculate, psilate-perforate, psilate-perforate-verrucate, granulate and irregularly folded. Irregular perforations are present, and the wall structure is tectate-columellate. Our results suggest that some species of Chrysodracon and Dracaena may be separated based on their pollen grain micromorphology on the distal region.

Liriope platyphylla is used as an important medicinal plant for fatigue, cough, and inflammation in South Korea. Here, we report the complete chloroplast genome of L. platyphylla. The total genome ...

Aspidistra is a large genus of herbaceous plants with more than 130 species growing in tropical forests of SE Asia and specially diversified in southern China and northern Vietnam. The genus is characterized by its evergreen understorey habitats with flowers set at ground level and more or less hidden in litter material. Aspidistra fenghuangensis is a species currently only known from central China. In recent years, number of species in this genus has been greatly increased. However, the high throughput sequencing data have never been reported in this genus. Here, we sequenced the transcriptome of A. fenghuangensis obtained from young leaves using the Illumina HiSeq2000 with 9.15Gb of clean data. Because of the absence of a reference-grade genome in the genus, a de novo assembly of the transcriptome data with full annotation have been carried out. This data is accessible via NCBI BioProject (PRJNA608213).

The genera Dracaena and Sansevieria (Asparagaceae, Nolinoideae) are still poorly resolved phylogenetically. Plants of these genera are commonly distributed in Africa, China, Southeast Asia, and America. Most of them are cultivated for ornamental and medicinal purposes and are used in various traditional medicines due to the wide range of ethnopharmacological properties. Extensive in vivo and in vitro tests have been carried out to prove the ethnopharmacological claims and other bioactivities. These investigations have been accompanied by the isolation and identification of hundreds of phytochemical constituents. The most characteristic metabolites are steroids, flavonoids, stilbenes, and saponins; many of them exhibit potent analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiproliferative, and cytotoxic activities. This review highlights the structures and bioactivities of flavonoids and stilbenoids isolated from Dracaena and Sansevieria.

Polygonatum humile (Asparagaceae) is a medicinal and food plant that is naturally distributed in the North East Asia region and East of Russia. Here we report on the complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of P. humile. The cp genome is 155,313 bp in size and includes two inverted repeat regions of 26,302 bp each, which is separated by a large single-copy region of 84,239 bp and a small single-copy region of 18,470 bp. A total of 132 genes were predicted, including 39 tRNA, 8 rRNA, and 85 protein-coding genes. Phylogenetic analysis placed P. humile under the subfamily Nolinoideae of the family Asparagaceae.

Reineckia carnea is an important horticultural and medicinal plant in East Asia. Here, we determined the first complete chloroplast genome of R. carnea using genome skimming approach. The cp genome...

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Maianthemum dilatatum is sequenced and analyzed. The chloroplast genome is 156,921 bp, with 36.7% GC content. A pair of inverted repeats of 26,468 bp is separated by a large single-copy region (85,554 bp) and a small single-copy region (18,431 bp). It encodes 86 protein-coding genes, 38 tRNA genes and 8 rRNA genes. Of 132 individual genes, 19 genes are duplicated in the IR regions, while 14 genes are encoded with one intron and three genes with two introns.

Nolina in Mexico is represented by 26 described species, 18 of them are endemic. Previous molecular and ecological studies indicated that populations of Nolina parviflora from Jalisco and Zacatecas may be genetically and ecologically distinct from the described N. parviflora and therefore merit delimitation as a separate species. A detailed morphological study of samples from Jalisco and Zacatecas and a review of existing herbarium collections confirmed the existence of two new Nolina species, which are here described and illustrated as Nolina caxcana and Nolina rodriguezii. Both species are endemic to Mexico.

Aspidistra minor is described and illustrated as a new species from southern Vietnam (Gia Lai province, Kon Chu Rang Nature Reserve). The new species possesses very small ovate to elliptic leaf blades and very small flowers with stamens inserted at the base of the perigone. In flower structure, the new species resembles A. leucographa and A. elatior but strongly differs in shape of leaf blades and position of stamens.

Lectotypes are designated for Peliosanthes campanulata (basionym: Lourya campanulata ), P. courtallensis and P. neilgherrensis , and determined for two varieties of P. violacea , P. violacea var. violacea and P. violacea var. minor , which were dually lectotypified in previous papers. Peliosanthes violacea var. minor is regarded as a distinct species and named P. pumila .

Rohdea Roth (1821: 196) is a genus of Asparagaceae Jussieu (1789: 40, as Asparagi), comprising 20 or a few more species distributed in temperate to subtropical regions of Bhutan, China, India, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam (Tanaka 2010, Averyanov et al. 2014, 2017, Tanaka et al. 2018). Traditionally, Rhodea has often been included in Convallariaceae Link (1829: 184) (e.g. Takhtajan 1997, Tanaka 2003), a group of plants that are treated by Chase et al. (2009) as subfamily Nolinoideae within Asparagaceae.

Aspidistra corniculata is described and illustrated here as a new species from northern Vietnam. In flower structure, A. corniculata resembles A. lubae, A. marasmioides, A. multiflora and A. zinaidae but possesses hornlike connective appendages in stamens that distinguish it from all the other close species.

Two new species of Dracaena Vand. ex L. (Asparagaceae, Nolinoideae) from Central Africa are here described and illustrated. Dracaena longipetiolata Mwachala & Eb. Fisch. from Gabon is distinguished from D. phrynioides Hook. by its long petioles and elliptic leaves. Dracaena litoralis Mwachala & Eb. Fisch. is described from Cameroon and also occurs in Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Congo-Brazzaville. This new taxon differs from D. braunii Engl. by its smaller flowers whose perianth lobes are shorter than the tube. The identity of D. braunii is discussed and its affinity with D. litoralis analyzed.

A morphologically distinct element of the group of Dracaena species from Thailand and Burma with undifferentiated leaf sheaths, no leaf blade central costa, free tepals and free thickened filaments known as Chan nuu or Chan pha krai in Thai is shown to be a distinct species, Dracaena kaweesakii Wilkin & Suksathan based on habit, leaf base and margin, inflorescence axis indumentum and floral characters. It is described and illustrated. Ecological and conservation status assessment information are provided.

Aim Our aims were to determine the pattern of genetic variation in the endemic shrub Nolina parviflora, and to evaluate the influence of the geological history of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB) and nearby mountainous regions on plant population divergence.

The taxonomic baseline for Dracaena in Thailand is reviewed, concentrating on a group of species for which morphology suggests a relationship with D. draco L., D. tamaranae Marrero Rodr., R. S. Almeida & Gonz.-Mart., D. ombet Heuglin ex Kotschy & Peyr., D. schizantha Baker, D. serrulata Baker, D. cinnabari Balf. f. and D. ellenbeckiana Engl. One morphologically distinct element of that group in Thailand known as Chan daeng in Thai is shown to be a distinct species, Dracaena jayniana Wilkin & Suksathan. It is described, illustrated and ecological information and a conservation assessment are provided.

We performed a phylogenetic analysis of 13 families of Asparagales sensu APG III, including 59 Korean taxa representing 10 families based on five plastid regions sequences (matK, rbcL, rpoC1, rps3, and atpF-H intergenic spacer). Parsimony and Bayesian analyses were conducted to clarify the relationships among Korean Asparagales. Among the five regions, matK and atpF-H were the most informative. The most congruent phylogenetic trees were obtained from the combinations of four regions excluding atpF-H. Although both the matK and rbcL gene trees implied that the family system of Asparagales sensu APG III should be modified to include three expanded families, our combined four-regions data set resulted in a highly resolved topology with strong support for the following: (1) Asparagaceae s.l.; (2) Amaryllidaceae s.l.; (3) Hemerocallidoideae of Xanthorrhoeaceae s.l.; (4) Iridaceae; (5) Hypoxidaceae; and (6) Orchidaceae. However, the position of Scilla (Scilloideae of Asparagaceae s.l.) was ambiguous. Hemerocallidoideae was a sister group of both the expanded families of Asparagaceae s.l. and Amaryllidaceae s.l., which are considered the core asparagoids, while Orchidaceae was sister to all other Asparagales. We discuss differentiation of the morphological character within the Korean Asparagales, which clearly suggests that the subfamily Nolinoideae of Asparagaceae s.l. exhibits different character states than the other subfamilies. We compared 10 representative morphological characters to the molecular phylogenetic relationships, and propose that the circumscription within Asparagales sensu APG III needs to be reconsidered.

Polygonatum Miller (1754: without pagination) (Asparagaceae, Nolinoideae) is a relatively large genus with great diversity of plant form, habit, and ecology. Most of the diversity is found in the Hengduan of southwestern China and the eastern Himalaya (Jeffrey 1980, Chen & Tamura 2000). Field observations at several localities in Arunachal Pradesh, India and specimen examinations of an anomalous opposite leaved species from the eastern Himalaya (incl. southeastern Tibet) could not be placed in any currently described species (Baker 1875, Hooker 1894, Tang 1978, Jeffrey 1980, Wu 1983, Noltie 1994, Chen & Tamura 2000, Floden 2015). Comparisons to the type specimens of all opposite-leaved species, examination of species in the field, examination of over 6,000 specimens of Polygonatum from multiple herbaria through loans or visits (CAS, F, H, MI, MO, NY, and PE, acronyms follow Thiers 2018) and digital images (BM, E, HITBC, IBSC, K, KUN, L, LBG, P, and SZ) confirms the novelty of this species. In addition, molecular phylogenetic analysis (A. Floden, in preparation) of 250+ samples of Polygonatum including two nuclear genes and chloroplast data have confirmed the molecular distinctiveness of this new species and its placement in the opposite-leaved group of species found in the Himalaya.

Heteropolygonatum Tamura & Ogisu (1997: 950; Asparagaceae, Nolinoideae) differs from Polygonatum Miller (1754: without pagination) by two distinctive features: the perigone in Heteropolygonatum is imbricate whereas it is valvate in Polygonatum (Floden 2014b, Chen & Tamura 2000, Tamura et al. 1997a, b). The basic chromosome number in Heteropolygonatum is x =16 with distinctly bimodal karyotypes vs. the lower, although variable, basic chromosome number in Polygonatum is x = 9–15 (Tamura & Xu 2001, Yamashita & Tamura 2001, Chen & Tamura 2000, Tamura et al. 1997a, 1997b). Recently, several additional species have been added to this small genus, based on cytological data or morphological characters unique to Heteropolygonatum in tribe Polygonateae (Chao et al. 2013, Floden 2014b, Xiao et al. 2017). This genus now includes 12 species, with the addition of the one described here.

Tupistra Ker Gawler (1814: 1655), which was later recircumscribed by Tanaka (2003a, 2010a), belongs to Nolinoideae of Asparagaceae (APG 2009, Chase et al. 2009). It comprises about 30 species (Tanaka 2010a, Averyanov et al. 2017, Govaerts 2017, Nguyen et al. 2017, Roy et al. 2017, Tanaka et al. 2017) distributed widely over subtropical to tropical Asia, covering Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam (Tanaka 2010a, Averyanov & Tanaka 2012, Hu et al. 2013, Vislobokov et al. 2014, Averyanov et al. 2015, 2016, 2017, Nguyen et al. 2017, Roy et al. 2017).

We provide here a subfamilial scheme for the expanded asparagalean families Amaryllidaceae, Asparagaceae and Xanthorrhoeaceae. Our recommendation is that the first family has three subfamilies (Agapanthoideae, Allioideae and Amaryllidoideae), the second has seven (Agavoideae, Aphyllanthoideae, Asparagoideae, Brodiaeoideae, Lomandroideae, Nolinoideae and Scilloideae) and the last has three (Asphodeloideae, Hemerocallidoideae and Xanthorrhoeoideae). Tribal names are provided for the large subfamilies Allioideae, Amaryllidoideae and Scilloideae. The use of these subfamily names permits easier descriptions of characters by specialists for these well-supported subclades, but the use of the broader family limits greatly simplifies the taxonomy of Asparagales and thus makes the teaching of these families much easier. A new subfamilial name, Xanthorrhoeoideae, and a new tribal name, Oziroeeae, are proposed. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 161, 132–136.

Heteropolygonatum wugongshanensis, a new species from tribe Polygonateae in subfamily Nolinoideae (Asparagaceae) from Jiangxi Province of China, is described and illustrated. The placement of this species within Heteropolygonatum is assessed based on morphological comparisons, chromosomal evidence and molecular phylogenetic analyses. The new species is morphologically and phylogenetically related to H. roseolum, but differs from it by stems 10–20 cm tall, leaves 3–5, 12–14-nerved with prominent midrib, perigone campanulate whitish–purple, tipped greenish. The chromosome number of the H. wugongshanensis is 2n = 32 = 20m + 2sm + 10st and its karyotypes is asymmetrical with a high proportion of metacentric and submetacentric chromosomes.