Padina australis was collected from Hainan Island of China. Both sporophyte and gametophyte were found. The gametophyte is monoecious. This study is the first report on the gametophyte of P. australis in the Northern Hemisphere. Morphological and anatomical studies were carried out. Concentric hairlines alternately grow on both surfaces of a thallus, and reproductive structures occur along the upper side of dorsal hairlines. Sporangia are larger in size than gametangia, and oogonia and antheridia mix in the latitudinal direction of a thallus. Reproductive cells show the same sex in the longitudinal direction of a thallus, though some exceptions exist. The positional relationship between reproductive structures and hairlines is considered as a valuable taxonomic characteristic to classify species in Padina.

Morphological and taxonomical observations of a marine attached diatom Cocconeis subtilissima Meister have been made. The external and internal structure of raphid and araphid valves and the complete cingulum structure are described using a light microscope and scanning and transmission electron microscopes. Comparison of C. subtilissima and two closely related taxa, C. pellucida Grunow and C. pseudomarginata Gregory var. intermedia Grunow, shows important ultrastructural differences. The arrangement of foramen along the axial area and the number of their rows in the araphid valve are most distinctive characteristics. C. subtilissima has smoothly bowed two to three rows. The other two taxa have a smoothly bowed one and slightly undulate five to six ones, respectively.

A new species of genus Frullania Raddi, F. pran-nathii M. Dey & D. K. Singh is described from Darjeeling in the Eastern Himalaya, India. It is characterized by greenish brown plants with small, thick-walled cortical cells arranged in a single layer and thin-walled medullary cells with minute tri-radiate trigones; widely spreading, contiguous to distant, suborbicular to elliptical leaves with plane lobe, a large auriculate appendage at base and flat apex; median leaf cells with small trigones and nodular intermediate thickenings; basal leaf cells with trabeculately thickened trigones and intermediate thickenings; stylus multicellular at base with 1-3 teeth lateral tooth and 5-7 cells uniseriate towards apex terminating into an elongated hyaline cell, and 1/8-1/5 bilobed, distant underleaves with auriculate base. The species has been compared with F. nepalensis (Spreng.) Lehm. & Lindenb., from which it differs in the shape and arrangement of leaves, and size and structure of stylus.

Two new species of Saussurea (Asteraceae) are described from Aomori Pref., northern Japan. S. hosoiana Kadota (sect. Rosulascentes) is described from Rokkasho-mura, Shimokita zone. S. hosoiana is akin to S. diamantiaca Nakai, however, the former differs in having a leafy, winged stem, several corymbs or spike-like racemes with short peduncles, thick, coriaceous, glossy, broadly ovate, leaf blades glabrous beneath. S. hosoiana grows under a sparse Pinus densiflora grove located near the Pacific Ocean. S. neichiana Kadota is described from Hachinohe, Sanpachi zone. S. neichiana is similar to S. sugimurae Honda, however, the former is distinguished from the latter by having 8-seriate, ascending at an acute angle to adpressed involucral phyllaries, narrowly ovate, acute outer involucral phyllaries, well developed, sometimes coarsely toothed stem wing and thick and coriaceous leaf blades. S. neichiana occurs in maritime, windy grassland facing also the Pacific Ocean.

Somatic chromosome numbers and karyomorphology of three species belonging to the genus Euphorbia section Tulocarpa and section Holophyllum collected from the Sikkim Himalaya are reported. Euphorbia sikkimensis Boiss. (sect. Tulocarpa) was found to be 2n = 26 (diploid), E. griffithii Hook. f. (sect. Tulocarpa) 2n = 52 (tetraploid), and E. luteoviridis D. G. Long (sect. Holophyllum) 2n = 20. Chromosome numbers of E. griffithii and E. luteoviridis were examined for the first time. The chromosome number of E. sikkimensis was different from those in previous reports. Chromosomes of E. sikkimensis and E. griffithii were different in ploidy level. Polyploidy may play an important role in species diversification in Euphorbia sect. Tulocarpa in the Sikkim Himalaya.

Following the recent generic concept of Potentilla including Duchesnea, a new name P. hebiichigo Yonek. & H. Ohashi is proposed as the replacement name of D. chrysantha (Zoll. & Moritzi) Miq. in the genus Potentilla. The epithet is based on the Japanese name of the species. Distribution area of P. hebiichigo is reconfirmed, because it has been ambiguous by difficulty of correct identification of the species.