A new species, Saussurea yachiyotakashimana Kadota from Hokkaido and two new species, S. ochiaiana Kadota and S. toyoguchiensis Kadota from Honshu, are described from the family Asteraceae. Saussurea yachiyotakashimana from eastern Hokkaido is different from S. duiensis F.Schmidt and S. hamanakaensis Kadota by having elongated branches with drooping apices, longer cauline leaves, and with outer and middle involucral phyllaries lacking purplish rim. Saussurea ochiaiana from Hiroshima Pref. is different from S. modesta Kitam. and S. kirigaminensis Kitam. by having robust horizontal rhizomes bearing several scapes, a well-branched stem with elongated branches ending in 2–3 capitula, somewhat fleshy, dimly lustrous cauline leaves with auriculate petiole bases and 6–7-seriate involucral phyllaries. Saussurea toyoguchiensis from Nagano Pref. is distinguished from S. kaialpina Nakai by having cylindrical, greenish involucres 10–12 mm long, 5–6 mm in diam., subcoriaceous ascending involucral phyllaries, coarsely dentate radical leaf blades and longer achenes.

Seminavis exigua Chen, Zhuo & Gao (Naviculaceae, Naviculales), a brackish water and marine benthic diatom, is reported as new to Japan. It was found on Cladophora sp. and sea bottom sand obtained from the coasts of Yokohama, Kanagawa Pref. and Teuri Island, Hokkaido. Its morphology has been examined by light and scanning electron microscopies. The following morphological features of this species are first revealed in detail through the present study. The ventral axial area is narrow, and the accessory rib is not developed. The mature cingulum consists of four non-areolae bands with alternating orientation: a broad valvocopula, the short segmental 2nd and 4th bands, and the narrow 3rd band.

To estimate the ploidy level frequencies of Taraxacum shikotanense Kitam. (Asteraceae) in Hokkaido, Japan, the nuclear DNA content (2C) of 292 plants from 13 localities was measured by flow cytometry (FCM) using Petroselinum crispum (2C = 4.5 pg) as the internal standard. The chromosome count of the species showed that 11 plants from seven localities were octoploid (2n = 64 = 8x) and five plants from two localities were nonaploid (2n = 72 = 9x). Monoploid genome sizes (1Cx) of the octoploid plants were 1.14–1.22 pg, which were similar to those of the nonaploid plants (1.13–1.17 pg). The expected 2C value of each ploidy level was calculated based on 1Cx = 1.13–1.22 pg, and the frequency of each ploidy level was evaluated. As a result, 183 plants (62.7%) of T. shikotanense examined by FCM were estimated as octoploid. The hexaploid (6x), heptaploid (7x), nonaploid (9x), and decaploid (10x) plants were putatively detected at low frequencies (0.3–4.1%). The monoploid genome size of T. shikotanense was significantly lower than those of the Japanese diploid species (1.41–1.59 pg). This suggests that T. shikotanense arose from an unknown ancestral species with small genome sizes or experienced DNA downsizing as its ploidy level increased.

A medicinal plant called ‘Senkyū’ in Japanese has widely been used in eastern Asia. It has been referred to Cnidium officinale Makino or Ligusticum officinale (Makino) Kitag. (Umbelliferae/Apiaceae) in Japan and Korea, but is here attributed to Conioselinum officinale (Makino) K.Ohashi & H.Ohashi based on recent results from comparative fruit anatomy and molecular phylogenetic studies including Cnidium, Conioselinum and Ligusticum.

Coenogonium isidiatum (G.Thor & Vězda) Lücking was confirmed to occur in central Honshu, Japan based on the taxonomic examination of herbarium specimens. Although it was reported from Shikotan Island which is under the Northern Territories Issue, there are no other records from Japan. This species was collected from Shizuoka and Nagano Prefectures at elevations between 1220 and 1700 m where it grew on the bark of Fagus crenata or on mosses scattered on the bark, and also on rock with mosses scattered on the surface. The ITS rDNA sequences of Japanese materials show high identity with those of C. isidiatum registered in GenBank.

A new double flowered form of Parnassia palustris L. var. tenuis Wahlenb. is described: f. multipetala H.Ohashi. It was found in Mt. Shirouma in Nagano Pref., Honshu, Japan. A new Japanese name for the form, Yaezaki-ko-umebachisō is proposed．

Eremochloa ciliatifolia Hack. (Poaceae) is newly recorded from Laos. Description and photographs are provided based on Lao materials.

During our ongoing revisionary studies in the genus Anemonastrum Holub, we found that three species of Anemonastrum remain surrounded by uncertainty in their typification and here we designate lectotypes for them.

In the protologue of Ilex rotunda Thunb. f. xanthocarpa Uyeki & Tokui (Aquifoliaceae), type depository was not given. We could not locate the type material of this form, but discovered an original material in the herbarium of Course of Forest Resource, Faculty of Agriculture, Ehime University (MATSU). This specimen was designated as the lectotype.