A name given by Molina in 1782 and again in 1810 to a new Phaseolus species after a food legume crop grown for millennia mostly in the western part of the Quechua realm in South America refers to that crop (in the text of his essay) as well as to a weed (in his short Latin description), thus raising taxonomical uncertainty. Obviously, a taxonomical epithet cannot refer to two different botanical entities within the same genus. An example of that uncertainty was the naming of a specimen likely of Macroptilium lathyroides collected in northern Colombia and kept in the negative series of Berlin-Dahlem at the Field Museum. That crop spread so widely and fast that it received several names that Molina and a fortiori Philippi should have considered.

Anacampseros specksii Dreher (Anacampserotaceae, in Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea in Portulacaceae), was described in 2016 from plants grown from seeds collected from Bale, SE Ethiopia. The species was not included in the paper on the Gerire Hills published by the present authors in Webbia in 2018. A. specksii is here considered to be another narrow endemic species in the Gerire Hills, belonging to the group of species that grows on the edges of Monte Ellot and Bur Caddas on sandstone rocks eroding into loose gravel. Anacampseros vespertina, the only other species of Anacampseros in NE tropical Africa, grows on limestone gravel in Somalia near the Indian Ocean, whilst the south tropical African species, A. rhodesica, grows on granite rocks in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa. The conservation assessment in 2016 for A. specksii was Data Deficient (DD) because only one population had been observed and the number of individuals is not known; this assessment is here discussed and maintained.

Ruellia reitzii was first collected in 1948 by the prominent botanist Raulino Reitz in Santa Catarina state, southern Brazil, and the species was only known from two gatherings. Because its most recent collection was in 1953, the species was considered possibly extinct. In this work we present the rediscovery of this species, 65 years after its last collection. Here we complement and rectify the morphologic knowledge of the species, present the first photographs of living specimens and assess its conservation status. We also present notes on the authorship of the name R. squarrosa, and provide an identification key to the species of Ruellia that occur in Santa Catarina.

Seventy-seven specimens of the Chara hispida species complex, stored in the Herbarium of Sapienza University of Rome (RO), identified over time with different names, have been examined. This paper reports: (1) the most important information recognised on the labels, (2) images of selected specimens, (3) a nomenclatural update of the names according to the most recent monograph on Characeae, (4) a distribution map of the collection sites in Europe, and (5) a revision of the Italian exsiccata of this complex.

Hedyotis indirae, a new shrubby species of Rubiaceae from Muthikulam forest of Palakkad district, Kerala is described and illustrated here. The species shows similarities with its closely allied taxa H. hirsutissima and H. beddomei, but differs in many qualitative attributes. Detailed description, phenology and distribution notes are provided along with photographs.

Habenaria keralensis (Orchidaceae), a new species from the Agasthyakoodam in Southern Western Ghats of Kerala (India) is described and illustrated. It differs from Habenaria dolichostachya by plants 25–35 cm high, leaves ovate-lanceolate, ovary pedicelled, floral bracts shorter than the ovary, elliptic-acuminate, lip as long as the sepals, lobes subequal.

A new species of Billolivia is described from Central Highlands, Vietnam. The new species shows similarities with its congener B. cadamensis and B. poilanei but differs in several vegetative and reproductive attributes. Hence, we described it here as a new species. A detailed description, distribution, ecology and conservation status along with photographs are provided.

Ardisia agasthyamalayana is described as a new species from the Chemunji hills of Agasthyamala, Western Ghats, India. The species is included in the subgenus Akosmos on account of the presence of the axillary and sub-terminal umbellate racemes with short peduncles, slightly shorter than the foliage and the styles shortly protruding above anthers. Detailed description, illustrations, colour photographs, phenology, distribution details and relevant ecological notes are provided, along with comparison with its closely allied species, A. rhomboidea and A. pauciflora

A revision of specimens from selected herbaria allowed extension (or confirmation) of the geographical distribution of five charophyte species. Chara globata is a new record for Africa (Tunisia), Romania and some Central Asian countries, C. dominii for Kyrgyzstan, C. oedophylla for Portugal, Tolypella hispanica for Northern Asia and Lychnothamnus barbatus for South-Western Europe. The presence of the last genus in Central Asia has been confirmed. The type of Chara dominii has been ascertained.

Indigenous knowledge on seaweed utilisation in the Philippines is common; with the coastal natives of the country’s northern region regarded as the most knowledgeable. Dependence on use of vernacular seaweed names valorises traditional wisdom, however, this is prone to taxonomic ambiguities. Such is the case for cryptic seaweed ethnotaxa whose accurate taxonomic recognition largely falls short. Known in the northern Philippines as an edible seaweed, the taxonomy of Salingongo or Kaññungu remains ambiguous. Molecular analysis based on plastid rbcL gene sequences revealed the identity of Salingongo/Kaññungu as Dermonema virens. Due to lack of any available mitochondrial DNA sequences for D. virens in GenBank, the COI-5P and cox2-3 spacer sequences generated from this study did not permit species recognition. The newly sequenced mtDNA accessions therefore served, otherwise, as the database representing the first mtDNA sequence reference for D. virens. The use of D. virens as an edible seaweed in the Philippines further reinforces the extensive overlap of traditional knowledge with regard to seaweed utilisation between the indigenous people from Taiwan and the northern Philippines. The case study presented here underpins the utility of molecular analysis, along with morphological evaluation, as a key combinatory tool for unmasking the diversity of seaweed ethnotaxa.