Volume 30 Brassicaceae

Author: Ihsan Ali AL-SHEHBAZ（ Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis，Email: ihsan.al-shehbaz@mobot.org）

Volume 30 of the Flora of Pan-Himalaya is one in the series of 50 volumes that are divided into ca. 80 parts. It is devoted to mustard family (Brassicaceae or Cruciferae).

The Brassicaceae is one of the most natural plant families, and it is distributed on all continents except Antarctica, though mainly in the temperate, alpine, and subarctic areas. The highest diversity of the family is in the Irano-Turanian region, followed by western North America, the Mediterranean region, the Andes of South America, and the Himalayan region. However, for its relatively medium size and over 570 species, Turkey has highest diversity of any country in the world.

Volume 47 Aquifoliaceae, Helwingiaceae, Campanulaceae, Lobeliaceae, Menyanthaceae

Author: De-Yuan HONG （State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Email: hongdy@ibcas.ac.cn）

Volume 47 of the Flora of Pan-Himalaya is the first one of the 50 volumes with about 80 books in the series. It includes five families (Aquifoliaceae, Helwingiaceae, Campanulaceae, Lobeliaceae, and Menyanthaceae), 18 genera, and 192 species, among which one genus (Himalacodon) and 80 species (42%) are endemic to the Pan-Himalaya.

The Lobeliaceae is included in the Campanulaceae in the APG III system, but the Campanulaceae in sense of APG III system consists of five monophyletic groups, of which the Campanulaceae s. str. and Lobeliaceae are independent from each other, and they are distinct from each other not only in morphology, but also in palynology and phytochemistry (see p. 254 for further explanation). Therefore, the author of the present volume considers that it may be better to treat them as separate family than as subfamily.

Volume 48(2)  Asteraceae II Saussurea

Author: You-Sheng CHEN（State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Email: maple@ibcas.ac.cn）

Volume 48 part 2 of the Flora of Pan-Himalaya is the second in the series of 50 volumes, divided among about 80 separate parts. It includes only the one genus, Saussurea of the Asteraceae family (which is the largest family in the Pan-Himalaya), with 235 species, 149 of which (63.4%) are endemic to the Pan-Himalaya. Saussurea is a notoriously difficult, largely Asiatic, genus with often indistinct species boundaries. Many new species of Saussurea were described in the course of preparing this account, and it is possible that yet more new species remain to be discovered. Many species of Saussurea are used medicinally, including the famous “snow-lotus”. Those species placed by Lipschitz in Saussurea, which are now thought to belong to other genera Aucklandia, Frolovia, Himalaiella and Shangwua, are excluded from this treatment and can be found under the respective segregate genera.

The nomenclatural novelties in this volume include five changes in status, and 17 new synonyms; 27 lectotypes are newly designated.

Volume 48(3) Asteraceae III

Tribe Mutisieae

Adenocaulon, Leibnitzia, Piloselloides, Gerbera, Uechtritzia

Tribe Hyalideae

Leucomeris, Nouelia

Tribe Pertyeae

Catamixis, Pertya, Ainsliaea

Author: Tian-Gang GAO （State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Email: Gaotg@ibcas.ac.cn）