Since the establishment of the family Styracaceae by Dumortier in 1829, 15 genera have been associated with it.  Its components and circumscription were debated often and are still Waiting for evidences other than megamorphology to further clarify.  The present paper contributes the knowledge of pollen morphology for this purpose.  Pollen grains of 13 genera and 93 species in the family (sensu lato) were observed and described. Based on our own observation and data from other authors, 3 pollen types may be distinguished; viz., Styrax-type (including: Styrax, Alniphyllum, Bruinsmia, Pamphilia, Huodendron, Halesia, Pterostyrax,  Rehderodendron,  Melliodendron, Sinojackia, Parastyrax) ; Afrostyrax-type (Afrostyrax, Hua, Lissocarpa) and Symplocos-type ( Symplocos ) .

      In Wagenitz’s (1964) system of the family Styracaceae, the genera Symplocos, Afrostyrax, Hua and Lissocarpa are excluded. Its components are the remained 11 genera. It is interested enough that their pollen grains are all of the  Styraxtype.  Obviously, Wagenitz’s Styracaceae is very natural from the viewpoint of pollen morphology. Concerning the intergeneric relationships, almost all variations observed in the pollen of the

10 small styraceous genera are encountered in the large genus Styrax. The genus Styrax seems to be the stock of this family, and the others, the final products derived from it in the course of evolution.

In the present paper the pollen grains of Convallaria majalis L., Speirantha gardenii (Hook.) Baill., Reineckea carnea (Andr.) Kunth and Theropogon pallidus (Wall. ex Kunth) Maxim., all the unique member of their own genus in the tribe Convallarieae were examined under light microscope (LM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM).  They can be divided into two groups. The Pollen grains of the first three species are larger (39.95-49.35×21.15-30.55 μ ), with thick granular-finely-reticulate or finely reticulate (LM) and finely reticulate (SEM) exine, and with distinct differentiation of sexine and nexine.  The pollen grains of the other species are much smaller (25.85×18.8μ), with thin psilate (LM) and minutely granular (SEM) exine, and with indistinct differentiation of sexine and nexine.  According to Nair and Sharma (1965), the exine surface ornamentation is a significant morphological character helping a great deal in the categorization of various genera and species within Liliaceae. The wide range of exine patterns provides ample evidence for tracing pollen evolution within the family from a retipilate to psilate condition by the processes of fusion, zonation and reduction.  If their viewpoint is correct, the pollen of Theropogon may be regarded as a type more advanced than that of the remaining 3 genera of the tribe Convallarieae.  Besides the differences in pollen morphology, Theropogon also differs from the other 3 genera in the characters listed in the table.  The data taken from the other authors are indicated.

     Though there are some significant differences between Theropogon and the other 3 genera, the present authors, in a discreet attitude, merely point out the problematic systematic position of Theropogon in the tribe and would like neither hastily to give it a subtribal or tribal rank nor to transfer it to another tribe before an overall study.

 

In the present paper, chromosome numbers are reported for 33 species

and varieties of Chinese Umbelliferae which belong to 17 genera in the subfamily Api-

oideae.  Chromosome number of each species is shown in Table I.  Eighteen countings

are newly reported.  Chromatin bridges and fragments were observed at anaphase I in

some materials.  It is suggested that the fertility reduction in some species is due to

the chromosome aberrations.

The present work reports the chromosome numbers of 30 species of 7 ge-

nera of Magnoliaceae in China.  The chromosome numbers of Liridendron chinense, Ma-

gnolia officinalis, M. liliflora, Michelia rigo and M. champaca are consistent with those

previously reported Magnolia denudata was reported 2n=114, but our result shows 2n=

76; M. grandiflora was reported 2n=112, 114, but here 2n=114. Chromosome numbers of

the other 23 species are reported for the first time.  Vouchers for experimental materi-

als have been preserved in Herbarium of the Department of Biology, Nankai University,

Tianjin.

The classical and numerical taxonomy, palynology and the geographical dis-

tribution of the Genus Schizopepon are dealt with in the present paper.  Having comme-

nted on various opinions regarding the systematic position of the genus, the present au-

thors consider that C. Jeffrey’s treatment of Schizopepon as a new and monogeneric tri-

be, Schizopeponeae, should be supported.

     The gross morphological characters in the genus are assessed from the taxonomic

point of view.  Some characters, such as stamens with an elongated connective or not,

different insertions of ovules and various forms of ovaries and fruits, may be used for

distinguishing subgenera.

     The pollen grains of all the species were observed under light microscope (LM) and

scanning electron microscope (SEM).  The results show that a strong differentiation

has taken place in the pollen of the genus, and in consequence it may be regarded as an

important basis for dividing subgenera and species. Especially it should be pointed out

that degrees of development of colpi and positions of ora are positively correlated with

the external characters used for distinguishing subgenera.

     According to the morphological and palynological characters, the genus Schizopepon

may be divided into three subgenera and eight species: 1. Subgenus Schizopepon: 5 spe-

cies, S. bryoniaefolius Maxim., S. monoicus A. M. Lu et Z. Y. Zhang, S. dioicus Cogn.,

S. longipes Gagnep. and S. macranthus Hand.-Mazz.; 2. Subgenus Rhynchocarpos A. M.

Lu et Z. Y. Zhang: 1 species, S. bomiensis A. M. Lu et Z. Y. Zhang; 3. Subgenus Neoschi-

zopepon A. M. Lu et Z. Y. Zhang: 2 species, S. bicirrhosus (C. B. Clarke) C. Jeffrey

and S. xizangensis A. M. Lu et Z. Y. Zhang.

     The 8 OTU’s including all the species of this genus and 31 characters, of which 16 are morphological characters and 15 palynological characters, were used in the numerical taxonomic treatment.  After standardization of characters, the correlation and distance matrices were computed.  The correlation matrices are made to test the various clustering methods.  At last, the UPGMA clustering method was selected and its result

is shown in the form of phenogram.  The result of numerical analysis is similar to that of the classical classification.

     Schizopepon Maxim. is a genus of East Asia-Himalayan distribution. China has all 8 species and 2 varieties, of which 6 species are endemic. Based on the statistics of spedies number, the distribution centre of the genus is considered to be in the Hengduan Mountains (Yangtze-Mekong-Salwin water divides) and the adjacent areas of the southwest China.

the present paper is a meterial of the genus Hemsleya Cogn. for flora of

China-Cucurbitaceae.

     The genus Hemsleya was established by C. A. Cogniaux in 1889.  By 1982 about 7

species had been discovered in China, and most of them are mainly distributed in S. W.

China, particularly in Yunnan and Sichuan.  Their tubers have been used as a folk

medicine for a long time.  However, we began to search for them, and meanwhile collect

and cultivate them, only about ten years ago.  After a general survey and taxonomical

study, 20 species of Hemsleya are recorded from Yunnan in the paper.  Among them 18

species and 3 varieties are new. All the types are kept in Herb. KUN.

     According to the characters, of corolla and fruit also the seed condition, widely or

narrowly winged, proposed are four sections, namely: Sect. I. Craciliflorae; Sect. II.

Amabiles; Sect. III. Carnosiflorae and Sect. IV. Hemsleya, among which 3 are new.

The present paper reports the first record of the eGnus Stachyphryni-

um, Marantaceae, in China.  It is characterized by solitary spikes, elongated and erect

with impricated bracts.  The inflorescence arises from a short stem on the rhizome.

      In this genus there are 14 species in total.  They are distributed from Sri Lanke

to Java and Borneo, through Indo-China Peninsula, Malay Pennisula.  Its distribution

center is in Indo-China Penninsula and Malay Penninsula.  The north limit lies in sou-

thern Yunnan of China. Most species of the genus have a stenochorie area, for example,

S. zeylanicum is endemic to Sri Lanka; S. latifolium occurs in Java only and so on.

     A New species, S. Sinense H. Li, to China, is illustrated and described in Latin.

Guangdong Province extends across the subtropical and tropical zones.

With favorable climate and plentiful rainfall, this district is extremely rich in plants.

However, the study on the Charophyta in this province is scanty.

      The specimens we identified were collected from 4 cities and 10 counties of the

province. The result shows that there are abundant representatives of Chrophyta, espe-

cially in Nitella, in the province.

      In this paper, however, only reported are some new taxa of Nitella.  The 2 new spe-

cies are Nitella sessilis and N. guangdongensis; the 3 new varieties are Nitella flagellifor-

mis var. conglomerata, N. brevidactyla var. hainanensis and N. pakistanica var. magni-

antheridii; and the 3 new records of distribution in China are Nitella bengalensis Kundu,

N. madagascariensis Zanev. and N. tenuissima var. sanukensis Imah.