No abstract

Three red onion (Allium cepa) cultivars, top onion (A. cepa var. viviparum), A. altaicum and chive (A. schoenoprasum) contained several or all of the following anthocyanins: 3-(6"-malonyl-3"-glucosylglucoside), 3-(3",6"-dimalonylglucoside), 3-(6"-malonylglucoside), 3-(3"-malonylglucoside), 3-(3"-glucosylglucoside) and 3-glucoside of cyanidin. Trace amounts of two pelargonidin derivatives and the 3,5-diglucosides of cyanidin and peonidin were for the first time reported in red onion. Carbon NMR data showed that the sugars of the 3-(6"-malonyl-3"-glucosylglucoside), 3-(6"-malonylglucoside) and 3-glucoside of cyanidin were pyranoses. Substitution either by sugar or acid in the sugar 3-position of an anthocyanin has never been reported outside the genus Allium.

Usnea species of the Neuropogon group are amongst the most widespread and abundant macrolichens in Antarctic regions. Four principal species, U. antarctica, U. aurantiaco-atra, U. sphacelata and U. subantarctica, have been described on morphological grounds. However, identification to species level is often difficult and atypical morphologies frequently arise. Over 400 specimens were collected on the Antarctic Peninsula and Falkland Islands. Both morphological and molecular characters (ITS and RPB1) were used to compare samples to clarify taxonomic relationships. Morphological characteristics used included presence of apothecia, apothecial rays, soredia, papillae, fibrils, pigmentation and the diameter of the central axis as a proportion of branch diameter. Results revealed a very close relationship between U. antarctica and U. aurantiaco-atra, suggesting that they might constitute a species pair or be conspecific. Usnea sphacelata was comprised of at least two genetically distinct groups with no clear differences in morphology. One group included the first reported fertile specimen of this species. Usnea subantarctica was phylogenetically distinct from the other main Antarctic Usnea species, but clustered with U. trachycarpa. Genetic variation was evident within all species although there was no clear correlation between geographic origin and genetic relatedness. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that species circumscription in the Neuropogon group needs revision, with the principal species being non-monophyletic. None of the morphological characters, or groups of characters, used in this study proved to be completely unambiguous markers for a single species. However, axis thickness was supported as being informative for the identification of monophyletic lineages within the group.

No abstract

. 742 species, including 151 reported for the first time, are treated from Svalbard (exclusive of Bjørnøya). New to science are: Bryocaulon hyperborea Øvstedal (also known from Greenland), Buellia insularis Øvstedal, Lepraria svalbardensis Tønsberg, Placynthium pulvinatum Øvstedal (also recorded from mainland Norway), Rhizocarpon dahlii Øvstedal, R. tephromelae Øvstedal, and Tephromela lucifuga Øvstedal & Tønsberg. New combinations are: Aspicilia major (Lynge) Øvstedal, Aspicilia punctiformis (Lynge) Øvstedal, Cetraria racemosa (Lynge) Øvstedal, Miriquidica picea (Lynge) Øvstedal, and Stereocaulon compactum (I. M. Lamb) Øvstedal. Information on morphology, anatomy, chemistry, substrate preferences and distribution is included for all taxa. Keys to genera and species are provided. Separate keys are provided for sorediate species on rock and on soil/bryophytes. 6 % of the species are defined as cosmopolitan. More than one third has a bipolar distribution, whereas about 60 % are restricted to the Northern Hemisphere, 52 species are high-arctic and lacking from Fennoscandia, and 12 species are at present known as Svalbard endemics.