Fifty‐three species of Boophone Herb., Ammocharis Herb., Cybistetes Milne‐Redh. and Crinum L. were analysed cladistically using nuclear ITS and plastid trnL‐F sequences, with Amaryllis belladonna L. as an outgroup. Boophone disticha (L. f.) Herb. is sister to the subtribe Crininae (i.e., Crinum, Ammocharis, Cybistetes). Two main clades were revealed in the Crininae. The first comprises Ammocharis, Crinum baumii Harms and Cybistetes longifolia Milne‐Redh. & Schweick. Cybistetes longifolia appears in a sister relationship to Ammocharis angolensis (Baker) Milne‐Redh. & Schweick. Crinum baumii and Cybistetes longifolia are thus both referred to the genus Ammocharis under the names Ammocharis baumii (Harms) Milne‐Redh. and Ammocharis longifolia (L.) Roem. respectively. The second main clade is constituted by all other examined species of Crinum, and is split into four subclades. The first subclade includes populations of the newly discovered Zambian species, C. jasonii Bjorå & Nordal (2006), which has bell‐shaped flowers. The second subclade comprises all species with star‐shaped flowers (“Stenaster”) occurring in the southern and eastern part of Africa, Madagascar, and Australasia. The Angolan “Codonocrinum” (i.e., with bell‐shaped flowers), C. fimbriatulum Baker, is in a sister relationship to this subclade. The third subclade includes species with bell‐shaped flowers with main distribution in southern Africa, in addition to the Australian C. flaccidum Herb. The fourth subclade includes North African and tropical species with bell‐shaped flowers including Asiatic taxa. A monophyletic group with star‐shaped flowers distributed in West Africa and America is nested within this subclade. Interestingly, a narrowly endemic species, C. binghamii Nordal & Kwembeya, occurring in swamps in western Zambia is sister to this “western Stenaster” group. There is no support for the taxonomic recognition of subgeneric delimitation based on flower morphology. On the other hand, there are strong geographical and ecological trends in the phylogeny.

Current Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. BR. cultivars in Namibia have overall poor performance posing a threat to the nation's food security because this crop is staple for over 70% of the Namibian population. The crop suffers from undesirable production traits such as susceptibility to diseases, low yield, and prolonged reproductive cycle. This study aimed to understand the genetic diversity of the crop in Namibia by simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and morphology analysis. A total of 1441 genotypes were collected from the National Gene Bank representing all the Namibian landraces. A sample of 96 genotypes was further analyzed by SSR using Shannon-Wiener diversity index and revealed a value of 0.45 indicating low genetic diversity. Ordination using Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) on SSR data confirmed clusters generated by UPGMA for the 96 P. glaucum accessions. UPGMA phenograms of 29 morphological characterized genotypes were generated for SSR and morphology data and the two trees revealed 78% resemblance. Lodging susceptibility, tillering attitude, spike density, fodder yield potential, early vigour, and spike shape were the phenotypic characters upon which some clusters were based in both datasets. It is recommended that efforts should be made to widen the current gene pool in Namibia.

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Most species of the genus Crinum (Amaryllidaceae) are bulbous geophytes and grow in areas with strong seasonality. A few have abandoned their geophytic habit and grow inundated in rivers and possess leaves without stomata and seeds without buoyancy. Traditionally the genus has been divided into sections, based on flowers being star‐shaped or bell‐shaped. Analysis of DNA sequences of ITS and trnL‐trnF regions has resolved a new clade of star‐shaped Crinum species: the Crinum natans clade of West Africa. From the rain forest of Cameroon two new river taxa are described: Crinum amphibium Bjorå & Nordal sp. nov. and Crinum natans Baker subsp. inundatum Kwembeya & Nordal subsp. nov. A key to the Crinum species of Cameroon is provided. The new name Crinum exile Bjorå & Nordal nom. nov. is proposed for Crinum humile A. Chev. (1950) non Herb. (1826).