With more than 300 species, the Magnoliaceae family represents a major Magnoliid lineage that is disjunctly distributed in Asia and the New World. The classification of Magnolia s.l. has been highly controversial among taxonomists, varying from one genus with several subgenera, sections, and subsections to several (up to 16) genera. We conducted a comprehensive phylogenetic study of Magnoliaceae on the basis of sequences of the complete chloroplast genomes with a broad taxon sampling of 86 species. The phylogenetic analyses strongly support 15 major clades within Magnolia s.l. due to the non‐monophyly of subgen. Magnolia, the previous subgeneric treatment that recognizes three subgenera, is not supported. Based on the phylogenetic, morphological, and geographic evidence, we recognize two subfamilies in Magnoliaceae: Liriodendroideae and Magnolioideae, each with one genus, Liriodendron and Magnolia, respectively. Magnolia is herein classified into 15 sections: sects. Magnolia, Manglietia, Michelia, Gwillimia, Gynopodium, Kmeria, Maingola, Oyama, Rytidospermum, Splendentes, Talauma, Tuliparia, Macrophylla, Tulipastrum, and Yulania.

Primula xingshanensis, a new species of Primula endemic to Hubei Province, China, is described and illustrated. It is morphologically similar to two other species belonging to Primula sect. Auganthus, P. rupestris from West Hubei and South Shaanxi Provinces, and P. sinensis from Guizhou and Sichuan Provinces, but can be easily distinguished from the two by its obovate-spatulate to spatulate and pinnately lobed leaf blade, cuneate leaf base and shorter petioles that are 1.3–4.8 cm long.

N/A