Cover Monophyllaea horsfieldii R.Br., cultivated at the Botanical Garden Vienna (HBV), grown from seeds collected by Dr. Kwiton Jong at Batu Caves, Selangor, West Malaysia. The plant represents a giant seedling, with the stem corresponding to the hypocotyl and the single leaf to an enormously enlarged cotyledon. As flowers and fruits are produced in the seedling stage, Monophyllaea provides a perfect example of neoteny in the plant kingdom. The genus belongs to the morphologically and biogeographically noteworthy tribe Epithemateae of Gesneriaceae. See Mayer et al.: Phylogenetic position and generic differentiation of Epithemateae (Gesneriaceae) inferred from plastid DNA sequence data, pp. 321-329 in this issue. Photo credit: A. Weber.
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