Australian Systematic Botany is an international journal with a focus on the systematics of plants, algae and fungi. In this virtual issue, released to coincide with the Botany 2016 conference in Savannah, USA, we have selected some older and more recent significant articles in the areas of biogeography, systematics and palaeobotany, including controversial debate in these research fields.

The articles selected here highlight research areas that are experiencing resurgent interest. In particular, palaeobotany articles in Australian Systematic Botany have informed recent molecular divergence dating studies, and the biogeographic studies have led to much better understanding of the evolution of the Earth’s flora, with significant discoveries in the crucial areas of New Caledonia, Australasia and more generally the Southern Hemisphere.