Alterations for the year 1986 to the inventory maintained in PRECIS are reported for bryophytes, pteridophytes and monocotyledons, and for a few dicotyledons. For the cryptogams and monocots there are 77 newly described species or infraspecific taxa, 27 names brought back into use, and nine species newly reported for southern Africa, resulting in 113 additions to the total list of species. Five species were removed because they were mistakenly recorded from the area. Seventy-five names have gone into synonymy, there are 52 new combinations, and there are 35 orthographic corrections, resulting in 237 alterations to the list of species. The total of 355 additions, deletions and alterations represents about 5% of the total species and infraspecific taxa for the cryptogams and monocots. Keywords: name changes, new records, new taxa, PRECIS, southern Africa.