Carex punicola D.B. Poind., Jim. Mejías & M. Escudero, 2017

Poindexter, D. B., Escudero, M. & Jiménez-Mejías, P., 2017, A clarification of the name Carex hypsipedos C. B. Clarke (Cyperaceae) and a new name for the South American Carex section Acrocystis taxon, Phytotaxa 291 (4), pp. 287-293 : 292

2. Carex punicola D.B. Poind., Jim. Mejías & M. Escudero , nom. nov.

Diagnosis: —This species is similar to the North American species of Carex sect. Acrocystis , in particular to members of the C. geophila

Mackezie (1913: 564) complex, from which it differs by a more diminutive habit with shorter coriaceous leaves and scales, and smaller terminal staminate pseudospikelets. Type: — PERU. Junin, Tarma , La Oroya 4300 m, Weberbauer 2617 (holotype B-100244338! Figs. 1–3 ; isotype, F photo!). ≡ Carex umbellata Schkur ex Willd. var. depressa Kük. , nom. subs., in H. G. A. Engler (ed.), Pflanzenr., IV, 20(38): 453 (1909). Lectotype

( here designated):— PERU. Junin, Tarma, La Oroya 4300 m, Weberbauer 2617 (B-100244338! Figs. 1–3 ; isolectotype, F photo!). = Carex phalaroides Kunth var. parvula R. Gross, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 50: 211 (1941). Holotype:— ARGENTINA. Jujuy, Tilcara

(“Titeara”), 2500 m, 15 Feb 1927, Venturi 6491 (US-00087259, formerly US-1545831, photo!). – Carex hypsipedos sensu Macbride (1936) and Wheeler (1988), non C.B. Clarke (1906).

Plants small, cespitose. Fertile culms 1–4 cm tall, erect or more or less curved, shorter than or equaling leaves. Basal sheaths scale-like, brown to slightly reddish-tinged, more or less fibrillose. Leaves of flowering shoots 3–7, subcoriaceous, erect or slightly curved, mostly exceeding culms; blades 10–55 × 0.8–2.5 mm, flat, margins smooth or scabrous (especially distally); leaf sheaths glabrous, pale brown; ligules short, <2 mm long, slightly shorter than long, apex rounded. Vegetative shoots 2.5–7 cm tall; leaves 5–11, similar to those of fertile culms; pseudoculms 1–2 cm tall. Inflorescences (8–) 10–30 mm long, with 1–3 cauline and 1–2 basal pseudospikelets, these latter emerging from sheathes on short to long peduncles, usually simple, rarely pseudospikelets branching at base into an additional smaller pseudospikelet, all approximate, often overlapping, the terminal one staminate, very rarely with l or 2 perigynia at its base, usually elevated, the lateral ones pistillate; bracts shorter or longer than the inflorescence, sheathless, leaf-like in the lowermost pseudospikelets to setaceous or scale-like in the uppermost ones, 4–20(–45) × 0.8–1.8 mm. Terminal pseudospikelets 6.5–8 × 2–3.5 mm wide, shortly oblong, lateral pseudospikelets 4–6.5 × 2.8–5 mm, 3–8-flowered, all erect, on peduncles0.5–15(–25)mm, stiff, slightly scabrous,rarely smooth,when branched, the additional pseudospikelet on a 0.5–2 mm peduncle. Staminate scales 3.5–7 × 1.2–2.0 mm, lanceolate to narrowly oblong, acuminate, glabrous, sometimes sparingly scaberulent on the veins distally, reddish brown, with narrow hyaline margins and 3–5-nerved stramineous to reddish-green middle strip. Pistillate scales 2.6–4.8 × 1.3–1.7 mm, lanceolate, acuminate or shortly awned, equaling or slightly longer and wider than the perigynia (but not concealing them), reddish brown or hyaline, with a 3–5-veined greenish middle portion. Style jointed with achene; stigmas 3. Anthers 3, ca. 1.5 mm long. Perigynia 2.4–3.3 × 1.2–1.6 mm, oblong-obovoid or elliptical, abruptly contracted into a beak at the apex and attenuated into a substipitate base, glabrate or shortly pubescent, especially distally, membranaceous, dull green, greenish-brown or stramineous, sometimes reddish-tinged near the beak, with 2 prominent nerves and 6–10 additional faint veins; beak 0.4–0.7 mm long, scaberulent, shallowly bidentate, teeth about 0.2 mm long. Achenes 1.8–2.2 × 1.1–1.5 mm, oblong-obovoid, trigonous, with blunt angles, the sides convex (at least distally), tapering at base, with the style-base persistent as a 0.1 mm mucro at apex, yellowish brown, very closely enveloped by the perigynium.

This description heavily relies on Wheeler (1988). It has been slightly modified according to our own observations.

Habitat and distribution:—Puna grassland in high Andes of Peru, Argentina and Bolivia, at an altitude of 2500– 4450 m.

Phenology:—Flowers and fruits were collected from January to February.

Etymology:—From “puna”, local denomination of the high Andean grasslands from Chile and Argentina to Peru.

Additional collections (paratypes):— ARGENTINA. Prov. Jujuly, Dpto. Humahuaca, Mina El Aguilar , 4450 m, 21 Feb 1972, Ruthsatz 376/2 ( NY!). Prov. Salta, Santa Victoria, road to Abra de Lizoite , 3349 m, 22° 15’ 0.8” S 65° 4’ 13.17”W, 7 Feb 2015, Rodríguez Palacios, Fabbroni & Jiménez-Mejías, 39GERP16 ( SI! UPOS!) . BOLIVIA. Dpto. La Paz, prov. Manco Kapac, Isla del Sol, Cerro Chequesani , 4020 m, 21 Jan 1986, Liberman 1094 ( MICH!) ; sur Challa , 3840 m, 25 Jan 1986, Liberman 1246 ( MICH!) .

Observations: —Morphological variation in the C. punicola specimens is apparent. Nevertheless, with the current information we consider the recognition of only one Carex sect. Acrocystis species to be a satisfactory solution. Future studies may reveal the existence of additional cryptic taxa.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Type specimens of Carex hypsipedos (Weberbauer 2617, G) left and C. punicola (Weberbauer 2617, B) right.

FIGURE 2. Terminal pseudospikelets. A) Carex hypsipedos (Weberbauer 2617, G). Note androgynous pseudospikelets and concealed perigynia. B) Carex punicola (Weberbauer 2617, B). Note pistillate pseudospikelet left and staminate pseudospikelet right (white arrow indicating base), and exserted perigynia. Scale bar = 5 mm.

FIGURE 3. Perigynia abaxial (left) and adaxial (right) surfaces at 40× magnification of A) Carex hypsipedos (Weberbauer 2617, G) and B) C. punicola (Weberbauer 2617, B). Scale bar = 1mm.