Carex brehmeri Boeckeler, Allg. Bot. Z. Syst. 2: 190 (1896)

Jimenez-Mejias, Pedro, Morales-Alonso, Ana, Oleas, Nora H, Sanchez, Enmily, Martin-Bravo, Santiago, Masa-Iranzo, Irene & S. Meseguer, Andrea, 2023, New relevant chorological and conservation data on Carex (Cyperaceae) and Hypericum (Hypericaceae) from Ecuador, Biodiversity Data Journal 11, pp. 99603-99603 : 99603

Carex brehmeri Boeckeler, Allg. Bot. Z. Syst. 2: 190 (1896)

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: QCA 238505 ; recordNumber: 800; recordedBy: S. Salgado; occurrenceID: QCA 238505; Taxon: scientificName: Carex brehmeri Boeckeler; Location: country: Ecuador; stateProvince: Imbabura; verbatimLocality: Volcán Cotacachi, vía a las lagunas de Piñan; verbatimElevation: 3838 m; locationRemarks: Imbabura. Volcán Cotacachi, vía a las lagunas de Piñán, 3838 m; georeferenceProtocol: label; Event: verbatimEventDate: 21 Jan 2009; Record Level: basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Taxon discussion

Carex brehmeri is a poorly known Andean taxon, reported from isolated locations in Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia ( Jiménez-Mejías et al. 2020, Jiménez-Mejías et al., under review). It is closely related to C. enneastachya C.B.Clarke ( Benítez-Benítez et al. 2021b; see also below). Both species belong to sect. Phacocystis Dumort. (subg. Phacocystis Carex ), a subcosmopolitan group with a few South American species.

We provide the first record of this small plant from Ecuador. Despite the fact that it might actually be a mere small form of C. enneastachya (see Jiménez-Mejías et al. 2020), we present here C. brehmeri separately as a compromise solution to uncover the existence of such taxonomically problematic forms in Ecuador. A comprehensive sampling of the South American species and populations of sect. Carex Phacocystis and a detailed systematic study are needed to unravel the taxonomy of the group in the continent.