Carex badilloi Luceño & Márquez-Corro, 2017

Márquez-Corro, José Ignacio, Maguilla, Enrique, Villaverde, Tamara, Martín-Bravo, Santiago & Luceño, Modesto, 2017, Two new species in Carex sect. Schoenoxiphium (Cyperaceae) from southern Africa, Phytotaxa 303 (1), pp. 34-46 : 36-39

Carex badilloi Luceño & Márquez-Corro , sp. nov. ( Fig. 2–3 ).

- Schoenoxiphium ludwigii auct. plur., non. Hochst. (1845:764)

Diagnosis:—Similar to Carex ludwigii (Hochst.) Luceño & Martín-Bravo (= Schoenoxiphium rufum Nees (1810:201)) , but presenting longer and straight utricles (usually 4.7–5.3 mm in C. badilloi vs. 2.6–3.7 mm in C. ludwigii ), as well as shortly pedunculate and erect lowest partial inflorescences. It can also be differentiated from C. kukkoneniana Luceño & Martín-Bravo by its smaller ovate to ellipsoid utricles (see Table 1 for further details).

Type:— SOUTH AFRICA. KwaZulu-Natal: Drakensberg mountains, Garden Castle Natural Reserve, pathway to Rhino Peak , 1800 m, grassland, 29º44’38.70’’S 29º12’21.20’’E, 11 November 2011, S. Martín-Bravo & M. Luceño 96 SMB11 (holotype PRE; isotypes NU, UPOS) .

Rhizome not caespitose, stout, light-brown. Flowering culms (36)39–74(80) cm long, erect, obtusely trigonous, smooth, leafy in the lower two-thirds of its length, (2.1) 2.7–4.1 mm wide at the base and 2–3.1(3.4) mm wide at the middle. Leaves 3.7–5.1(6.1) mm wide, shorter than the inflorescence, moderately rigid, glaucous, slightly V-shaped in cross-section, slightly to moderately scabrous along the edges and sometimes also along the uppermost parts of the the abaxial midrib; adaxial surface densely papillose, with papillae 25–30 μm in height; ligule (2) 2.3–3 mm long. Basal sheaths usually not fibrous, lowermost bladeless and uppermost foliose. Lowest bract of the inflorescence leaf-like, much shorter than the inflorescence length with a sheath 3.5–4.9(5.1) cm long. Partial inflorescences 3–4, lowermost 2.5–4.9(7.2) × (0.8)0.9–1.3(1.4) cm and uppermost (2)2.5–3.9(4.2) × 0.9–1.8(2.4) cm, more or less erect, peduncles hispid distally, frequently the uppermost included in the sheath, laterally branching 3–4 times, the main axis ending in a terminal staminate spikelet. Tubular cladoprophylls always present at the base of the 3rd-to-last order branches and in some of the 2nd-to-last order branches; utriculiform cladoprophylls 4.4–4.9 × 1.6–1.7 mm, usually present at the base of some of the 2nd-to-last order branches, ovate, green to yellowish brown when mature, hispid in the upper third, with prominent veins across the entire surface, forming an angle of 35–39º with the axis and ending in a mouth 0.7–0.8 mm wide. Glumes of the staminate spikelet (2.9)3–4.4(4.6) × (1)1.2–2.4(2.6) mm, ovate, yellowish brown, with an aculeolate mucro, 0.2–1.7 mm long. Glumes subtending utricles (3.3)3.5–4.2 × (2.1) 2.3–2.8 mm, ovate, yellowish brown, with a light green prominent aculeolate mucro 0.9–2.4(3.1) mm long. Utricles (4.3)4.7–5.3(5.4) × 1.7–2 mm, unisexual and bisexual, both more or less similar in appearance, ovate, straight, green to yellowish brown when mature, hispid in the upper third, with prominent veins across the entire surface, forming an angle of 30–59º with the branch axis; unisexual utricles with rachilla protruding from the apex up to 0.5 mm in some utricles, with a bidentate to slightly bifid beak; bisexual utricles wide-mouthed, similar in shape to utriculiform cladoprophylls. Nutlet 3–3.3(3.5) × 1.4–1.9(2) mm, ovate-trigonous, green to yellowish brown when mature, tipped by a short, terete, persistent style base. n= 17, 18 (Luceño et al. unpublished).

Etymology:—This species is named after our friend Dr. Juan José González Badillo, a prominent researcher specialized in sport sciences and strength training.

Chorology and ecology:—This species is mainly distributed in mesophilous open grassland on clay soils in the Drakensberg Mountains of KwaZulu-Natal region in South Africa and Lesotho ( Fig. 4 ), within an elevation range from 1800 to 2400 m.

Additional specimens examined (Paratypes):— SOUTH AFRICA. KwaZulu-Natal: Bushman’s Nek , path to fire tower, 6300 ft, steep grass slope, 2929 CC, 16 November 1985, O. M. Hilliard & B. L. Burtt 18592 ( E, photo!) ; Cathedral peak Forestry Station, 6800 ft, fairly frequent in Pentachistis sp. Grassveld, 27 November 1952, D. I. B. Killick 1798 ( E, photo!) ; Cobham Forest Reserve , ‘lakes’ cave area 7100 ft, grass slopes, 2929 CB, 13 December 1982, J. Manning et al. 16003 ( E, photo!) ; Cobham Forest Station, Ndlovini, Troutbeck , 6000 ft, grassland, above stream, 2929 CB, 09 November 1980, O. M. Hilliard & B. L. Burtt 13377 ( E, photo!) ; Drakensberg mountains, ca. 40 km away from Underberg, Garden Castle Natural Reserve , pathway to Rhino Peak , 2000 m, edges of the path, on grassy and natural slopes, 29º43’55.20’’S 29º10’59.20’’E, 19 November 2010, S. Martín-Bravo et al. 145 SMB10 (UPOS-8501) ; Garden Castle National Park , 1850 m, grassland, 29°44’44.80”S 29°12’25.10”E, 16 December 2008, M. Luceño et al. 92 ML08 (UPOS-3624) ; Giant’s Castle Game Reserve, huts under Giant’s Castle , 7400 ft, 12 December 1969, F. B. Wright 921 ( NU) ; Gxalingenwa valley , between Sani Pass and Polela valley, damp S. facing slopes near sandstone, tufted, 2929 CB, 11 December 1983, O. M. Hilliard & B. L. Burtt 17185 ( P, photo!) ; Headwaters of Mlahlangubo River, near Wilson’s Cave , 2200 m, drainage line in damp grass, 2929 CB, 18 January 1982, O. M. Hilliard & B. L. Burtt 15150 ( NU) ; Headwaters of Mlahlangubo River, 5–7 miles NNW of Castle View Farm, 6800 ft, in damp grassland over Cave Sandstone , 2929 CC, 25 November 1980, O. M. Hilliard & B. L. Burtt 13631 ( NU) ; Mlambonja Wilderness area, pathway to Cathedral Peak , start of the plateau, 1900 m, grassland, 28º56’00.90’’S 29º10’42.90’’E, 15 November 2011, S. Martín-Bravo & M. Luceño 134 SMB11 (UPOS-6599) ; Mpendle district, path from Loteni N. R. to Redi , 7000 ft, common in patches in grassland, 2929 AD, 26 December 1982, O. M. Hilliard & B. L. Burtt 16120 ( NU) ; Royal Natal National Park, Tiger Falls , 5500 ft, forest patch, damp ground, 2828DB, 03 February 1982, O. M. Hilliard & B. L. Burtt 150404 ( E, photo!) ; Ukahlamba Drakensberg Park, Garden Castle, path to Rhino Peak , 2373 m, grassland, 16 December 2008, B. Gehrke & M. Pirie BG-Af 564 (UPOS-4395) ; Upper tributaries S of Mkomazi R. (feeders of Ka-Ntubu ), 6800−7500 ft, streamside in grass, 2929 CB, 03 December 1982, O. M. Hilliard & B. L. Burtt 15829 ( E, photo!) ; Vicinity of Tarn Cave, above Bushman’s Nek , 8000 ft, on steep moist E-facing slope, 2929 CC, 21 January 1981, O. M. Hilliard & B. L. Burtt 17451 ( NU) .

Notes:— Carex badilloi has been abundantly collected in the past, but most authors called it Schoenoxiphium ludwigii Hochst. Since the type material of this latter name, collected from Cape region, is a quite typical specimen of the previously called Schoenoxiphium rufum Nees , the name Carex ludwigii must be applied to this later species (see GCG 2015). The specimens of both species studied by Villaverde et al. (in press.) constituted two different monophyletic groups.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Analytical drawing of the holotype material of Carex badilloi (South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, Drakensberg mountains, Garden Castle Natural Reserve, S. Martín-Bravo 96SMB11 & M. Luceño, PRE). A: plant. B: androgynous spike. C: aborted last order utriculiform cladoprophyll with protruding androgynous spike. D: staminate glume. E: pistillate glume. F: unisexual utricle. G: nutlet. H: fertile utriculiform cladoprophyll without fertile rachilla depicted.—Drawing by Rodrigo Tavera.

FIGURE 3. Picture of Carex badilloi plant and detail of the inflorescence (Garden Castle, South Africa).

FIGURE 4. A: Southern Africa map. The area enlarged below in B is enclosed in the square. B: Studied populations of Carex badilloi (crosses) and Carex parvirufa (circles).