Carex acutata Boott, Proc. Linn. Soc. London 1: 287 (1846)

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 acutata Boott, Proc. Linn. Soc. London 1: 287 (1846)

Carex acutata = Carex tessellata Spruce ex C.B.Clarke, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew, Addit. Ser. 8: 86 (1908).

Taxon discussion

Carex acutata is a member of the Hirta Clade (subg. Carex Carex ), a lineage with its highest diversity in the Holarctic, but with regional diversification in South America (P. Jiménez-Mejías, pers. obs.). It is distributed in montane and high elevation páramo habitats of the Tropical Andes, from Bolivia to Venezuela.

The name Carex tessellata was included in the Ecuadorian Red List as a "mysterious species known from a single collection of uncertain precedence". The name was synonymised by Jiménez-Mejías et al. (2020) to C. acutata after examining C. tessellata type (K-000584703). Carex acutata is a species widely distributed in South America and recorded from quite a few locations within Ecuador. Accordingly, the name should be removed from the Red List and the conservation status of C. acutata in Ecuador should be re-evaluated.