Aliso: a Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany Taxonomic Notes on Carex (cyperaceae) of Austral South America Taxonomic Notes on Carex (cyperaceae) of Austral South America

The name Carex poeppigii (sect. Echinochlaenae) is validated and a new combination in South American Carex, C. vixdentata (sect. Spirostachyae), is made here. Also, the taxonomic status of C. aueri is discussed, and this name is placed in the synonymy of C. reichei (sect. Arenariae).


INTRODUCTION
Carex L. (Cyperaceae) is well represented in the southern half ofSouth America (i.e., Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, and southern Brazil), with about 95 species and some 3~0 infraspecific taxa. In this paper, I validate a name, make a new combination, and discuss the taxonomic status of e. reichei Kiik. and e. aueri Kalela. I have also designated lectotypes for those names created by Georg Kiikenthal, whose types were at Berlin (B) and are no longer extant. According to Kiikenthal (1909:693 and 702), Poeppig 247 at B (destroyed), which was the specimen on which Kunth (1837:504)  was merely cited as a synonym and, therefore, was not validly published in accordance with Article 34 ofthe I.C.B.N. (Voss et aI. 1983). The epithet rotundata is not available for use at species rank because of the earlier Carex rotundata Wahlenb. Thus, I have validated Clarke's name for the species in question by providing the needed Latin diagnosis and designation of type.
Carex poeppigii was treated by Kiikenthal (1899Kiikenthal ( :541, 1909:693) as C. lamprocarpa var. rotundata, but differences in morphology between the two taxa strongly suggest that they are distinct species. Carex poeppigii differs from C. lamprocarpa by the following characters: lateral spikes 4-5 mm wide, the upper ones subsessile or on very short peduncles; perigynia greenish brown, dull, reddish dots conspicuous proximally, veins prominent distally, but faint or obscure proximally; and pistillate scales (majority of them) about one-half the length of the perigyn ia, with the apex usually ciliolate. By contrast, in C. lamprocarpa the same features are: lateral spikes 5.5-6.5 mm wide, the upper ones on peduncles to I em long; perigynia brown, shiny, reddish dots inconspicuous, 2 veins prominent and the rest weak, all extending the entire length of the perigynium; and pistillate scales (majority of them) two-thirds to three-fourths the length of the perigynia, with the apex entire.
Three members of sect. Echinochlaenae (subg. Carex) occur in Chile (Fig. I), two of which, Carex poeppigii ( Fig. 2C) and C. lamprocarpa (Fig. 2B), grow on the mainland; the third species, C. berteroniana Steudel ( Fig. 2A), is endemic to the Juan Fernandez Islands. Like other members of sect. Echinochlaenae, the three Chilean species have gynaecandrous lateral spikes (i.e., many to numerous pistillate flowers above and a smaller number of staminate flowers below), a character very helpful in circumscribing this section. Both C. lamprocarpa and C. poeppigii have been collected in central Chile, but they are very poorly represented in herbaria; also, habitat data for both species are scarce. The only specimen of C. poeppigii that I have examined was collected near Antuco in Bio Bio Province (Fig. 1). Carex vixdentata is endemic to southeastern South America, occurring from southern Uruguay to Rio Negro Province in Argentina (Fig. I). It grows in both muddy and sandy sites along the Atlantic coast and also occurs locally inland, such as in the Meseta de Sornuncura (Rio Negro Province) where it grows in moist, sandy soil. This species flowers in late September and October and fruits from November through January.
In 1940 Kalela described Carex aueri from plants collected in southern Chile (Magallanes Province). He placed it in sect. Arenariae subsect. Australes and noted its similarities to species growing in Australia and New Zealand; interestingly, Kale1a made no reference to C. reichei. Barros (1949) subsequently reported C. aueri from Argentina (Santa Cruz Province) and also later included it in his treatment of the Patagonian Cyperaceae (Barros 1969:77). It is noteworthy that Marticorena and Quezada (1985) have recently reported both C. aueri and C. reichei as occurring in Chile.
Examination of numerous specimens (cited below) labeled Carex aueri, including the type collection, reveals that they are conspecific with C. reichei. This conclusion is based on the following evidence: (1) the lectotype of C. reichei and young plants of C. aueri from southern Patagonia are very similar in habit (compare Fig. 3 and 4); (2) the vegetative features of the lectotype of C. reichei are essentially identical to those of the type collection of C. aueri; and (3) the flowers and immature fruits of the lectotype of C. reichei are very similar to those in young plants of C. aueri from southern Patagonia. These aforementioned features are: fertile culms less than 7 cm tall, these arising single or, less commonly, very few together from horizontally creeping rhizomes; basal sheaths brown, usually fibrillose; leaves 2-7(-10) ern long, 2-4 mm wide, keeled proximally and often curved (at least the lower ones) , the margins serrulate; inflorescences less than 2.5 ern long, little elevated above the leaves; pistillate scales 3-4 mm long, oblongelliptical, cuspidate, yellowish-brown with a 3-veined, pale green center; perigynia 3-4 mm long, pale brown, margins scaberulent above the middle; and anthers 2.6-3.2 mm long. Indeed, young plants of C. aueri fit Kiikenthal's (1899) description of C. reichei in all respects. Thus, I treat C. aueri as a synonym of C. reichei.
Carex reichei is well distributed in southern Argentina, particularly along the shores of Rio Gallegos, and it also occurs in Chubut Province in Argentina and in Magallanes and Curico provinces in Chile (Fig. 1). It is a rhizomatous species that grows in moist to wet places and often in areas dominated by Festuca gracillima Hooker f. The plants are low growing and thus easily overlooked, especially when fruits are not present. In southern Patagonia, the species flowers in November and December and fruits in January and February.