Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany Two New Species of Uncinia (Cyperaceae) from Chile Two New Species of Uncinia (Cyperaceae) from Chile

Two new species of Uncinia (Cyperaceae) are described from Chile. Both are local endemics, with U. chi/ensis known from VIn (BIo BIo) and IX (Araucanla) regions of central Chile and U. araucana from IX Region only.


INTRODUCTION
An estimated 60 to 70 species of Uncinia Pers.(Cyperaceae) occur worldwide, all south of the Tropic of Cancer, with between 20 and 30 growing in the mountains and cooler regions of South America (Wheeler and Goetghebeur 1995).In this paper, two new species of Uncinia are described from austral South America.Both are endemic to Chile, as far as known, and physiognomically both resemble U. erinacea (Cav.)Pers., which also grows in central Chile (Marticorena and Quezada 1985).At this point, it is worthy of note that all of the names placed by Kiikenthal (1909, p. 56) under the synonymy of U. erinacea (including var.longifolia [Kunth] C. B. Clarke) are indeed referable to that species, i.e., U. longearistata Steudel (D ' Urville s.n.[holotype: P!; isotypes: P-2 sheets!]), U. longifolia Kunth (Dombey s.n. [holotype: B (destroyed); isotype: G!]), U. macrotricha Franchet (Savatier s.n.holotype: P! isotype: P!]), and U. philippii Steudel (Philippi 177 [holotype: P!; isotypes: BM!, G! K!, P-2 sheets!]).Because very few specimens of the two new species are present in major herbaria, both apparently are rarities.A morphological comparison of 13 characters for the two new species and U. erinacea is given in Table 1, and the most salient of these are given in the key near the end of this report.
One of the first known collections of Uncinia chilensis was made by F. W. Neger in the 1890s, plants which Kiikenthal (1909) did not consider to be distinct from those of U. erinacea.However, a recent examination of Neger's plants (Fig. 3) and additional collections (Fig. 2) reveals that there is a real discontinuity in morphology between these two entities (cf.Fig. 3 and 5).For example, Kiikenthal (1909, p. 56) described the pistillate scales of U. erinacea as "obtusae vel interdum longissime aristatae," with the last-mentioned character no doubt based on Neger's collection.But U. chilensis, as indicated in the key and in Table 1, has long-awned pistillate scales, whereas those of U. erinacea (Fig. 4, 5) are awnless.Likewise, the staminate scales of the two species differ considerably (see Table 1).Also, U. chilensis has larger perigynia, achenes, anthers, and rachillae.Indeed, the very long and thick rae hill a of U. chilensis probably is the largest in the genus.Moreover, unlike U. erinacea (and most other Uncinia species), the abaxial surface of the leaves of U. chilensis are  conspicuously papillate.One additional difference, which concerns a feature traditionally regarded as important in the taxonomy of the genus (Clarke 1883;Kiikenthal 1909), is that the staminal filaments of U. chilensis are narrower than the anthers, whereas in U. eri"nacea the filaments are as wide as or wider than the anthers.Based on this study, it is abundantly clear that these two entities are taxonomically distinct species.Uncinia araucana G. A. Wheeler,sp. nov. Fig. 6,] Provo Cautin: Volcan Llaima, 38 0 42' S .. lat., 71 0 44' W. long., 1500 m, 4-7 Jan 1943, Gunckel 13899 (holotype: CONC!).
The holotype was originally identified as Uncinia multifaria Nees ex Boott, but the plants are not referable to that species in that U. multifaria has narrowly oblong perigynia and achenes, as well as a short perigynium beak.Rather, these plants (Fig. 6, 7) are similar to U. erinacea and U. chilensis, in having relatively broad perigynia and a prolonged beak, but differ from both of them by having longer achenes, shorter rachillae (i.e., the exserted part), and longer perigynia that are conspicuously hispid and more or less ascend-ing at maturity (cf.Fig. 3 and 7; also see Table 1 and the key).
Of the approximately 15 uncinia that grow on the Chilean mainland (Ktikenthal 1909;Marticorena and Quezada 1985;Wheeler 1994, in press), the three species discussed in this paper are differentiated from the others by having cauline leaves and a prolonged perigynium beak.A key to the two new species and U. erinacea is given below.
Fig. I. Map of VIII Region Bio Bio (excepting Nubi'e Province) and IX Region Araucania in central Chile showing the distributions of Uncinia araucana and U. chilensis.

Table I .
A selected morphological comparison of Uncinia araucana, U. chi lens is, and U. erinacea in Chile.