Carex linanensis X.D.Qiu & X.F.Jin, 2024

Qiu, Xiang-Dong, Lu, Yi-Fei & Jin, Xiao-Feng, 2024, Carex linanensis (sect. Mitratae), a new species of Cyperaceae from Zhejiang, East China, PhytoKeys 241, pp. 121-130 : 121

Carex linanensis X.D.Qiu & X.F.Jin sp. nov.

Figs 3A-I , 4A -

Diagnostic description.

This new species is similar to Carex sachalinensis F.Schmidt in having lowermost bract shortly leaf-like and utricles short-beaked, but differs by having leaf blades 1-2 mm wide (vs. 2.5-3.5 mm wide), utricles longer than pistillate glumes, with beak margin smooth (vs. barbate) and lateral spikes 1 or 2 (vs. 2 or 3), with peduncles enclosed in bract sheaths (vs. enclosed in bract sheaths).

Type.

China. Zhejiang Province: Hangzhou City, Lin’an District, Changhua , Mount Daming , Pansidong , 30.033446°N, 118.987165°E, on cliffs along scenic boardwalk, 1460 m elev., 26 Apr 2023, Y. F. Lu & X. F. Jin 23042601 (holotype: ZJFC!; isotypes: IBK!, ZJFC!, ZM!, PE!) .

Description.

Perennial herbs. Rhizomes obliquely ascending, slender, woody, stoloniferous. Culms 12-30 cm tall, obtusely trigonous, slender, slightly scabrous, glabrous, base with brown or pale brown sheaths, sometimes split into fibres. Leaves longer than culms or, sometimes, nearly equal in length; blades 1-2 mm wide, herbaceous, flat or margin slightly involuted, scabrous on upper margins and abaxial leaf surfaces. Lowermost bract shortly leaf-like, uppers setaceous, shorter than spikes, sheathed; sheaths 6-12 mm long, upper ones gradually shorter. Spikes 2 or 3; terminal spike staminate, clavate, 2-3.5(-4) cm long, 1.8-2 mm wide, long-pedunculate at base; lateral spikes pistillate, loosely flowered, cylindrical or shortly cylindrical, 6-15 mm long, 2-2.5 mm wide, base with peduncles enclosed in bract sheath. Staminate glumes oblong or oblong-elliptic, 4-4.5 mm long, pale yellow or pale brown, obtuse at apex, green or brown 3-veined dorsal costa. Pistillate glumes ovate or broad-ovate, 1.5-1.8 mm long, pale yellow-brown, acuminate at apex, green 3-veined dorsal costa excurrent into a mucro or short-awn. Utricles brown-green, obovoid-ellipsoid (excluding beak), obtusely trigonous, 2.8-3.2 mm long (including beak), longer than pistillate glumes, membranous, distinctly thinly veined, sparsely puberulent, base attenuate and stipitate, apex gradually contracted into a ca. 0.3 mm long beak, orifice 2-lobed with minute teeth. Nutlets tightly enveloped, ovoid, trigonous, pale brown or yellow-brown, ca. 2 mm long, slightly excavated below, base with a ca. 0.2 mm long stipe, apex abruptly discoid-annulate or inconspicuously discoid-annulate; style thickened at base; stigmas 3.

Etymology.

The specific epithet ‘linanensis’ refers to the type locality of this new species which was collected from Mount Daming of Lin’an District in Hangzhou.

Phenology.

Flowering and fruiting occur from late April to mid-May.

Additional specimens examined (paratypes).

China. Zhejiang Province: Hangzhou City, Lin’an District, Changhua , Mount Daming , Pansidong , 30.033446°N, 118.987165°E, on cliffs along scenic boardwalk, 1460 m elev., 26 Apr 2023, Y. F. Lu & X. F. Jin 23042602 (ZJFC!, ZM!); the same locality, 30.033534N, 118.987040E, on cliffs, 1460 m elev., 2 May 2022, Y. F. Lu & X. F. Jin 22050201 (IBK!, ZJFC!, ZM!), 14 May 2022, Y. F. Lu 307 (ZJFC!, ZM!); Mount Daming , Jingmagang, on cliffs, 1050 m elev., 14 May 2022, Y. F. Lu 306, 308 (ZJFC!, ZM!), the same locality, on cliffs, 1100 m elev., 14 May 2022, Y. F. Lu 310 (IBK!, PE!, ZJFC, ZM!); Mount Daming , Fengshu Valley , on cliffs, 950 m elev., 14 May 2022, Y. F. Lu 312 (IBK!, PE!, ZJFC, ZM!) .

Conservation status.

Least Concern (LC). The new species is a common sedge and grows on cliffs or along the Fengshu Valley in Damingshan Scenic Park. All known populations are in well-protected areas. but are strongly influenced by tourist activity unrelated to this species, so that the species will need attention related to conservation ( IUCN 2022).

Notes.

Tang (2000) recognised Carex pisiformis Boott as a high-polymorphic species which is distributed on the Islands of Sakhalin and Kurils, as well as in Japan and Korea to south-western and eastern China. Carex sachalinensis , C. alterniflora , C. fernaldiana , C. polyschonea and C. conicoides were synonymised, while C. duvaliana , C. capilliformis and C. polyschoenoides from China were treated as independent species. Koyama (1962) compared the C. sachalinensis group in morphological characters, chromosome numbers and distribution pattern, recognising only one species, C. pisiformis , with 15 varieties and several forms. Egorova (1999) considered C. sachalinensis to be a very polymorphic species, represented in Sakhalin and Kurils by the type variety. The other epithets for taxa distributed in Honshu and the southern islands of Japan were treated as different varieties. After a critical examination of type specimens, we suggest that the C. sachalinensis group is in need of revision, necessitating further study. We propose treating taxa within this group as independent species, with a detailed comparison of the diagnostic characters in Table 1 .

Morphologically, the new species, Carex linanensis , is similar to C. sachalinensis in having loosely tufted plants with stolons, bracts shortly leaf-like, shorter than spikes, utricles inconspicuously beaked, but differs by having narrower leaves (1-2 mm wide), utricles puberulent with beak margin smooth and peduncles of pistillate spikes enclosed in bract sheaths.

Figures

Figure 3.. Carex linanensis sp. nov. A, B habitat C lower part of habit, showing stolons D pistillate spike and bract E staminate spike and two pistillate spikes F, G utricle H, I nutlet. Scale bars: 1 mm.

Figure 4. Carex linanensis sp. nov. A habit B staminate glume C, D pistillate glume E utricle F nutlet (drawn by Xiao-Feng Jin; based on the holotype: Y. F. Lu & X. F. Jin 23042601).