Carex

Cayouette, Jacques & Léveillé-Bourret, Étienne, 2021, Carex × payettei, a new hybrid of Carex sect. Racemosae described from subarctic Quebec, Canada (Cyperaceae), Phytotaxa 483 (2), pp. 139-148 : 140-145

Carex × payettei J. Cayouette, nothosp. nov.

Parentage:— Carex atratiformis Britton × Carex media R. Br. ex Richards. in Frankl.

Type:— CANADA, Quebec, Nunavik, rivière Kaniapiscau, gorges du Manitou, 57°32′N 69°27′W, sentier humide, 30 August 1951, A. Dutilly, E. Lepage & M. Duman 28313 (Holotype: DAO 352055; Isotypes: QFA 40640!, 134279!, MT!), sub Carex × quirponensis .

Plant forming colonies about 0.5 m 2 in size. Rhizomes short and mostly erect, with imbricate pale orange to dark red cataphylls, and pale yellow to brownish rose roots. Vegetative shoots 6–30 cm high. Fertile shoots erect, sometimes slightly bent towards the apex, often robust, pale orange to dark orange at the base, longer than cauline leaves, often scabrous, 37–62 cm high, 0.5–0.9 mm diameter below the inflorescence. Cauline leaves 9–13. Proximal sheaths slightly fibrillose, adaxial face becoming very pale orange-yellow or pale brownish orange, with dark brownish red dots. Leaves erect, sometimes slightly flexuous, very pale yellow-green, abaxial face slightly lustrous or dull, plane, adaxial face glabrous, not papillose but often scabrous on the keel in distal ⅓, 100–220 x 2.4–3.2(–4) mm. Ligules very pale yellow-orange, with small dark brownish red dots on the margins, with rounded or obtuse apex, often retuse. Inflorescences in racemes ( Fig. 1B ), the terminal spike gynecandrous, with 1–4 lateral pistillate spikes, the whole 19–50 x 7–15 mm, compact except for the proximal spike, the proximal internode 5.5–21 mm long, densely scabrous. Proximal bract leaf-like, pale orange to dark red at the base, shorter or longer than inflorescence, 13–51 x 0.7–1.9 mm, with densely scabrous margins; other bracts setaceous or squamose, with acute, acuminate or long-acuminate apex. Proximal pistillate spike ellipsoid, ovoid or obovoid, 6–14 x 4–5.2 mm, with 17–50 pistillate flowers, on erect or oblique branches, 2–11 mm long, smooth or somewhat scabrous. Terminal gynecandrous spike ellipsoid, sometimes almost cylindrical or ovoid, 12–18 x 5–6 mm, longer than lateral spikes, with 7–13 staminate flowers and 35–55 pistillate flowers, on an erect, scabrous peduncle 1.5–5 mm long. Staminate scales similar to the pistillate, but slightly longer. Anthers 1.3–1.9 mm long, with acute apex. Pistillate scales with a brownish pink to dark purple body, sometimes slightly lustrous, rarely with an inconspicuous pale orange central stripe about 0.1 times as wide as the scale; 1–3 nerves, the central nerve conspicuous or not; hyaline margin absent or 0.1–0.3 mm wide; scales ovate or widely ovate, glabrous, 1.8–2.7 x 1–1.5 mm, about 0.5–0.9(–1) times as long as the perigynia, narrower to as wide as perigynia, with acute or acuminate apex. Perigynia pale greyish-orange or pale orange, sometimes with dark red or pale orange-yellow to pale yellowish brown dots, surface dull or slightly lustrous; ellipsoid to broadly ovoid, 2.6–3.4 x 1.4–1.9 mm; flat when sterile, otherwise plano-convex or irregularly trigonous, with obtuse or acute keels; 2–3 weak, incomplete nerves on each face; faces glabrous but strongly papillose in distal half, the papillae often protruding; margins papillate and often scabrous in distal quarter; apex acute, passing gradually or abruptly to the beak, distal margin concave; base rounded, cuneate or substipitate; stipes absent or 0.1–0.2 mm long. Perigynium beak marked, dark reddish brown, 0.3–0.5 mm long, 0.2–0.4 mm wide at the base, usually straight, entire or bidentate; often bearing a few protruding papillae or sharp hyaline barbs (minute unicellular teeth) up to 0.1 mm long ( Fig. 2B ); aperture straight or oblique, smooth or papillose. Stigmas 3, often curved, with short pale brown hairs, style top barely or not exserted. Fruits sometimes formed and well developed, yellowish gray, pale olive or greyish olive-green, with paler keels, ellipsoid, with concave or flat surface, often slightly lustrous, 1.4–1.7 x 0.9–1.1 mm, filling 67–75% of the volume of the perigynium, apex acute or obtuse, base cuneiform and substipitate; stipe 0.1–0.2 mm long, beak straight or oblique.

Paratypes:— CANADA. Quebec, Nunavik: lac Minto , au sud du bras sud-est du lac, 57°10′40″N 74°33′12″W ,

29 July 1975, R. Gauthier 75-276A (QFA 221967!), sub Carex norvegica ; rivière à l’Eau Claire, 56°10′N 75°05′W, colline de sable sec, 26 July 1945, A. Dutilly & E. Lepage 14361, (QFA 240639!, 36694!), sub Carex atratiformis and C. × quirponensis ; lac Patu, 56°34′N 68°35′W, bois tourbeux et bord du lac, 19 August 1961, A. Dutilly & E. Lepage 39318 (QFA 240638!), sub Carex × quirponensis ; lac Patu, 56°34′N 68°35′W, bois tourbeux et bord du lac, 19 August 1961, A. Dutilly & E. Lepage 39313 (QFA 240660!), sub Carex stylosa var. nigritella and Carex × quirponensis ; rivière Laguerne, 55°09′N 75°01′W, aulnaie blanche à bouleau glanduleux et Salix planifolia , 20 August 1979, G. Lemieux 21744-2 (QFA 379768!), sub Carex × quirponensis ; golfe de Richmond, terrasse de sable, 19 August 1944, E. Lepage, A. Dutilly, H, O’Neill & M. Duman 13256-2 (QFA 240641!, MT!), sub Carex × quirponensis ; idem, E. Lepage, A. Dutilly, H, O’Neill & M. Duman 13258-2 (QFA 283459!), sub Carex × quirponensis ; Knob Lake area, vicinity of lake Gillard, creek meadow, 16 August 1948, I. Hustich 544 ( MT!), sub Carex atratiformis and Carex × quirponensis ; idem, 54°55′N 66°55′W, I. Hustich 548-2 (CAN 152629!), sub Carex × quirponensis and with Carex media ; lac à l’Eau Claire, île Atkinson, 56°09′N 74°33′W, en bordure d’un ruisseau de fen, 1 August 1980, J. Deshaye & B. Vimard 80342-2 (QFA 283656!), sub Carex × quirponensis ; Fort Chimo, Ungava Bay area, disturbed sandy areas and ridges from shoreline of Koksoak River, 17 August 1959, J.A. Calder, D.B.O. Savile & I. Kukkonen 24248-2 ( GH!), sub Carex × quirponensis .

Topotypes:— CANADA. Quebec, Nunavik: rivière Kaniapiscau, gorges du Manitou, 57°32′N 69°27′W, pente sèche dans les buissons, 26 August 1961, A. Dutilly & E. Lepage 39516 (QFA 240637!, 134280!, QUE!, DAO 352662!), sub Carex × quirponensis .

Etymology

The name honours Dr. Serge Payette, professor at Laval University and co-curator of the Louis-Marie Herbarium (QFA), who spent the last 20 years as organizer and editor of the Flore nordique du Québec et du Labrador of which three volumes have already been published ( Payette 2013, 2015, 2018), and to recognize his unique expertise on the post-glacial ecology of the tree-line in Nunavik and Labrador.

Range

The new hybrid is known only from the territory of the Flore nordique in Nunavik, Quebec, Canada ( Fig. 3B ), within the Forest Tundra and Open Boreal Forest zones ( Payette 2013). It does not occur north of the tree-line, and its distribution is located within the contact zone of its parental species ( Fig. 3A, C ). Carex atratiformis is a North American species ( Murray 2002) and is mostly restricted to the boreal zone except for rare incursions into the arctic, for instance at Keglo Bay, Nunavik, where it grows with other boreal species at their northern limit ( Tremblay 2017). Its other parent Carex media has an almost circumboreal range ( Murray 2002).

Habitat

The hybrid grows mostly in open shore habitats, such as along brooks, river and lake shores, and flats. It is also found in openings within stands of alder bush [ Alnus alnobetula subsp. crispa (Ait.) Raus in Greuter & von Raab-Straube (2011: 129)], low birch [ Betula glandulosa Michaux (1803: 180) ] and willow [ Salix planifolia Pursh (1814: 611) ]. It is present in some forest openings of black spruce [ Picea mariana (Mill.) Britton, Stern & Poggenb. in Britton et al. (1888: 71)] and larch [ Larix laricina (Du Roi) Koch (1872: 263) ]. Other common habitats are sandy or dry gravelly mounds, slides, and alluvial flats. Occasionally it is found along damp trails and in open boggy woods.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Inflorescence of the studied parental species and hybrid. A, Carex atratiformis (QFA 300743). B, Carex ×payettei (QFA 283459). C, Carex media (QFA 267176).

FIGURE 2. Perigynium beaks of the studied parental species and hybrid, in three vertical rows.A, Carex atratiformis (QFA 240451). B, Carex ×payettei (CAN 152624). C, Carex media (QFA 240538). Arrows indicate sharp barbs on the margins of the perigynium beak of Carex ×payettei.

FIGURE 3. Distribution range of the studied parental species and hybrid in the Northern Québec and Labrador (north of 54°N). A, Carex atratiformis. B, Carex ×payettei. C, Carex media. Maps provided by the Flore nordique project, Herbier Louis-Marie (QFA), Laval University.