Carex markgrafii Kük., Ber. Deutsch. Bot.

Mesterházy, Attila, Jiménez-Mejías, Pedro, Pifkó, Dániel & Barina, Zoltán, 2018, Taxonomy, systematics, and typification of Carex markgrafii Kük. (Cyperaceae), Phytotaxa 345 (3), pp. 272-278 : 276-277

Carex markgrafii Kük., Ber. Deutsch. Bot. ges. 44: 420 (1926)

Lectotype (here designated):― ALBANIA. Markgraf , F. (1926): Bemerkenswerte neue Pflanzenarten aus Albanien. Berichte der Deutschen Botanischen Gesellschaft 44(7): 420–432. Tab VII/VIII: 1.

Epitype (here designated):― ALBANIA. Mali me Grope , South hillside of Maja Noj i Madh (Shen Ndue), closed calcareous rocky grassland, alt. 1560 m N 41° 21’ 18.2’’, E 20° 10’ 33.4”, 05.07.2014, leg. A. Mesterházy & D. Pifkó (s.n.) ( BP; iso- UPOS) .

In the absence of the original type collection, we provide a detailed description of the materials designated as epitype.

Perennial, laxly caespitose, with dark brown fibrous scales on short rhizomes. Stems erect, 20–30(–35) cm tall and 1 mm wide, trigonous, smooth, becoming more or less scabrid towards the apex. Sheaths of basal leaves dark brown, entire, without blade, shiny, fibrous. Leaves 2–4 mm wide, flat, tapering towards apex, shorter than the stem; ligule 1–2 mm long, shorter than wide, ovate-lanceolate, obtuse. Inflorescence 2–3.5 cm long, with one terminal male spike, and 2–3 lateral female spikes. Male spike 13–22 × 3–5 mm, cylindrical, sessile. Lowermost bract 10–25 mm, lanceolate to subulate, rarely longer than its spike. Female spike 8–13 × 3–4 mm, ovoid to obovoid or cylindrical, the uppermost sessile, arising next to the male spike, the lowermost a bit more distant, with internode 6–10 mm long, and with a peduncle 3–10 mm long. Androgynous spike absent. Male glumes 3–5 × 1 mm, elliptical, with subulate apex, dark brown with a pale midrib, without membranous margins. Female glumes 3.2–4.5 (incl. 1–1.5 mm awn) × 1.5–1.8 mm ovoid to broadly ovoid with long arista, longer than the utricle, dark brown with a pale midrib and 3 (pairs of) inconspicuous lateral veins. Stigmas 3. Utricles 3–4 × 1 mm, pyriform, light green to light brown, with inconspicuous veins; beak short or long, dark brown with dense short hairs when young, glabrescent when mature. Nutlet 1.6 × 0.8 mm, light brown; style-base enlarged forming a ring-like stylopodium.

Habitat and distribution:― Carex markgrafii is known only from the type locality in Central Albania, east of Tirana, on the Shen Ndue (mali i Sënoit) mount (1848 m), the highest peak of a limestone karst area of circa. 110 km 2. It seems to be restricted to the southern slopes, in open rocky grasslands dominated by Stipa pennata and Bromus erectus vegetation (Buzo 1990). Other dominant species of herbs characteristic in this stand are Carex halleriana , Saponaria bellidifolia , Asphodelus albus, Asyneuma limonifolium, Sedum ochroleucum , Carduus nutans agg., Helianthemum canum , etc. This grassland community is widespread in the mountains of Albania, and most of the above cited species are too. Saponaria bellidifolia is the rarest plant, and it is an indicator of the richest plots (Barina ined.).

Phenology:―The species is known in flower and fruit in the months of June and July.

Etymology:―Named by Kükenthal after the collector of the original type material, Friedrich Markgraf (1897– 1987), German botanist devoted to the study of the Albanian flora.

Observations: ― The only specimen mentioned in the description of Carex markgrafii has been destroyed during WWII. In the protologue, a photo is provided, which can be considered as part of the original material according to Art. 9.3 ( ICN, McNeill et al. 2012). Accordingly, we propose to use it for the typification of the name and designate it as lectotype. The published photo represents the general appearance of the species well ; however, details on utricles and glumes are not provided, characters that are essential in Carex taxonomy. To overcome these problems, we proceed to complete the lectotype specimen with an epitype, a well-preserved complete herbarium specimen collected in the locus classicus ( A. Mesterházy & D. Pifkó, s.n.; BP; iso-UPOS). In addition, the selected voucher contain a plant fragment that is in complete agreement with the information provided in the protologue .

An additional collection, determined as C. markgrafii by Boris Achtarov, was located at SOM herbarium. Collector details are not given on the label, however, based on the date of collection, it could have been collected by Albanian botanists (Kole Paparisto, Xhafer Qosja or their contemporaries). These specimens were collected on 03.06.1955. in Mali me Gropë, which is app. 10 km west from the locus classicus of C. markgrafii . These specimens have obtuse male glumes, with white margins and ovoid spikes, features which do not match C. markgrafii . In our opinion, this collection represents a deviant plant of C. halleriana , with the lowermost spike pedunculate and its bract leaf-like (as reported in C. halleriana f. pedunculata Kük. ), and without the basal, long-pedunculate spikes typical of this species. Carex halleriana is actually the most widespread species in the central mountain region of Albania, which at higher altitudes can be collected at the beginning of June.

Chater (1980) reported as a character for C. markgrafii the “lowest bract leaflike, up to as long as inflorescence”. We were unable to confirm such character after the examination of our collections. Indeed, this character was also not mentioned in the protologue ( Markgraf, 1926). It points that Chater’s report might be perhaps based on misidentified materials.