Carex curvata

Řepka, Radomír, Więcław, Helena & Koopman, Jacob, 2023, Lectotypification of the name Carex curvata Knaf (Cyperaceae) with some taxonomic remarks, Phytotaxa 592 (1), pp. 68-72 : 70-71

Lectotypification of the name Carex curvata

Knaf (1847: 184) did not select a type specimen nor provided an illustration for C. curvata when he named and described the species. Original material of C. curvata collected by Knaf at the locality mentioned in the protologue was found in the PR and PRC herbaria. On the original herbarium label of the lectotype written by Knaf, in agreement with the protologue, the locality “Eidlitzer Eichbusch” [“Doubí” Forest near the village of Údlice, formerly Eidlitz, in the vicinity of the town of Chomutov in the northern part of Bohemia, Czech Republic] is indicated with collection date 16 June 1846 (PR No. 35580) ( Fig. 1 ). However, the label of the lectotype herbarium specimen is not signed by Knaf, but after a detailed comparison of the labels of the other specimens studied and later collected by Knaf (see below Other studied material), a clear match between the handwriting on each label was found. The lectotype label is only written faster and with a different pen than the other ones in Knaf´s original material. The lectotype was revised in 2001 and selected by the first author of this paper in 2023; therefore we lectotypify it here:

Carex curvata Knaf in Flora (Regensburg) 30: 184. 1847— Lectotype (designated here):— CZECH REPUBLIC. Bohemia, „ Eidlitzer Eichbusch ”, 16 June 1846, J. Knaf ( PR No. 35580! ).

Other studied material:

Carex curvata Knaf — CZECH REPUBLIC. “Eichbusch bei Eidlitz nächst Komotau in Böhmen ”, 1850, J. Knaf ( PR No. 35566!, 53564!)

Carex curvata Knaf — CZECH REPUBLIC. “ Eichbusch bei Eidlitz nächst Komotau in Böhmen”, 04 Juli 1856, J. Knaf ( PR No. 35581! )

Carex curvata Knaf — CZECH REPUBLIC. “Eichbusch bei Eidlitz nächst Komotau in Böhmen ”, Ende Mai 1862, J. Knaf (PR No. 35546!, 35551!, 35571!, 35576!, 35577!, 35594!, 35598!, 35838!, 35937!, 35938!, 841509!, 841510!, 841511!, 841514!)

Carex curvata Knaf — CZECH REPUBLIC. “Eichbusch”, 07 June 1862, J. Knaf ( PR No. 31530!, 31531!, 31532!, 31533!)

Carex curvata Knaf — CZECH REPUBLIC. Bohemia. “Michaniz”, without date, J. Knaf ( PR No. 35584!)

Carex curvata Knaf — CZECH REPUBLIC. Bohemia. „ Eichbusch bei Eidlitz ”, 09 June 1847, J. Knaf ( PRC No. 456092! )

Carex curvata Knaf — CZECH REPUBLIC. Bohemia. „Eichbusch bei Eidlitz nächst Komotau”, 01 June 1850, J. Knaf (PRC No. 456093!)

Carex curvata Knaf — CZECH REPUBLIC. Bohemia, „ An lebendigen Gartenzaunen hinter der Weinberger Kapelle bei Komotau “, 02 June 1853, J. Knaf ( PRC No. 456094! ).

Taxonomic treatment

Identification key to the species C. brizoides – C. curvata – C. praecox

1 Female glumes whitish to light greenish, rarely yellowish, about 1/4 shorter than the utricles; stem not longer than leaves in flowering time, conspicuously bent or recumbent in fruit, shorter than the leaves of sterile shoots; leaf blade 1.3–2.8 mm wide; inflorescence 13–33 mm long, with 4–8 spikes, not densely clustered, lower spikes significantly curved when utricles are ripe; utricles narrowly lanceolate in outline, with a narrow wing along the entire length ....................................................... C. brizoides

– Female glumes light brown, yellowish brown to maroon brown or blackish brown, as long as the utricles; stem often longer than leaves; leaf blade 0.9–2.5 mm wide; inflorescence 12–29 mm long, with 2–10 spikes, dense in upper part, spikes straight or slightly curved when ripe; utricle body lanceolate to ovoid in outline, upper 2/3–1/2 with narrow or rather broad wings ...........................2

2 Stem straight at first, later bent, in flowering and fruiting time as long as or shorter than leaves, leaf blade 0.9–2.5 mm wide; spikes straight or slightly bent when mature; female glumes light brown to yellowish brown, with a narrow translucent hem over its entire length; utricles 3.0– 4.2 mm long, gradually tapering into a 1.3–1.8 mm long beak, with narrow wings from 1/3 of their length to tip of the beak, widest in the middle of the utricle .............................................................................................................. C. curvata

– Stem rigid, mostly longer than leaves; leaf blade 0.7–2.0 mm wide; spikes straight when ripe; female glumes usually rusty or maroon brown to blackish brown, mostly with a narrow translucent edge in the upper 1/2; utricles 2.7–3.6 mm long, abruptly narrowed into a 1.3–1.6 mm long beak, upper half of utricle, including beak with wings, widest at base of the beak....................... ............................................................................................................................................................................................ C. praecox

Carex curvata and its relatives (especially C. brizoides and C. praecox ) are difficult to distinguish due to their morphological similarity. According to the protologue ( Knaf 1847) and recently published data ( Řepka & Grulich 2014, Koopman et al. 2022) the following two characters are the most reliable for identifying C. curvata :

(1) Different glume colour before and after flowering and (2) shape of utricles (see Identification key).

Distinguishing C. brizoides and C. curvata is a significant problem in taxonomic research. In sterile state (especially in herbarium specimens) it is practically impossible, as inflorescences and especially mature utricles are necessary for a reliable identification. Sterile plants can only be distinguished by the length of sterile shoot leaves, which are on average longer in C. brizoides than in C. curvata (32 vs 20 cm) during the entire vegetation period. Only in both the species with a longer male spike part, i.e. C. brizoides and C. curvata , the spikes are typically curved: the ripening and bloated female part of the spike bends backwards. Carex curvata does not differ from C. brizoides in this character, but, in contrast, C. praecox has a very short male spike part and the maturing spikes are straight.

The ratio of stem length to leaf length, mentioned in some identification keys (e.g. Benkert 1976) as a critical character to distinguish the species C. curvata and C. praecox , is unreliable at the time of maturity of the utricles; it may be identical in the two species, especially if it is a variety of C. praecox growing in wet habitats.

The protologue contains an expression indicating that C. curvata is greyish (“ canescens ”); however, we cannot confirm this character in material from the many localities in the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland nor from herbarium specimens. The protologue also has interesting notes on the number of fruits: C. praecox is indicated as multi-fruiting, while in C. curvata sparsely fruiting spikes are found. This is, however, related to the length of the male spike part, and when ripening, C. curvata visually appears to be less fertile.

Carex curvata Knaf in Flora (Regensburg) 30: 184. 1847.

Synonyms:

≡ Carex praecox var. curvata (Knaf) Asch., Fl. Brandenburg 1: 764, 1864.

≡ Carex brizoides var. intermedia Čelak., Prodr. Fl. Böhm. 1: 62, 1867.

≡ Carex brizoides subsp. curvata (Knaf) Čelak., Prodr. Fl. Böhmen Nachtr.: 733, 1881.

≡ Carex schreberi var. curvata (Knaf) Nyman, Consp. Fl. Eur. : 779, 1882.

≡ Carex schreberi subsp. curvata (Knaf) Čelak., Prodr. Fl. Böhm. 4: 717, 1883.

≡ Carex brizoides var. curvata (Knaf) Beck, Fl. Nied. -Österr. 135, 1890.

≡ Carex praecox subsp. curvata (Knaf) Kük., Pflanzenr. IV , 20 (38): 131, 1909.

≡ Carex praecox subsp. intermedia (Čelak.) W. Schultze-Motel, Ill. Fl. Mitt. -Eur. ed. 3, 2 (1): 119, 1968.

≡ Vignea curvata (Knaf) Soják , Čas . Nár. Mus., Odd. Přír. 148: 195, 1980.

≡ Vignea praecox subsp. curvata (Knaf) Dostál , Folia Mus. Rer. Natur. Bohem. Occid. Bot. 21: 16, 1984.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Lectotype of Carex curvata Knaf (PR No. 35580).