Polycarpon tetraphyllum (Linnaeus) Linnaeus (1759: 881) subsp. tetraphyllum

Fonseca-Cortés, Andrés & Sandoval-Ortega, Manuel Higinio, 2022, Polycarpon tetraphyllum (Caryophyllaceae) a new record for the Colombian flora and a key to the genera of the Caryophyllaceae from Colombia, Phytotaxa 533 (1), pp. 105-110 : 106-108

Polycarpon tetraphyllum (Linnaeus) Linnaeus (1759: 881) subsp. tetraphyllum

≡ Mollugo tetraphylla Linnaeus (1753: 89).

Type: ― Habitat in Italiae, Narbonae vineis [ lectotype designated by Burtt & Lewis (1952): BM catalogue number BM000557701 !, image available at https://data.nhm.ac.uk/object/23e95e56-b6b2-47eb-b410-fab483fb1ebc/1642291200000] .

Description ( Fig. 1 ):―Prostrate herbs, with a long principal root, branches bifurcate, internodes 4–10 mm long, glabrous. Stipules 2–4 × 1–2 mm, two in each node, interpetiolar, triangular-deltoid or lanceolate, scarious, glabrous. Leaves 4–8 × 2–5 mm, opposite or verticillate, orbicular, ovate or slightly obovate, glabrous, bases attenuated, apices rounded or mucronate, pinnate nerviation with 2–4 pairs of secondary nerves; petiole ca. 1 mm, glabrous. Inflorescence up to 2 cm, terminal, cymose with numerous bracts in the nodes; similar to the stipules. Flowers 2–3 mm, pedicel ca. 1 mm, sepals five, 1–2 × 1–2 mm, subulate, margins hyaline; petaloid staminodes five, to 1 × 1 mm, oblong, with apex entire or slightly emarginate, white, shorter than the sepals; stamens 3–5, ca. 1 mm long, white; filaments to 0.6 mm long; anthers 0.2–0.3 mm long; ovoid, dorsifixed; ovary 1–2 mm, superous, ovoid; stile to 1 mm; stigma trifid. Fruit to 3 × 3 mm, capsule, with three valves. Seeds to 0.5 × 0.3 mm, semicircular, numerous; testa papillose.

Distribution and habitat: ― Polycarpon tetraphyllum is native to the mediterranean and it has spread in America, Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania ( CABI, 2021). In Colombia this species has only been collected in two localities of Bogotá D.C ( Fig. 2 ).

Notes: ― Polycarpon apurese , which is currently the only native Polycarpon taxon occurring in Colombia, is naturally distributed in South America ( Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela; Bernal 2016, Muñoz-Schick et al. 2016, POWO, 2019), whereas it has been introduced in Mexico ( Escamilla 1999). Despite not included in the molecular analyses by Kool et al. (2007), P. apurense shows, in our opinion, all the characters typical of P. prostratum and three Macaronesian species of the genus Polycarpaea ( Volponi 2004, Kool et al. 2007): P. nivea ( Aiton 1789: 286) Webb (in Hooker 1849: 104), P. latifolia Poiret (in Lamarck & Poiret 1816: 473), and P. divaricata Poiret ex Steudel (in Steudel 1841: 369). As a consequence, it is likely that P. apurense is part of this group. P. apurense differs from P. tetraphyllum s.str. being more pubescent, leaves linear to lanceolate, ellipsoidal reticulate brown to reddish seeds with little spines in the dorsal margin, while P. tetraphyllum s.str. is glabrous, the leaves are ovate or obovate, D-shaped papillate white to yellowish seeds unarmed in the dorsal margin.

Examined material: ― Polycarpon tetraphyllum subsp. tetraphyllum . COLOMBIA. Cundinamarca: Bogotá D. C., Engativá, Cortijo, cll 81 # 114-50, conjunto residencial Parques de Alejandría , 4°43’27.3”N 74°07’07.3”W, 2600 m, 20 March 2021, Fonseca-Cortés 1362 ( UDBC); Engativá, Bochica, 4°43’04.7”N 74°06’52.2”W, 2600 m, 10 April 2021, Fonseca-Cortés 1758 ( UDBC) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Polycarpon tetraphyllum subsp. tetraphyllum. A: group of individuals growing in between paving slabs in Bogotá City (scale bar = 6 cm); B: general view (scale bar = 1 cm); leaves (scale bar = 0.3 cm); D: branch (scale bar = 0.3); E: inflorescence (scale bar = 0.3 cm); F: flower (scale bar = 0.3 cm)

FIGURE 2. Distribution of the genus Polycarpon in Colombia. Blue square: P. tetraphyllum subsp. tetraphyllum; red diamond: P. apurense.