Section Polylepis Australes T.Boza & M.Kessler sect.nov.

Diagnosis.

Trees, 2-4 lateral leaflet pairs; lower leaflet surfaces glabrous, sparsely hispid or puberulous; fruits with irregular and pronounced wings, glabrous or sparsely hispid.

Type.

Polylepis australis Bitter.

Notes.

The sectional epithet Australes is a plural adjective agreeing in gender with Polylepis . Section Polylepis Australes contains two species with glabrous leaflet surfaces, 2-4 lateral leaflet pairs and winged fruits. Especially the latter are unique in Polylepis and justify placing the two species in a section of its own. Table 6 provides an overview of the arrangement of the taxa by different authors.

Climatic niches in Polylepis sect. Australes

The climatic niches of the two species are quite similar, but P. australis grows in slightly warmer and substantially wetter areas than P. neglecta (Fig. 62). In addition, being the southernmost species of the genus, P. australis grows in a strongly seasonal climate with warm summers and cold winters, which is unique in the genus.