taxonID	type	description	language	source
307A87EE8B242A2C31EFFB1AFA87F875.taxon	materials_examined	Type: — BRAZIL. Pará: Marapanim, Estrada sentido Praia do Crispim, borda de estrada, próximo a placa do km 7, 24 July 2015, J. F. Maciel-Silva, R. Damasceno, W. Vilhena & F. Paz-Leal 3 (holotype: MG 221668!).	en	Nunes, Clebiana De Sá, Maciel-Silva, Juliene De Fátima, Trevisan, Rafael, Gil, André Dos Santos Bragança (2025): Eleocharis albalinsae (Cyperaceae), a new sedge species from northern and northeastern Brazil. Phytotaxa 728 (2): 195-204, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.9, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.9
307A87EE8B242A2C31EFFB1AFA87F875.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis: — The newly described species closely resembles Eleocharis morroi D. A. Simpson (1988: 131) but can be distinguished from it by its culms (which are circular in cross-section) and its leaf sheaths (which has an acute to attenuate, aristate apex). Eleocharis albalinsae has ovoid to ellipsoidal spikelets, with persistent glumes, the lower glume being stramineous, sometimes vinaceous, and with a distinctly emarginate floral glume apex. The new species has two stamens and an obovoid to ellipsoidal nutlet with a finely reticulate surface (occasionally inconspicuous), and with sparse longitudinal roughness. The stylopodium is notably short, measuring only 0.1 – 0.2 mm in length.	en	Nunes, Clebiana De Sá, Maciel-Silva, Juliene De Fátima, Trevisan, Rafael, Gil, André Dos Santos Bragança (2025): Eleocharis albalinsae (Cyperaceae), a new sedge species from northern and northeastern Brazil. Phytotaxa 728 (2): 195-204, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.9, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.9
307A87EE8B242A2C31EFFB1AFA87F875.taxon	description	Description: — Annual, caespitose herb, 2.7 – 13.2 cm tall (Fig. 1 A), roots thick. Culms 2.5 – 12.7 × 0.03 – 0.08 cm, circular in cross section, glabrous, flattened, erect, spongy, conspicuous central vascular bundle absent, sulcate. Leaf sheaths 0.5 – 3.5 cm long, membranaceous, base vinaceous to stramineous, apex stramineous, without longitudinal ribs, apex acute to attenuate, aristate (Fig. 1 B), edge entire, margins hyaline, apical hyaline appendix absent. Spikelets 2 – 6 × 1.5 – 3 mm, ovoid to ellipsoid (Fig. 1 C; Fig. 5 A), basal culmless spikelets absent; spikelets on the culm apex with up to 30 glumes, spirally arranged, loosely imbricate; lower glume 1, 0.6 – 2 × 0.4 – 1.5 mm, persistent, sterile, oval-lanceolate, membranaceous, articulate with culm, exceeding the adjacent glumes, sides stramineous, sometimes vinaceous with a prominent brown keel, margins hyaline, apex emarginate (Fig. 1 D); floral glumes 0.5 – 1.8 × 0.3 – 1.4 mm, persistent, fertile, oval-lanceolate, membranaceous, sides stramineous, sometimes vinaceous, keel brown, margins hyaline, apex emarginate (Fig. 1 E). Stamens 2, anthers 0.3 ‒ 0.4 mm long. Styles trifid. Perianth bristles absent. Nutlet 0.6 – 0.8 × 0.3 – 0.4 mm, trigonous, obovoid to ellipsoidal, greyish-white, base stipitate, 3 – costate, surface smoothly reticulate, few times inconspicuous, epidermic cells shape hexagonal, isodiametric, sometimes irregular, with sparse longitudinal roughness, silica body absent (Fig. 1 F; Fig. 5 B); stylopodium 0.1 – 0.2 mm long, pyramidal, apex acute to obtuse, brown, separated from the nutlet body by a constriction.	en	Nunes, Clebiana De Sá, Maciel-Silva, Juliene De Fátima, Trevisan, Rafael, Gil, André Dos Santos Bragança (2025): Eleocharis albalinsae (Cyperaceae), a new sedge species from northern and northeastern Brazil. Phytotaxa 728 (2): 195-204, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.9, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.9
307A87EE8B242A2C31EFFB1AFA87F875.taxon	materials_examined	Additional specimens examined (paratypes): — BRAZIL. Ceará: s. loc., s. d., fl. and fr., J. Saldanha 1608 (R); [Varjota], Lagoa de Jatobá, fl. and fl. 31 March 1910, A. Löefgren 453 (R; UB; US). Pará: Bragança, Península de Ajuruteua, 10 May 2007, fl. and fr., U. Mehlig 328 b (HBRA; IAN). Maracanã, Ilha de Algodoal, Praia da Princesa, 09 April 1991, fl. and fr., M. N. Bastos, C. S. Rosário & L. C. B. Lobato 777 (MG); Ilha de Algodoal, Praia da Princesa, 22 - 25 May 1994, fl. and fr., M. N. Bastos, L. C. B. Lobato, D. Torres, D. Amaral & S. V. C. Neto 1639 (MG); Praia da caixa d’água. 0 ° 35 ’ 2 ” S 47 ° 35 ’ 13 ” W, 5 June 2017, F. A. Silva, A. Gil, J. F. Maciel-Silva, C. F. Hall, C. Martins-Hall 197 (MG). Marapanim, Estrada sentido Praia do Crispim, cerca de 5 km após a primeira placa curva à direita, 24 July 2015, fl. and fr., J. F. Maciel-Silva, R. Damasceno, W. Vilhena & F. Paz-Leal 4 (MG). Piauí: Piracuruca, Parque Nacional de Sete Cidades, Linha 3 A do levantamento fitossociológico, 08 July 2009, fl. and fr., M. R. A. Mendes, C. B. R. Munhoz, J. L. Viana, B. B. Annunziata & R. N. Lopes 519 (TEPB; UB); Área 1 – Linha 1 do levantamento fitossociológico, 09 July 2009, fl. and fr., M. R. A. Mendes, C. B. R. Munhoz, J. L. Viana, B. B. Annunziata & R. N. Lopes 543 (TEPB; UB); área A 1 do levantamento fitossociológico, 07 July 2007, fl. and fr., M. R. A. Mendes, J. L. Viana, & R. S. Sousa 86 (TEPB; UB).	en	Nunes, Clebiana De Sá, Maciel-Silva, Juliene De Fátima, Trevisan, Rafael, Gil, André Dos Santos Bragança (2025): Eleocharis albalinsae (Cyperaceae), a new sedge species from northern and northeastern Brazil. Phytotaxa 728 (2): 195-204, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.9, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.9
307A87EE8B242A2C31EFFB1AFA87F875.taxon	distribution	Distribution and Habitat: — Eleocharis albalinsae is known only from Brazil (Fig. 4), occurring in the Amazon region (Pará State), in a transition area between the Cerrado and Caatinga biomes (Piauí State), and Caatinga area (Ceará State). Six specimens of Eleocharis albalinsae collected in Pará State, including the type specimen, were found in Amazonian restinga areas (Fig. 3) in herbaceous marshes and dune fields (in the municipalities of Bragança, Maracanã, and Marapanim). Three other specimens from Piauí State were collected in cerrado and caatinga areas in the Sete Cidades National Park, growing in a campo limpo phytophysiognomy of cerrado in the municipality of Piracurura. Two specimens were recorded in Ceará State, one without information on locality or vegetation type, and another with only a brief description of the collection location (Lagoa do Jatobá). It is possible that Eleocharis albalinsae occurs in other areas with characteristics similar to the known sites, such as the transition zones between Cerrado, Caatinga, and Amazon. The presence in different phytophysiognomies, including “ campo limpo ” and herbaceous marshes, suggest its adaptability to varied soil and hydrological conditions, potentially extending its occurrence to dune fields (as was observed in the municipalities of Bragança, Maracanã, and Marapanim). The presence of a specimen from Ceará State, collected in the early 20 th century (Loefgren 453), although without precise locality data, along with another specimen (Saldanha 1608) likely dating back to the late 19 th century (Stafleu & Cowan 1985), suggest that the species may have a broader distribution in still under-collected regions, although it may be restricted by specific environmental conditions that remain poorly understood. This uncertainty is further compounded by the limited number of recent collections and by the lack of comprehensive studies in regional herbaria across northeastern Brazil (e. g. MAR, SLSM, EAC, IFCE), that could still hold overlooked or misidentified specimens critical to clarifying the species’ true range.	en	Nunes, Clebiana De Sá, Maciel-Silva, Juliene De Fátima, Trevisan, Rafael, Gil, André Dos Santos Bragança (2025): Eleocharis albalinsae (Cyperaceae), a new sedge species from northern and northeastern Brazil. Phytotaxa 728 (2): 195-204, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.9, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.9
307A87EE8B242A2C31EFFB1AFA87F875.taxon	biology_ecology	Phenology: — Eleocharis albalinsae has flowering records for the months of April, May, June, and July.	en	Nunes, Clebiana De Sá, Maciel-Silva, Juliene De Fátima, Trevisan, Rafael, Gil, André Dos Santos Bragança (2025): Eleocharis albalinsae (Cyperaceae), a new sedge species from northern and northeastern Brazil. Phytotaxa 728 (2): 195-204, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.9, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.9
307A87EE8B242A2C31EFFB1AFA87F875.taxon	conservation	Preliminary Conservation Status: — Eleocharis albalinsae is known only from 11 specimens, nine have precise locality data within legally established Conservation Areas (CA); one has only a brief location description (not within a CA), and one excluded from AOO, and EOO calculations. The specimens collected within CA’s, include three specimens from the Algodoal-Maiandeua Environmental Protection Area (APA), two from the Mestre Lucindo Extractive Reserve (Resex), and one from the Caeté-Taperaçu Marine Extractive Reserve, all from restinga areas in Pará State. It is worth mentioning that the restinga areas of Pará State are among the most intensively floristically inventoried areas in the Brazilian Amazon (e. g. Amaral et al. 2008, Silva et al. 2010, Silva et al. 2021). Additionally, three specimens were collected in the Sete Cidades National Park in Piauí State. Using GeoCAT (Bachman et al. 2011) with a 2 km grid, the estimated EOO for the species is approximately 34,000 km ², while the AOO is 32 km ². Although this species occurs within areas protected by environmental legislation, only one grows in a Strict Protection Conservation Unit (the Sete Cidades National Park). The remaining localities are located within sustainable-use conservation areas, such as APAs and Resex, where numerous human activities are still permitted. These areas therefore face significant environmental threats, including predatory tourism, uncontrolled urbanization, sand extraction for construction, removal of the native vegetation, and the filling of lakes and lagoons (Santos et al. 1999, Amaral et al. 2008). Given this scenario, marked by declining AOO, habitat quality, and severely fragmented subpopulations, we recommend that E. albalinsae be classified as Endangered [EN B 2 ab (ii, iii, iv)] according to IUCN (2024) criteria.	en	Nunes, Clebiana De Sá, Maciel-Silva, Juliene De Fátima, Trevisan, Rafael, Gil, André Dos Santos Bragança (2025): Eleocharis albalinsae (Cyperaceae), a new sedge species from northern and northeastern Brazil. Phytotaxa 728 (2): 195-204, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.9, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.9
307A87EE8B242A2C31EFFB1AFA87F875.taxon	etymology	Etymology: — The specific epithet “ albalinsae ” honors the Brazilian botanist and anatomist Alba Lúcia Ferreira de Almeida Lins, researcher at the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Brazil. Throughout her distinguished career, she dedicated herself to anatomical and floristic studies of the Amazonian aquatic plants (e. g. Lins et al. 1989, Lins & Oliveira 1994, Rocha & Lins 2009) and advising undergraduate and postgraduate students. Alba Lins had a profound knowledge of the flora of the Amazon region, especially of the restinga and mangrove swamps of Pará state (e. g. Lins et al. 2015), devoting herself largely to morphological studies of their floras and some Cyperaceae species (e. g. Santos et al. 2012). Alba Lins was always in search of a socially just and ecologically sustainable world, was dedicated not only to scientific research but also to community issues such as public policies for urban river management, waste recycling, revegetation, and the strengthening environmental education.	en	Nunes, Clebiana De Sá, Maciel-Silva, Juliene De Fátima, Trevisan, Rafael, Gil, André Dos Santos Bragança (2025): Eleocharis albalinsae (Cyperaceae), a new sedge species from northern and northeastern Brazil. Phytotaxa 728 (2): 195-204, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.9, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.9
307A87EE8B242A2C31EFFB1AFA87F875.taxon	discussion	Taxonomic relationships: — Eight species of Eleocharis were recorded by Maciel-Silva et al. (2018) as occurring in restinga vegetation in northeastern Brazil (Pará State, Amazon). One of those species was treated by the authors as Eleocharis bahiensis D. A. Simpson (1988: 127). Nunes (2023, unpubl. data) developed an integrative systematic study of Eleocharis, focusing on Eleocharis ser. Tenuissimae (C. B. Clarke) Svenson and related series (Svenson 1929, Roalson & Friar 2000, Roalson et al. 2010). During its research, the author reviewed the identifications of Maciel-Silva’s et al. (2018) E. bahiensis specimens and realized that it was a new species of Eleocharis ser. Sulcatae (C. B. Clarke) Svenson [treated by González-Elizondo & Peterson (1997) as Eleocharis ser. Tenuissimae subser. Sulcatae (C. B. Clarke) S. González & P. M. Peterson]. Eleocharis albalinsae is mainly characterized by its annual habit, culms circular in cross section, flattened; leaf sheath vinaceous to stramineous (when dry) at base and stramineous at apex, apex acute to attenuate, aristate; spikelets ovoid to ellipsoidal (Fig. 5 A); glumes persistent, oval-lanceolate with apex emarginate (Fig. 5 A); stamens 2; nutlet obovoid to ellipsoidal (Fig. 5 B), greyish-white, 3 – costate, surface smoothly reticulate, sometimes inconspicuous, epidermal cells hexagonal, sometimes irregular, with sparse longitudinal roughness (Fig. 5 C), base stipitate; stylopodium 0.1 – 0.2 mm long, pyramidal, apex acute to obtuse (Fig. 5 B). Eleocharis albalinsae is similar to an endemic Brazilian species from Morro do Chapéu, Bahia State, E. morroi by being annual, with leaf sheaths membranaceous, base vinaceous to brown, and apex vinaceous to stramineous; glumes numerous (up to 30) (Fig. 5 D), trigonous; nutlets obovoid to ellipsoidal; stylopodium pyramidal (Fig. 5 E). It also resembles the globally distributed E. nigrescens (Nees 1842: 97) Kunth (1837: 157), mainly by being annual, with culms circular in cross section, flattened; spikelets ovoid (Fig. 5 G); glumes numerous (up to 30); perianth bristles absent (Fig. 5 H; Table 1). Eleocharis albalinsae differs from E. morroi by having culms circular in cross section; leaf sheath apex acute to attenuate, aristate; spikelets ovoid to ellipsoidal; glumes persistent; one lower glume stramineous, sometimes vinaceous; floral glume apex emarginate (Fig. 5 A); stamens 2; nutlets obovoid to ellipsoidal, smoothly reticulate, sometimes inconspicuous, with sparse longitudinal roughness (Fig. 5 C); stylopodium 0.1 – 0.2 mm long (Fig. 5 B) (vs. culms quadrangular in cross section; leaf sheath apex oblique; spikelets oblongoid to oblong-lanceoloid; glumes deciduous; two lower glumes brown, floral glumes with apex obtuse to acute (Fig. 5 D); stamens 3; nutlet obovoid, surface subcancelate, prominently longitudinally rugose, without longitudinal roughness (Fig. 5 F); stylopodium ca. 0.05 – 0.1 mm long (Fig. 5 E) in E. morroi). Its differs from E. nigrescens by having spikelets with persistent glumes; floral glumes apex emarginate (Fig. 5 A); stamens 2; nutlets surface smoothly reticulate, sometimes inconspicuous, with sparse longitudinal roughness (Fig. 5 C); stylopodium 0.1 – 0.2 mm long, pyramidal (Fig. 5 B) (vs. glumes deciduous; floral glumes apex obtuse to rounded (Fig. 5 G); stamens 3; nutlets surface reticulate, without longitudinal roughness (Fig. 5 I); stylopodium ca. 0.05 mm long, discoid (Fig. 5 H) in E. nigrescens). It is worth noting that Eleocharis albalinsae was previously mistaken for E. bahiensis. However, these species can be distinguished primarily by the nutlets of E. albalinsae being obovoid to ellipsoidal, trigonous (Fig. 6 A), with their surfaces smoothly reticulate (Fig. 6 B), sometimes inconspicuously (vs. nutlets obovate, obscurely trigonous (Fig. 6 C), with the surface longitudinally ribbed, with numerous trabeculae between the ribs (Fig. 6 D) in E. bahiensis).	en	Nunes, Clebiana De Sá, Maciel-Silva, Juliene De Fátima, Trevisan, Rafael, Gil, André Dos Santos Bragança (2025): Eleocharis albalinsae (Cyperaceae), a new sedge species from northern and northeastern Brazil. Phytotaxa 728 (2): 195-204, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.9, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.9
