Carex subsacculata (G.A.Wheeler and Goetgh.) J.R.Starr, Bot. J. Linn. Soc.

Ridley, Rhonda & Jimenez-Mejias, Pedro, 2022, Incipient insular differentiation of Carex firmula (Cyperaceae, former genus Uncinia) in the Juan Fernández archipelago (Chile), Phytotaxa 533 (5), pp. 267-286 : 281

2. Carex subsacculata (G.A.Wheeler and Goetgh.) J.R.Starr, Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 179: 36 (2015).

Uncinia subsacculata G.A.Wheeler and Goetgh., Aliso 14: 145 (1995).

Holotype: ECUADOR: Prov. Pichincha, N. side of Volcán Pichincha above Hacienda Yanacocha , 3800 m, 4 Jun 1985, Laegaard 54469 A ( AAU, iso- GENT-0000090032714 digital image!, MO 1295708 !, QCA-38439 digital image!, US-00588934!)

Perennials, with long rhizomes. Stems, 16.5–25 cm tall, 0.9–1.1 mm in diameter near middle, trigonous, smooth. Leaves, flat, linear, glabrous, 7–9 on each flowering shoot, 24.2–31 cm long, usually as long as or slightly longer than the culms, 3–3.5 mm wide, sparingly serrrulate near base and tip, gradually tapering to an attenuate tip, ligule 1.5–2.5mm, basal sheaths brown. Spike solitary, androgynous, linear to linear-cylindrical, 3 cm long, 2–3.5 mm wide, the short staminate part 7–9 mm long. Pistillate glumes deciduous, membranous, lanceolate, glabrous, 4.5–5 mm long, 1.3–1.4 mm wide, apex acute, with a greenish middle strip and margins broadly hyaline, sometimes brown-tinged toward apex, 1 veined, persistent saccate stipe-like structure 0.7–0.8 mm long. Utricle 4.9–5 mm similar in length to glume, 1.1–1.4 mm wide, glabrous, beak narrowly conical, 1.5–2 mm long, many-veined with 2 prominent veins; rachilla with an exserted length of 5.9–6.6 mm, the apical hook 1.9–2.1 mm long. Nutlets 2.4–2.6 mm long, 0.8–1.1 mm wide, trigonous, oblong.

Distribution:—Northern Andes, reported from Colombia ( Alzate and Sarrazola, 2018, Idárraga-Piedrahita et al., 2011) and Ecuador ( Wheeler and Goetghebeur, 1995).

Ecology:—Montane Polylepis forest; 3800 m ( Wheeler and Goetghebeur, 1995), paramo grasslands 3580 m ( Alzate and Sarrazola, 2018), montane rainforest 3500–4000 m ( Idárraga-Piedrahita et al., 2011).

Notes: Previously published descriptions of Carex subsacculata ( Wheeler and Goetghebeur, 1997) stated that the saccate stipe-like proximal most part of the glume was shorter in C. subsacculata compared to C. firmula . This difference is not as pronounced in our study and there is overlap in this character in the three taxa. We found that the length of the stipe in C. subsacculata ranged from 0.5–1.1 mm, it is not less than 0.5 mm in any of our samples. An incidental observation from this study that requires a larger sample size for confirmation is that the leaf density in C. subsacculata appears higher than C. firmula and that the leaves in C. subsaculata overtop the inflorescence.