Carex firmula subsp. tenuis Jim., comb. et stat. nov.
Creators: name: Ridley, Rhonda
name: Jimenez-Mejias, Pedro
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Liliopsida
Poales
Cyperaceae
Carex
Carex firmula
Carex firmula subsp. tenuis (poepp. ex kunth) jim.

description: 1b. Carex firmula subsp. tenuis (Poepp. ex Kunth) Jim. -Mejías & R.Ridley, comb. et stat. nov. (Figure 4)
≡ Uncinia tenuis Poepp. ex Kunth, Enum. Pl. 2: 525 (1837) [basionym].
Lectotype (designated by Wheeler and Goetghebeur, 1997): ― CHILE, Antuco, Valle de Quilai-Leuvu, II-1827 -29, Poeppig 243 (BM; iso- HAL-0109859 digital image!)
= Uncinia gracilis Decne. in J.S.C.Dumont d’Urville, Voy. Pôle Sud, Atlas: t. 6, f. B (1843).
Holotype: Dumont d’Urville (1843): t. 6, f. B. Epitype (here designated): ― CHILE: Detroit de Magellan, 1841 Hombron s.n. (P-00277462 digital image!; iso- P-00277463 digital image!).
Perennials, with rhizomes short to long-creeping. Stems, erect, 9.5–34.5 cm tall, 0.4–1.1 mm in diameter near middle, smooth. Leaves, flat, linear, 5–10 on each flowering shoot, shorter than to slightly longer than the culms, (0.7–) 1.5–3.5 mm wide, gradually tapering to a scabrous attenuate tip; basal sheaths brown. Spike, solitary, androgynous densely flowered, linear to linear-cylindrical, 2.3–6.2 cm long, 1.6–3.8 mm wide, the short staminate part 4–10.7 mm long. Pistillate glumes deciduous, membranous, lanceolate, glabrous, slightly shorter than utricles, 1.8–3.5 mm long, 0.7– 1.3 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 0.4–1.1 mm long. Utricle 2.5–4.8mm, 0.6–1.3 mm wide; rachilla with an exserted length of 2.3–4 mm long, the apical hook 0.9–1.8 mm. Nutlets 2–2.6 mm long, 0.6–1.1 mm wide, oblong-obovoid.
Distribution:—From Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia, through the Andes north to Colombia, apparently disjunctly distributed across Central America and Mexico (Govaerts et al., 2019).
Notes: The World Checklist of Cyperaceae (Govaerts et al., 2019) included the Falkland Islands in the distribution of Carex firmula on the basis of a report in a manual of Costa Rican plants (Hammel et al., 2003) we found no specimens for this species from the Falkland Islands. Indeed, Flora del Cono Sur (Flora del Cono Sur, 2019+) does not account that species for the Atlantic archipelago. The closest records for C. firmula seems to be at the eastern most limit of Tierra del Fuego (Isla de los Estados; Wheeler, 1994). Further investigation is required to confirm if C. firmula is found on the Falkland Islands.
Ecology:—Montane rainforest or thickets, on moist soil; 3000–4000 m elevation in tropical latitudes, down to sea level in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego (Wheeler, 1994, 1996, Wheeler and Goetghebeur, 1996).
description: Published as part of Ridley, Rhonda & Jimenez-Mejias, Pedro, 2022, Incipient insular differentiation of Carex firmula (Cyperaceae, former genus Uncinia) in the Juan Fernández archipelago (Chile), pp. 267-286 in Phytotaxa 533 (5) on pages 279-281, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.533.5.3, http://zenodo.org/record/6145006