Cyperaceae taxon details
Carex novogaliciana Reznicek
1676613 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:1676613)
accepted
Species
terrestrial
Reznicek, A. A. (1990). Four new species of <i>Carex</i> (Cyperaceae) from Mexico, with notes on the Mexican <i>Carex</i> flora. <em>Contributions from the University of Michigan Herbarium.</em> 17: 279-293., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/12875279#page/288/mode/1up
page(s): 284 [details]
page(s): 284 [details]
Holotype MICH 1109131, geounit Jalisco
Holotype MICH 1109131, geounit Jalisco [details]
Description Plants cespitose, with short, thick rhizomes; roots pale brown, not densely felted with root hairs; fertile culms ca. 65 cm...
Description Plants cespitose, with short, thick rhizomes; roots pale brown, not densely felted with root hairs; fertile culms ca. 65 cm tall, trigonous, smooth, with glabrous, dark brown basal sheaths. Leaves ca. 12, mostly basal; blades 30-55 cm long, 11-16 mm wide, plicate, glabrous, antrorsely scabrous on the margins and sometimes the main veins distally; leaf sheaths 4.5—9 cm long, loosely enveloping culm, glabrous, green; inner band of sheaths glabrous, hyaline, becoming stramineous near apex, finely veined, the apex concave; ligules ca. 7-14 mm long, obtuse to acute, the free portion prominent, stramineous. Vegetative shoots unknown. Inflorescences ca. 26 cm long, with the upper panicles overlapping and the lowest 2 panicles ca. 8 cm distant, panicles single at nodes, ascending to erect on stiff, scabrous peduncles; lowest spike with peduncle ca. 8.5 cm long, the uppermost lateral panicles essentially sessile; lowermost bract with blade ca. 40 cm long (broken before tip) and ca. 10 mm wide and sheath ca. 2.5 cm long, the uppermost bracts much reduced, the terminal panicle bractless and with a peduncle ca. 2 cm long. Panicles 6, pyramidal, 2.9—4.6 cm long, ca. 2-3.5 cm wide, with 7-12 primary androgynous branches, the lower 1—3 branches again often compound with 1-3 secondary branches 4-10 mm long; primary branches 6-19 mm long, with an urceolate, pubescent cladoprophyll; pistillate portion 3.5-15 mm long, ca. 5—6 mm wide (excluding secondary branches), with 5—15 perigynia (and up to 3 secondary branches); staminate portion 2.5—8 mm long, 0.8—1.2 mm wide, 3—9-flowered. Pistillate scales 1.4—3.5 mm long, 0.8—1.5 mm wide, ovate, acute to acuminate, usually with a scabrous awn up to 2.5 mm long, pubescent abaxially, stramineous with a green center and hyaline margins, heavily reddish-purple streaked and dotted, l-veined. Staminate scales 2.2-3.6 mm long, ca. 1-1.5 mm wide, ovate to narrowly ovate, acute to acuminate, pubescent abaxially, reddish brown with hyaline margins, |—3-veined. Perigynia 3.1—3.6 mm long, 1.2—1.5 mm wide, spreading and outcurved, trigonous with flat to slightly concave, ovate to broadly elliptic sides, stramineous and finely red-dotted, glabrous or sparsely scabrous, short-stipitate, ca. 7—12-veined with 2—6 veins prominent and the rest faint, contracted into a beak; beaks 0.9-1.4 mm long, stramineous and red-dotted, sca rous, the apex obscurely and irregularly bidentulate with teeth up to 0.5 mm long. Achenes ca. 1.8—2.2 mm long, ca. 1.1—1.4 mm wide, trigonous with concave, ellipticsides, tightly enveloped by the perigynia, dark brown, sessile. Styles withering; stigmas 3. Anthers 3, ca. 1.5—2 mm long. [details]
Cyperaceae Working Group. (2025). [see How to cite]. Global Cyperaceae Database. Carex novogaliciana Reznicek. Accessed at: https://www.cyperaceae.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1676613 on 2026-09-12
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Nomenclature
original description
Reznicek, A. A. (1990). Four new species of <i>Carex</i> (Cyperaceae) from Mexico, with notes on the Mexican <i>Carex</i> flora. <em>Contributions from the University of Michigan Herbarium.</em> 17: 279-293., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/12875279#page/288/mode/1up
page(s): 284 [details]
page(s): 284 [details]
Present Inaccurate Introduced: alien Containing type locality
Holotype MICH 1109131, geounit Jalisco [details]
From editor or global species database
Additional information The only known collection of Carex novogaliciana came from a ravine in the municipality of Puerto Vallarta at an elevation of 850 m; the collector noted that the plant was very rare. The species probably fruits in September or early October. It is named for its occurrence in Nueva Galicia. The holotype had shed most of its perigynia and preparing the drawing involved significant reconstruction. Ranges of perigynium and achene measurements especially are thus tentative. Additional collections of this species are much needed. [details]
Comparison Carex novogaliciana belongs, along with most members of subgenus Indocarex in the Neotropics, in the catchall section /ndicae Kiik., as recognized by Hermann (1974). It has perigynia ca. 3.1-3.6 mm long, achenes ca. 1.8—2.2 mm long, and pale, awned pistillate scales 1.4—3.5 mm long and is thus most similar in reproductive characters to C. polystachya Sw. From this extremely variable and abundant species, C. novogaliciana differs most strikingly in having leaves up to 16 mm wide and pubescent pistillate and staminate scales. As well, the staminate scales of C. novogaliciana are merely acute or acuminate, and the primary panicle branches are up to 19 mm long and loosely flowered. Carex polystachya has leaves usually less than 5 mm wide, glabrous pistillate and staminate scales, at least some staminate scales usually short-awned, and shorter and more densely flowered primary panicle branches. Some variants of C. polystachya, notably tall plants from San José Province, Costa Rica, Chiapas, Mexico, and Andean South America have leaves up to 8—10 mm wide, but these, too, have glabrous pistillate and staminate scales, at least some staminate scales short-awned, and shorter, more densely flowered primary panicle branches. When the protean C. polystachya is better understood, it will probably be found to consist of several closely related species. In any event, a thorough systematic study of this species is much needed. [details]
Description Plants cespitose, with short, thick rhizomes; roots pale brown, not densely felted with root hairs; fertile culms ca. 65 cm tall, trigonous, smooth, with glabrous, dark brown basal sheaths. Leaves ca. 12, mostly basal; blades 30-55 cm long, 11-16 mm wide, plicate, glabrous, antrorsely scabrous on the margins and sometimes the main veins distally; leaf sheaths 4.5—9 cm long, loosely enveloping culm, glabrous, green; inner band of sheaths glabrous, hyaline, becoming stramineous near apex, finely veined, the apex concave; ligules ca. 7-14 mm long, obtuse to acute, the free portion prominent, stramineous. Vegetative shoots unknown. Inflorescences ca. 26 cm long, with the upper panicles overlapping and the lowest 2 panicles ca. 8 cm distant, panicles single at nodes, ascending to erect on stiff, scabrous peduncles; lowest spike with peduncle ca. 8.5 cm long, the uppermost lateral panicles essentially sessile; lowermost bract with blade ca. 40 cm long (broken before tip) and ca. 10 mm wide and sheath ca. 2.5 cm long, the uppermost bracts much reduced, the terminal panicle bractless and with a peduncle ca. 2 cm long. Panicles 6, pyramidal, 2.9—4.6 cm long, ca. 2-3.5 cm wide, with 7-12 primary androgynous branches, the lower 1—3 branches again often compound with 1-3 secondary branches 4-10 mm long; primary branches 6-19 mm long, with an urceolate, pubescent cladoprophyll; pistillate portion 3.5-15 mm long, ca. 5—6 mm wide (excluding secondary branches), with 5—15 perigynia (and up to 3 secondary branches); staminate portion 2.5—8 mm long, 0.8—1.2 mm wide, 3—9-flowered. Pistillate scales 1.4—3.5 mm long, 0.8—1.5 mm wide, ovate, acute to acuminate, usually with a scabrous awn up to 2.5 mm long, pubescent abaxially, stramineous with a green center and hyaline margins, heavily reddish-purple streaked and dotted, l-veined. Staminate scales 2.2-3.6 mm long, ca. 1-1.5 mm wide, ovate to narrowly ovate, acute to acuminate, pubescent abaxially, reddish brown with hyaline margins, |—3-veined. Perigynia 3.1—3.6 mm long, 1.2—1.5 mm wide, spreading and outcurved, trigonous with flat to slightly concave, ovate to broadly elliptic sides, stramineous and finely red-dotted, glabrous or sparsely scabrous, short-stipitate, ca. 7—12-veined with 2—6 veins prominent and the rest faint, contracted into a beak; beaks 0.9-1.4 mm long, stramineous and red-dotted, sca rous, the apex obscurely and irregularly bidentulate with teeth up to 0.5 mm long. Achenes ca. 1.8—2.2 mm long, ca. 1.1—1.4 mm wide, trigonous with concave, ellipticsides, tightly enveloped by the perigynia, dark brown, sessile. Styles withering; stigmas 3. Anthers 3, ca. 1.5—2 mm long. [details]
