Cyperaceae taxon details
Carex pinophila Reznicek & S.González
1677975 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:1677975)
accepted
Species
terrestrial
Reznicek, A. A.; González-Elizondo, M. S. (1997). Two new species of <i>Carex</i> (Cyperaceae) from Mexico. <em>Contributions from the University of Michigan Herbarium.</em> 21: 291-297., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/12699689#page/297/mode/1up
page(s): 294 [details]
page(s): 294 [details]
Holotype IEB
000140135, geounit Querétaro
000140135, geounit Querétaro
Holotype IEB
000140135, geounit Querétaro [details]
000140135, geounit Querétaro [details]
Description Plants cespitose in small clumps or solitary, with short, knotty rhizomes; roots brown, not densely felted with root hairs;...
Description Plants cespitose in small clumps or solitary, with short, knotty rhizomes; roots brown, not densely felted with root hairs; fertile culms ca. 70-90 cm tall, trigonous, smooth, with glabrous, reddish, bladeless sheaths with stramineous veins. Leaves ca. 11-15, mostly basal; blades (6—) 15-60 cm long, (1.3—) 2.1-3.6 mm wide, flat to plicate, glabrous, the margins and midrib smooth or finely antrorsely scabrous distally, the widest leaves ca. 3.2-3.6 mm wide; leaf sheaths 3.2-10 cm long, tightly enveloping the culms, glabrous, red-tinged; inner band of sheaths hispidulous near apex, stramineous and faintly red-striped, faintly veined, the apex concave, thickened and finely (and sometimes inconspicuously) ciliate; ligules ca. 2.5—5.5 mm long, acute, usually reduced on upper leaves, the free portion thickened and scabrous, reddish to stramineous. Vegetative shoots ca. 40-60 cm tall; leaves 5-7, similar to those of fertile culms; pseudoculms ca. 6-10 cm tall. Inflorescences ca. 7-11 cm long, with the upper spikes strongly overlapping and the lowest 2 spikes 2.5—4.7 cm distant; spikes single at nodes, the lower pendulous, the upper ascending to erect, on filiform, flexuous, smooth or sparsely scabrous peduncles; lowermost spikes with peduncles (1.3—) 1.9-2.6 cm long, the uppermost lateral spikes with peduncles ca. 0.7 cm long; lowermost bracts with blades 3.1-6 cm long and 0.7-1.3 mm wide, dorsally hispidulous along the veins, the sheaths 1.2—1.6 cm long, the uppermost bracts much reduced. Spikes 3-5, the terminal staminate proximally and distally, and pistillate in the middle, the lateral androgynous. Terminal spikes 3.2—4 cm long, staminate portion 9.2-13 mm long, 1.2—2.3 mm wide, and 10—14-flowered proximally, ca. 13-18 mm long and 55-60-flowered distally; pistillate middle portion ca. 6.5-10.5 mm long, 3.6-3.8 mm wide, 13—18-flowered; peduncles ca. (5.6—) 8.8-13.2 mm long. Lateral spikes (2.4-) 3.3-4.7 cm long; staminate portion 6.7-16 mm long, ca. 16—45-flowered; pistillate portion (10.5—) 19.5-30 mm long, 3.3-4.4 mm wide, ca. (8—) 30-40-flowered. Pistillate scales 2.6—3.3 mm long, 1.3—1.8 mm wide, ovate, obtuse to acute, glabrous, reddish purple with narrow hyaline margins, faintly 5-7-veined. Staminate scales 2.9-4 mm long, 1.1-1.8 mm wide, narrowly elliptic to obovate, obtuse to acuminate, glabrous, reddish purple with narrow hyaline margins, 1-3 (—9)-veined. Perigynia 2.3-3 mm long, 0.9-1.2 mm wide, ascending, more or less flattened-trigonous with more or less flat, obovate sides, green with reddish purple mottling especially distally (sometimes uniformly purple distally), scabrous on the main veins just below the beak, more or less cuneately tapered to the base, ca. 11—16-veined with 2 veins prominent and the rest fainter, contracted into a beak; beaks 0.4-0.7 mm long, green with dense reddish purple mottling, scabrous on the main veins, the apex oblique, erose. Achenes ca. 1.5-1.7 mm long, 0.8—1.1 mm wide, trigonous with more or less flat, obovate sides, tightly enveloped by the perigynium, brown, tapered to the base. Styles withering; stigmas 3. Anthers 3, ca. 1.4-1.8 mm long. [details]
Cyperaceae Working Group. (2025). [see How to cite]. Global Cyperaceae Database. Carex pinophila Reznicek & S.González. Accessed at: https://www.cyperaceae.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1677975 on 2026-06-16
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Nomenclature
original description
Reznicek, A. A.; González-Elizondo, M. S. (1997). Two new species of <i>Carex</i> (Cyperaceae) from Mexico. <em>Contributions from the University of Michigan Herbarium.</em> 21: 291-297., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/12699689#page/297/mode/1up
page(s): 294 [details]
page(s): 294 [details]
Present Inaccurate Introduced: alien Containing type locality
Holotype IEB
000140135, geounit Querétaro [details]
000140135, geounit Querétaro [details]
From editor or global species database
Additional information Carex pinophila is known only from the type, collected in Querétaro in deep pine duff in a moist forest of Pinus patula Schltdl. & Cham. on a steep slope at 2700 m. Plants were rare and localized at the site, and few individuals were fruiting, perhaps due to the heavily shaded habitat. On July 15, plants were somewhat overmature, so fruiting probably occurs through June and into early July. The epithet pinophila refers to the habitat of the type. [details]Comparison This apparently very rare species is related to Carex perlonga Fernald, C. flexirostris Reznicek, and C. chiapensis F. J. Herm. These four Mexican species of section Hymenochlaenae are relatively narrow-leaved plants of moist forests, with red bases, terminal spikes staminate proximally and distally and pistillate in the middle (rarely staminate), glabrous perigynia contracted into a distinct beak (except in C. chiapensis), and mostly awnless pistillate and uniformly awnless staminate scales. From all these species, C. pinophila can be separated easily by its smooth lower sheaths, and short perigynia 2.3-3 mm long. Carex chiapensis, C. flexirostris, and C. perlonga have the lower sheaths sparsely to densely hispidulous with red prickle-hairs (except sometimes in C. chiapensis with perigynia 3.9-6 mm long). All three species also tend to have larger perigynia 2.7-6 mm long, and have longer inflorescences (7.5—) 10-41 cm long, and longer lower inflorescence bracts (3.6—) 6-32 cm long with sheaths (1-) 1.6-5.9 cm long. Carex pinophila has shorter inflorescences 7-11 cm long with short, small bracts with blades 3.1-6 cm long and with sheaths only 1.2-1.6 cm long. Carex chiapensis and C. perlonga have broad lower inflorescence bracts 1.7-5 mm wide, but C. pinophila has narrow inflorescence bracts 0.7-1.3 mm wide. In the last feature C. pinophila most closely resembles C. flexirostris, which has the lower bracts with blades only 1-1.9 cm wide. If a small individual of C. flexirostris with smooth sheaths were to occur (or if the sometimes sparse prickle hairs were overlooked), C. pinophila could be distinguished by its thickened apex to the inner band of the sheath, perigynia not at all outcurved, and shorter achenes 1.5-1.7 mm long. Carex flexirostris has thin, fragile apices to the inner band, at least slightly outcurved perigynia, and achenes 1.8-2.1 mm long. Because of its smooth sheaths, Carex pinophila would key to C. pertenuis L. H. Bailey rather than C. flexirostris in the keys in Reznicek (1986) and Jones and Reznicek (1992). These two species can be readily distinguished: C. pertenuis has + elongate rhizomes, all the spikes androgynous, awned pistillate and staminate scales, and perigynia gradually tapered to the apex, whereas C. pinophila has short, knotty rhizomes, the terminal spike staminate distally and proximally and pistillate in the middle, awnless pistillate and staminate scales, and perigynia contracted into a distinct beak. [details]
Description Plants cespitose in small clumps or solitary, with short, knotty rhizomes; roots brown, not densely felted with root hairs; fertile culms ca. 70-90 cm tall, trigonous, smooth, with glabrous, reddish, bladeless sheaths with stramineous veins. Leaves ca. 11-15, mostly basal; blades (6—) 15-60 cm long, (1.3—) 2.1-3.6 mm wide, flat to plicate, glabrous, the margins and midrib smooth or finely antrorsely scabrous distally, the widest leaves ca. 3.2-3.6 mm wide; leaf sheaths 3.2-10 cm long, tightly enveloping the culms, glabrous, red-tinged; inner band of sheaths hispidulous near apex, stramineous and faintly red-striped, faintly veined, the apex concave, thickened and finely (and sometimes inconspicuously) ciliate; ligules ca. 2.5—5.5 mm long, acute, usually reduced on upper leaves, the free portion thickened and scabrous, reddish to stramineous. Vegetative shoots ca. 40-60 cm tall; leaves 5-7, similar to those of fertile culms; pseudoculms ca. 6-10 cm tall. Inflorescences ca. 7-11 cm long, with the upper spikes strongly overlapping and the lowest 2 spikes 2.5—4.7 cm distant; spikes single at nodes, the lower pendulous, the upper ascending to erect, on filiform, flexuous, smooth or sparsely scabrous peduncles; lowermost spikes with peduncles (1.3—) 1.9-2.6 cm long, the uppermost lateral spikes with peduncles ca. 0.7 cm long; lowermost bracts with blades 3.1-6 cm long and 0.7-1.3 mm wide, dorsally hispidulous along the veins, the sheaths 1.2—1.6 cm long, the uppermost bracts much reduced. Spikes 3-5, the terminal staminate proximally and distally, and pistillate in the middle, the lateral androgynous. Terminal spikes 3.2—4 cm long, staminate portion 9.2-13 mm long, 1.2—2.3 mm wide, and 10—14-flowered proximally, ca. 13-18 mm long and 55-60-flowered distally; pistillate middle portion ca. 6.5-10.5 mm long, 3.6-3.8 mm wide, 13—18-flowered; peduncles ca. (5.6—) 8.8-13.2 mm long. Lateral spikes (2.4-) 3.3-4.7 cm long; staminate portion 6.7-16 mm long, ca. 16—45-flowered; pistillate portion (10.5—) 19.5-30 mm long, 3.3-4.4 mm wide, ca. (8—) 30-40-flowered. Pistillate scales 2.6—3.3 mm long, 1.3—1.8 mm wide, ovate, obtuse to acute, glabrous, reddish purple with narrow hyaline margins, faintly 5-7-veined. Staminate scales 2.9-4 mm long, 1.1-1.8 mm wide, narrowly elliptic to obovate, obtuse to acuminate, glabrous, reddish purple with narrow hyaline margins, 1-3 (—9)-veined. Perigynia 2.3-3 mm long, 0.9-1.2 mm wide, ascending, more or less flattened-trigonous with more or less flat, obovate sides, green with reddish purple mottling especially distally (sometimes uniformly purple distally), scabrous on the main veins just below the beak, more or less cuneately tapered to the base, ca. 11—16-veined with 2 veins prominent and the rest fainter, contracted into a beak; beaks 0.4-0.7 mm long, green with dense reddish purple mottling, scabrous on the main veins, the apex oblique, erose. Achenes ca. 1.5-1.7 mm long, 0.8—1.1 mm wide, trigonous with more or less flat, obovate sides, tightly enveloped by the perigynium, brown, tapered to the base. Styles withering; stigmas 3. Anthers 3, ca. 1.4-1.8 mm long. [details]
