Carex ruthsatziae G.A.Wheeler, Darwiniana

Carex ruthsatziae G.A.Wheeler, Darwiniana View in CoL 40: 191. 2002. [ “ruthsatzae ”]

Holotype: BOLIVIA, Dpto. Oruro, Prov. Sajama, Payachatas, 4420 m, 27 Jan 1999, B. Ruthsatz & S. Budde 10216 ( MIN not seen; isotype: LPB barcode 0000244 digital image!).

Iconography: Wheeler (2002b: 194, fig. 2 A, Bf, C).

Material studied. PERU. Pasco: Pasco, along the road between Carhuamayo and Cerro de Pasco, 4100 m, W. Morawetz & B. Wallnöfer 44-16985 ( USM).

Notes: Third species of section Abditispicae reported for Peru, after C. collumanthus (Steyerm.) G.A. Wheeler ( Wheeler 2002b) and C. humahuacaensis G.A. Wheeler ( Salvador et al. 2009). Carex section Abditispicae comprises dwarf sedges growing at high altitudes in the Andes or Southern Patagonia. Its complex taxonomy strongly difficults the identification of the individuals. The occurrence of C. ruthsatziae in Peru is not surprising since it was known from a Bolivian locality pretty close to the Peruvian border.

Carex ruthsatziae closely resembles C. humahuacaensis , from which it can easily be distinguished by its glumes (dark reddish-brown, obtuse to acute glumes in C. ruthsatziae vs. orange to stramineous with acuminate tips in C. humahuacaensis ) and its narrower leaves (up to 1.5 mm in C. ruthsatziae vs. 1.2-3.5 mm in C. humahuacaensis ) ( Wheeler 2002b).

Despite C. ruthsatziae View in CoL was synonimized with C. maritima Gunn. View in CoL by JØrgensen et al. (2014), molecular data ( Martín-Bravo et al. 2019) has shown both species as distinct (Jiménez-Mejías et al. in press).