Taxonomic, nomenclatural and chorological reports on Carex (Cyperaceae) in the Neotropics

Abstract

We present relevant data about the taxonomy, nomenclature, and chorology of nine species of the genus Carex from the Neotropics. We provide two new records for the South American continent, one of them an introduced species in Argentina and Uruguay (C. divisa), and the other an apparently naturally occurring species in Venezuela (C. buxbaumii), two new records for Central America in Costa Rica (C. setigluma) and Guatemala (C. phalaroides), and five other new records at the national level for Colombia (C. larensis, C. ownbeyi, C. tachirensis), Ecuador (C. haematopus) and Uruguay (C. catharinensis), as well as relevant regional records for two of these species in Venezuela (C. larensis, C. tachirensis). We also provide taxonomic observations on the poorly understood C. tachirensis. Finally, we lectotypify three names (C. larensis, C. niederleiniana and C. phalaroides) and propose the synonymization of C. tucumanensis with the earlier described C. niederleiniana.