Carex teres
Content
Description
Probably loosely tufted on a woody, ascending rhizome.
Leaves subbasal, crowded in the lower ⅓ of the stem, flattish with revolute margins, stiff, 4-7(-11) mm wide.
Distribution
Asia-Tropical: Sumatera (Sumatera present), Atjeh present, E. Himalaya present, Laos, Pu Bia present, Mt Kemiri present, Mt Kerintji present, Mt Losir present, Mt Ophir present, Mt Papandajan present, Mt Singgalang present, Senubong Mts present, W. Java present
E. Himalaya; in Malesia: Sumatra (Atjeh: Mt Kemiri, Mt Losir, Senubong Mts; W. Coast: Mt Ophir, Mt Singgalang, Mt Kerintji), W. Java (Mt Papandajan).
I have not seen Kerr 21031 from Laos, Pu Bia, the type collection of C. kerrii . From the description I infer that it is not specifically distinct from C. teres.
I have not seen Kerr 21031 from Laos, Pu Bia, the type collection of C. kerrii . From the description I infer that it is not specifically distinct from C. teres.
Notes
Variable, particularly as to the size of spikelets and utricles, and the nervation of the latter, but I do not see how to distinguish between the three "endemic species" into which Nelmes split up the rather scanty Malesian materials. According to him C. spathulata differs from C. teres principally in its stouter and shorter spikelets, C. petecticalis from C. spathulata by its longer inflorescence (11-13 versus 7-10 cm), longer spikelets (3-6 versus 2-4.5 cm), and shorter utricles (2¾-3.5 versus 3.5-4.5 mm) with shorter beak. Carex kemiriensis, only known from a single collection, is said to differ by the densely papillose utricles, a difference I am unable to find.
Kukenthal thought the Sumatran and Javan plants to be varietally distinct from the continental Asian ones by the reticulate-fibrous basal sheaths, the shorter spikelets, the spatulate glumes, and slightly larger utricles. However, in the type collection of C. teres the basal sheaths are distinctly fibrous-reticulate and the glumes variable in shape, just like in the Malesian plants (see also Boott's figure!).
Provisionally I prefer to include both the Indian and Malesian materials in the variable C. teres, a mountain species with a broken-up area.
Kukenthal thought the Sumatran and Javan plants to be varietally distinct from the continental Asian ones by the reticulate-fibrous basal sheaths, the shorter spikelets, the spatulate glumes, and slightly larger utricles. However, in the type collection of C. teres the basal sheaths are distinctly fibrous-reticulate and the glumes variable in shape, just like in the Malesian plants (see also Boott's figure!).
Provisionally I prefer to include both the Indian and Malesian materials in the variable C. teres, a mountain species with a broken-up area.
Citation
Nelmes 1951 – In: Reinwardtia: 424
Clarke 1894 – In: Fl. Br. Ind.: 707
Nelmes 1951 – In: Reinwardtia: 422
Boeck. 1876 – In: Linnaea: 393
Kuk. 1909 – In: Pfl. R. Heft: 348
Kern 1968 – In: Back. & Bakh.f., Fl. Java 3: 494
Nelmes 1951 – In: Reinwardtia: 423
Boott 1898 – In: J. Linn. Soc. Bot.: 110