A Conspectus and Phytogeography of the Genus Carex Subgen. Vignea (P. Beauv.) Kirsch. in China

Abstract

Abstract:

In spite of different views on the classification of the genus Carex, the su-

bgenus Vignea (P. Beauv.) Kirsch. in it is relatively natural subgroup adopted by most mo-

dern caricologists. The total number of species in this subgenus is about 330, particularly abun-

dant in the subarctic and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. (Fig. 1. Tab. 1.).

The conspectus of Chinese subgenus Vignea, consisting of 48 species, 7 subspecies and 1 variety,

is given in this article. These 54 taxa (with species, subspecies and variety treated equally at

the same rank and with one widely distributed species and one uncertain species excluded for

floristic analysis here) can be grouped into 4 types of floristic elements according to the

floristic regions of the world suggested by Takhtajan (1986).

1. The elements of the Circumboreal Region (Fig. 2.): Carex diandra, C. vulpina, C.

stipata, C. otrubae, C. curaica, C. disperma, C. bohemica, C. angustior, C. loliacea, C. tenui-

flora and C. lachenalii. They constitute 20.4% of the total and are principally distributed in

the Eurasian Forest Subkingdom of China. Wu's scheme (1979) for the Chinese floristic division

is adopted here.

2. The elements of the Eastern Asiatic Region (Figs. 3, 4, 5): Carex echinochloaeformis,

C. enervis subsp. chuanxibeiensis, C. rochebruni subsp. remotispicula, C. ovatispiculata, C. neu-

rocarpa, C. nubigena subsp. pseudo-arenicola, C. nubigena subsp. albata, C. paxii, C. leiorhyn-

chya, C. laevissima, C. pseudocuraica, C. pallida, C. yamatsutana, C. lithophyla, C. kobomugi,

C. gibba, C. remotiuscula, C. rocheruni subsp. rochebruni, C. rochebruni subsp. reptans, C.

alta, C. maackii, C. omiana, C. pallida var. angustifolia, C. earistata, C. thompsonii, C. larice-

torum, C. maorshanica, C. dailingensis, C. unisexualis C. heilongjingensis. They constitute

55.5% of the total taxa. Wu (1979) considers that the Eastern Asiatic Region is better divid-

ed into the Sino-Himalayan Forest Subkingdom and the Sino-Japan Forest Subkingdom. Among

the taxa mentioned above, only the first four species occur in the Sino-Himalayan Forest Sub-

kingdom and the remaining ones are of the Sino-Japanese Forest Subkingdom. In fact, the

elements of the Sino-Japanese Forest Subkingdom constitute 48.1% of the total, obviously higher

than in the other regions. Moreover, of these taxa the latter eight are endemic to Sino-

Japanese Subkingdom and constitute 61.5% of the endemics of China. It comes to a conclusion

that speciation of Chinese subgenus Vignea is more rapid here than elsewhere.

3. The elements of the Irano-Turanian Region (Fig. 6.): Carex duriuscula subsp, durius-

cula, C. duriuscula subsp, rigescens, C. duriuscula subsp, stenophylloides, C. reptabunda, C.

pycnostachya, C. enervis, C. pseudofoetida, C. sagaensis and C. physodes. They constitute

16.7% of the total and are mainly distributed in Asiatic Desert Subkingdom, Eurasian Steppe

Subkingdom and Qinghai-Xizang (Ching-Tibet) Plateau Subkingdom of China.

4. The elements of the Indo-Chinese Region and the elements of Indian Region (Fig. 7.):

Carex thomsonii, C. fluviatilis, C. craspedotricha and C. nubigena. They constitute 7.4% of the

total taxa and mostly occur in the Malaysian Subkingdom of China. Of these taxa C. thom-

sonii with higher culm-nodes and C. nubigena with inflorescence of basal compound branch.

are regarded by us as primitive ones in the subgenus Vignea. It is interesting to note at this

point that in the Indo-Malaysian Region not only is the Indocaricoid group, a primitive one

of Carex, more concentrated, but also the primitive ones of the subgenus Vignea, the most

advanced group of Carex, are present. The fact supports Nelmes' view (1951) that the genus

Carex had its origin in Indo-Malysian region.

Key words: Carex, Subgenus Vignea, taxonomy, phytogeography

Liang Song-Yun, Tang Yan-Cheng. A Conspectus and Phytogeography of the Genus Carex Subgen. Vignea (P. Beauv.) Kirsch. in China[J]. .

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A Conspectus and Phytogeography of the Genus Carex Subgen. Vignea (P. Beauv.) Kirsch. in China

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