CYPERACEAE newsletter Number 15
NOTULAE CYPEROLOGICAE 15
NEW RECORDS OF BECQUERELIA (CYPERACEAE) FROM MESOAMERICA
Gerrit Davidse
Missouri Botanical Garden, P.O. Box 299, St. Louis, MO 63166-0299, USA.
(Received December 1995)
Abstract
Becquerelia tuberculata from Belize and B. cymosa subsp. merkliana from Costa Rica are newly reported for Mesoamerica.
As a result of recent fieldwork in Mesoamerica, several new distributional records in Becquerelia may be noted. The genus was last treated in its entirety by Koyama (1967), who recognized five species in two sections, but did record any species for Mesoamerica. In the recent Flora Mesoamericana treatment of the genus Gómez-Laurito (1994) recorded Becquerelia cymosa Brongn. subsp. cymosa from Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.
It can now be reported that Becquerelia tuberculata (Boeck.) H. Pfeiffer has been collected in Belize [Toledo Dist., Sarstoon River, 15°50'N, 89°00'W, near 0 m alt., swampy forest, 30 May 1994, S. Iremonger 885 (MO)]. This is a notable increase (ca. 1600 km from the nearest known locality) in its distributional range since that species is otherwise known only from Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas and Trinidad. The species is distinguished by its spikelets congested in small heads, small, ca. 3 mm, spreading pistillate glumes, and small, ca. 1.5 mm wide, white strongly reticulately rugose achenes.
Both Koyama (1967) and Gómez-Laurito (1994) recognized two subspecies of Becquerelia cymosa Brongn., and subsp. merkliana (Nees) T. Koyama has not been previously recorded in Mesoamerica. However, the following Costa Rican collection with aches ca. 2 mm and pistillate glumes 2.5-3 mm long represents this subspecies [Prov. Limon: inundated forest at the northern base of the southwestern-most extension of Cerro Coronel, 10°40'30"N, 83°39'30"W, elev. 5 m, inundated lowland wet forest, 19 Sep 1986, Davidse & Herrera 31463 (MO)].
References
Gómez-Laurito, J. 1994. Becquerelia In G. Davidse, M. Sousa S. & A.O. Chater (eds.), Flora Mesoamericana 6: 484.
Koyama. T. 1967. Cyperaceae. Mapanioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 17: 23-79.