A Systematic Revision of the Carex Nardina Complex (Cyperaceae)

The Carex nardina complex is a group of one to three species (C. nardina, C. hepburnii, C. stantonensis) and six taxa of unispicate sedges (Cyperaceae), the taxonomy of which has been controversial since the 1800s. As initial DNA phylogenies suggested that the complex was nested within Carex section...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Sawtell, Wayne MacLeod
Other Authors: Starr, Julian
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa 2012
Subjects:
phylogenetic analysis
taxonomy
species complex
arctic-alpine
morphometric
Cyperaceae
Cariceae
Carex
principal components analysis
maximum parsimony
Bayesian analysis
evolution
Arctic
Iceland
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10393/23134
https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-6703
Description
Summary:The Carex nardina complex is a group of one to three species (C. nardina, C. hepburnii, C. stantonensis) and six taxa of unispicate sedges (Cyperaceae), the taxonomy of which has been controversial since the 1800s. As initial DNA phylogenies suggested that the complex was nested within Carex section Filifoliae and sister to C. elynoides, a species often confused with C. nardina and sympatric with it in the western North American Cordillera, analyses were conducted to determine whether C. hepburnii, C. stantonensis and other infraspecific taxa could be the result of hybridization. Morphometric and molecular analyses found no substantial evidence for hybridization and supported the recognition of no taxon beyond C. nardina. Consequently, this study concludes that the complex comprises a single variable species, Carex nardina, distributed throughout arctic North America south through the western Cordillera to New Mexico with a minor portion of its range in northeastern Russia, northwestern Scandinavia and Iceland.

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