Systematic Botany (2013), 38(1): pp. 82–91 © Copyright 2013 by the American Society of Plant Taxonomists DOI 10.1600/036364413X661971 Carex viridistellata sp. nov. (Cyperaceae), a New Cryptic Species from Prairie Fens of the Eastern United States Nathan J. Derieg,1,3 Sarah J. Weil,1,4 Anton A. Reznicek,2 and Leo P. Bruederle1,5 1Department of Integrative Biology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colorado 80217–3364, U. S. A. 2University Herbarium, 3600 Varsity Drive, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108–2228, U. S. A. 3Present address: Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, U. S. A. 4Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, New York, 10027, U. S. A. 5Author for correspondence (
[email protected]) Communicating Editor: Mark P. Simmons Abstract—Divergence between evolutionary lineages is not always marked by the development of obvious species-specific characters, whether morphological, physiological, or ecological. Consequentially, extant biodiversity can easily be overlooked. These cryptic species are often not recognized until genetic data are in hand, as is the case for the novel taxon we describe here. Carex viridistellata in Carex section Ceratocystis is an endemic species restricted to calcareous wetlands of Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, where it has previously been collected as Carex cryptolepis. Crosses between Carex viridistellata and Carex cryptolepis produce sterile F1 hybrids, and the two species are differentiated by a number of subtle morphological characters, as well as aspects of their respective ecologies. Phylogenetic analyses of nrDNA strongly indicate monophyly of Carex viridistellata and its sister species relationship with the North Carolina narrow endemic Carex lutea.