Rheedea Vol. 20 (1) 29-31 2010 A new species of Carex (Cyperaceae) from the Kashmir Himalaya, India Ehtisham ul Haq*, G.H. Dar, B.A. Wafai and Anzar A. Khuroo Centre for Plant Taxonomy, Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar – 190 006, Jammu & Kashmir, India. *E-mail: shah_ehtisham@rediffmail.com Abstract Carex hokarsarensis E.U. Haq et Dar, is described and illustrated as a new species of the subgenus Vignea from the Kashmir Himalaya, India. It differs from its closely allied species C. vulpinaris Nees and C. otrubae Podp. in the size, shape, texture and beak of the perigynium, and in the arrangement of spikelets. Keywords: Carex hokarsarensis, Hokarsar, Kashmir Himalaya, New species, Vignea Introduction Carex L. is one of the largest and the most wide- spread genera of flowering plants, with c. 2000 species in the world (Reznicek, 1990). In India it is represented by c. 230 species (Karthikeyan et al., 1989). The genus, classified under the tribe Car- iceae, is clearly distinguished from other genera of the family Cyperaceae in having consistently unisexual flowers and a perigynium; the latter is a sac-like structure of prophyllar origin that sur- rounds the naked gynoecium (Blaser, 1944). The variations in the structure of perigynium are used as the key features in Carex; it is largely due to its subtle differences in shape, size, texture and nerva- tion that the recognition of many novelties in Carex has been accomplished (Nelmes, 1951). The first treatment of sedges of India was given by C.B. Clarke (1894) in the Flora of British India, wherein c. 142 species of Carex have been reported from the territory. He has divided the genus into 2 subgenera – Vignea and Eucarex, on the basis of number of styles, 2 in the former and 3 in the lat- ter subgenus. Kukkonen (2001) has divided Carex into four subgenera: Psyllophora, Vigneastra, Vignea and Carex. The subgenus Vignea is characterized by the lack of a prophyll around the base of axis of partial inflorescence (cladoprophyll) [Hendrichs et al., 2004]; spikes mostly bisexual; stigma usually 2-, rarely 3-branched; perigynium planoconvex, rarely biconvex or inflated; achene biconvex, with a rachilla at the base. The subgenus includes c. 25 sections and c. 230 species, distributed mainly in the extra-tropical and, very rarely, tropical areas of the Northern Hemisphere; a small number of spe- cies occurs in the Southern Hemisphere (in west- ern and southern South America, South Africa, western and eastern Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Tasmania and New Zealand) [Egorova, 1999]. Previously, c. 12 species of the subgenus Vignea have been reported from the western Pakistan and Kashmir (Kukkonen, 2001). During the present sys- tematic studies on Carex in the Kashmir Himalaya, a new species of this subgenus has been described and illustrated. Carex hokarsarensis E.U. Haq et Dar, sp. nov. Fig. 1 Vaginae 0.6 – 3 cm longae, culmi basin arcte invol- ventes et plus minusve omnino imbricatae, spicae inferiores plerumque ramosae, sed in speciebus similibus e.g. in C. vulpinare et C. otrubae vaginae 2 – 8 cm longae, laxe involventes breviter imbrica- tae. In C. hokarsarensi perigynia 3.4 – 4.3 mm longa, 1.5 – 2.7 mm lata, ellipsoidea alis glabris. Typus: INDIA, Jammu & Kashmir, Srinagar, Zain- akoot, Hokarsar, 9 km W of Srinagar city, 1600 m, along the National Highway, in semi-aquatic habi- tat, 27.5.2006, Ehtisham & Dar 003 (Holotypus, Iso- typii, KASH). Perennial herbs, loosely caespitose in small clumps. Rhizomes  woody, horizontal to slightly ascend-