Variability of the inflorescence morphology of Carex spicata Huds. (Cyperaceae) and its implication to taxonomy
23 May 2016
Jagodziński, Andrzej; Janyszek, Magdalena; Janyszek, Sławomir; Wrońska-Pilarek, Dorota; Grzelak, MieczysławPlants growing in various habitats are expected to show high morphological plasticity. Carex spicata Huds. occurs in different types of plant communities and shows distinct morphological variability of inflorescences. Field observations carried out in different types of plant communities permitted us to hypothesize that morphological variability of C. spicata inflorescences may be to some degree a derivative of the plant’s occurrence in different plant communities. The objective of this study was to test that hypothesis for C. spicata by collecting inflorescences and measuring their morphological features from several populations in each of six plant communities: Agropyro-Urticetum dioiceae, Arrhenatheretum elatioris, Lolio-Cynosuretum, Lolio-Plantaginetum, Trifolio-Agrimonietum, and Stellario-Deschampsietum. The following inflorescence features were analysed: length of the lowest spikelet, distance between two lowest spikelets, length of inflorescence, number of spikelets, and length proportion of the lowest spikelet to the distance between the two lowest spikelets. We found that all of the morphological features of inflorescences analysed differed statistically significantly among the plant communities. Furthermore, we found statistically significant differences in the morphological features of inflorescences among populations within the six plant communities. Moreover, C. spicata inflorescences often have morphological features (i.e. a less crowded inflorescence with a relatively large distance between the two lowest spikelets) similar to the closely related species C. muricata L. In addition, the decreased diagnostic value of inflorescence crowding for differentiating C. spicata and C. muricata, especially in vegetative or early fruiting phases, suggests that the taxonomical importance of the mentioned feature should be revised.