© Check List weer hat a, em | . —r NOTES ON GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION Check List 14 (2): 475-478 https://doi.org/10.15560/14.2.475 > PENSUFT. First record of Ehrharta longiflora Sm. (Poaceae, Ehrharteae) for South America Joel Calvo, Andrés Moreira-Mufioz Instituto de Geografia, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Geografia, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, Avenida Brasil 2241, 2362807 Valparaiso, Chile. Corresponding author: Joel Calvo, calvocasas@gmail.com Abstract Ehrharta longiflora Sm. (Poaceae) is recorded for the first time in South America. A few naturalized populations were located in disturbed areas of Valparaiso (Central Chile). A brief taxonomic discussion, images, and a location map of the new record of this African grass are provided here. Key words Chile; Gramineae; plant introduction; Valparaiso. Academic editor: Juliana de Paula-Souza | Received 5 January 2018 | Accepted 2 April 2018 | Published 20 April 2018 Citation: Calvo J, Moreira-Mufioz A (2018) First record of Ehrharta longiflora Sm. (Poaceae, Ehrharteae) for South America. Check List 14 (2): 475-478. https://doi.org/10.15560/14.2.475 Introduction Ehrharta Thunb. (Poaceae, Ehrharteae) is a grass genus embracing approximately 35 species (Clayton and Renvoize 1986, Fish et al. 2015). They are annual or perennial plants, characterized by displaying pedicellate solitary spikelets arranged on racemose or paniculiform inflorescences (rarely a single spikelet). Each spikelet has 3 florets, the lower 2 sterile and reduced to lemmas and the upper 1 bisexual (usually smaller than lower 2). The glumes are 5- to 7-nerved, and the sterile lemmas (lower 2) are usually larger and different from bisexual lemma (upper one). The ligules are membranaceous or composed of hairs, and the caryopses are elliptic and laterally compressed. The genus Ehrharta is naturally distributed from southern Africa to Ethiopia and Yemen (Fish et al. 2015). Some species are naturalized in Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia, western Mediterranean Basin, west- ern North America, and South America (Edgar et al. 1991, Barkworth 2007, Rugolo 2012, Fish et al. 2015, Eurot+Med 2006-). In North America 3 species are estab- lished in California—E. calycina Sm., E. erecta Lam., and E. longiflora Sm. (Barkworth 2007)}—whereas in South America only E. villosa J.H. Schult. was reported from a restricted area of the Atlantic coast of Buenos Aires, Argentina (Rugolo 2012). Due to ongoing floristic studies in Valparaiso and its peri-urban areas (Central Chile), we located a few natu- ralized populations of E. /ongiflora, which represents the first report of this alien species for South America (Fig. 1). These populations occur in disturbed areas such as wastelands and roadsides, along with other natural- ized species, for example Carduus pycnocephalus L., Chrysanthemum coronarium L., Hordeum murinum L., Lolium multiflorum Lam., Parietaria judaica L., and Tro- paeolum majus L. So far, it is uncertain when this weed arrived in Valparaiso, but new findings would contribute to elucidate this issue. Copyright Calvo and Moreira-Mufoz. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. 476 Check List 14 (2) ° oO ON sie Pacific Ocean Valparaiso Region } ; 2 (+ VALPARAISO CITY 8 Metropolitan Region ° oO t ° -72°0.0' -71°0.0' Figure 1. Location of the new record of Ehrharta longiflora in Chile (Valparaiso). Methods We used Clayton and Renvoize (1986) and Fish et al. (2015) to identify the collected specimens of the new find- ing. Qualitative characters were studied directly by eye or with the aid of binocular lenses, while the quantitative characters were recorded using a Mitutoyo digital caliper, CD-15DC. Figures were edited using software Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Adobe Systems Incorporated) and the map was produced in QGIS 2.14.20 (QGIS Development Team). The herbarium specimens were deposited at SGO and CONC (acronyms follow Thiers 2017). Results Ehrharta longiflora Sm., P|. Icon. Ined. 2: pl. 32. 1790. Figure 2 Leafy erect annual. Culms 40-75 cm, often geniculate basally. Leaf-sheaths obviously nerved, keeled, sub- membranaceous, glabrous or almost so; auricles ciliate; ligules ca 2.5 mm, lacerate; leaf-blades 4.5-—25 cm long, 0.5—0.9 cm wide, flat, usually with some scattered submarginal trichomes, margins scaberulous. Inflo- rescence paniculiform, 10-24 cm long, erect, narrow, with branches usually + pendulous; pedicels filiform. Spikelets 15-27 mm long including the awns. Glumes unequal, ca 1/3 as long as the spikelet, membranaceous, usually purple-coloured. Sterile lemmas similar, indu- rate, hispidulous upward, with tufted hairs at the base, conspicuously awned at the apex (awns 6-17 mm long, hispidulous); upper sterile lemma with a short hinge- like appendage at the base. Bisexual lemma glabrous or almost so, unawned. Caryopses ca 4.4 mm long, 1.5 mm wide, elliptic, laterally compressed. Specimen examined. CHILE. Valparaiso Region: Valpa- raiso, cerro San Juan de Dios, 33°03'09" S, 071°37'32" W, 90 m, 03 Oct. 2017, J. Calvo 7585 (SGO, CONC). Key to the Ehrharta species reported in South America 1. Glumes % as long as the spikelet; sterile lemmas sparsely hispidulous, awned ................. E. longiflora 1’. Glumes almost as long as the spikelet; sterile lemmas profusely hairy, mucronate or shortly aristate ........... cast Eat att onrapeareetn tacies teat romagantiacest tates 2 oecaanecede E. villosa Discussion Ehrharta longifiora is easily recognizable by the glumes clearly shorter than the spikelet, usually purple, and the sterile lemmas long-awned (awns 6-17 mm long). Any confusion is very unlikely with the other species of Ehrharta introduced in South America, that is, £. villosa. They can be differentiated by the length of the glumes (1/3 as long as the spikelet in E. /ongiflora vs almost as long as the spikelet in E. villosa), and the indumentum and apex of the sterile lemmas (sparsely hispidulous, awned in E. longiflora vs profusely hairy, mucronate or shortly aristate in EF. villosa). Calvo and Moreira-Munhoz | First record of Ehrharta longiflora for South America 477 a Sag a en eee Sire a caryopsis bisexual lemma Figure 2. Fhrharta longiflora Sm. A. Inflorescence. B. Detail of the inflorescence. C. Spikelets. D. Dissected spikelet. Photographs by J. Calvo. Ehrharta longiflora is native to western South Africa (Fish et al. 2015), and it is a naturalized weed in southern Australia, New Zealand, California, and Gran Canaria of the Canary Islands (Acebes et al. 2004). This species was also reported in Belgium (Auquier 1980) and Catalonia (Casasayas 1989), but it seems that these populations remain in confined areas. The presence of this species in Chile has been detected for the first time in 2017 (Fig. 1). The few known populations still only occur in urban areas, which lead us to think that it is a recent intro- duction. However, the invasive potential registered in southern Australia and California, where the climate is 478 similar to Central Chile, alerts that its spreading might be quick. Acknowledgements Laurent Gohy from the Herbarium Universitatis Leodien- sis (LG) kindly helped us to locate a specimen collected in Belgium. This work has been funded by FONDECYT from Chile by means of a postdoctoral fellowship of the first author (project no. 3170270). Authors’ Contributions JC and AMM identified the species and wrote the manu- script. References Acebes JR, Arco M, Garcia A, Leon MC, Pérez PL, Rodriguez O, Wildpret W, Martin VE, Marrero MC, Rodriguez ML (2004) Sper- matophyta. In: Izquierdo I, Martin JL, Zurita N, Arechavaleta M (Eds) Lista de especies silvestres de Canarias (hongos, plantas y animales terrestres). Consejeria de Medio Ambiente y Ordenacion Territorial, Gobierno de Canarias, Tenerife, 99-143. Auquier P (1980) Graminées adventices nouvelles ou intéressantes pour la flore belge, IH. Bulletin de la Société Royale de Botanique de Belgique 113: 3-13. http://www jstor.org/stable/20793814 Check List 14 (2) Barkworth ME (2007) Ehrharta Thunb. In: Barkworth ME, Capels KM, Long S, Anderton LK, Piep MB (Eds) Flora of North Amer- ica. North of Mexico, vol. 24. 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