Taxonomy of Bouteloua juncea and Bouteloua triaena, two species confused for more than a century

Abstract

The genus Bouteloua is native to America and is one of the most important groups in North America grasslands. Bouteloua juncea is one of the only two species of this genus endemic to the Antilles. However, B. juncea has erroneously been reported for Mexico due to a confusion between this species and B. triaena. The objective of this work was to review the nomenclature of B. juncea and B. triaena to clarify the origin of the confusion between both taxa. The names Dinebra cristata, Triaena racemosa and Triathera gracilis are lectotypified, a morphological description and a distribution map of Bouteloua juncea are presented, and taxonomic comments are provided on Bouteloua juncea and B. triaena to clarify the origin of the confusion between these two taxa.