Notes on the Caribbean, Mexican, and Central and South American Cardamine (Cardamineae, Brassicaceae)

The present study deals with the native Cardamine species of the New World south of the United States, because previous studies failed to clarify their distribution, delimitation, and endemism. The status of 12 species (C. carrii, C. cebollana, C. chilensis, C. hispidula, C. killipii, C. marginata, C. nana, C. obliqua, C. pacensis, C. pygmaea, C. speciosa, and C. subterranea) is discussed. The new name C. hintonii and the new combination Rorippa pygmaea are proposed. Three species (C. aschersoniana, C. nana, and C. obliqua) are lectotypified, and C. carrii, C. cebollana, C. chilensis, and Rorippa austroamericana are reduced to synonymy of C. macrocarpa, C. longipedicellata, C. africana, and R. pygmaea, respectively. Mexico has eleven native species (three endemic), Central America has eight (three endemic), and the Caribbean Islands have three (two endemic). A key to the South American species and another to the Mexican, Central American, and Caribbean species are presented.