Zea nicaraguensis (Poaceae), a new teosinte from Pacific coastal Nicaragua

The geographically isolated annual teosinte from the coastal plain and embayments/estuaries near the Gulf of Fonseca, Nicaragua, is differentiated from Zea luxurians from southeastern Guatemala by its much longer and more abundant tassel branches, larger number of spikelets per branch, and longer, more pronouncedly transversely rugose outer glumes, as well as by its low-elevation coastal habitat. Molecular (ribosomal ITS) evidence and other data, placing it basal to Z. luxurians, seem to support this taxonomic segregation.