Chusquea gouveiensis is a new species of tropical woody bamboo from Brazil, herein described and illustrated. It is classified within C. subg. Chusquea, mainly based on its scandent habit, triangular central bud with vertical orientation, extra-or infravaginal branching, and lemma margins free at the apex. The new species is most similar to C. gracilis because they share culm leaves with undifferentiated sheaths and blades with a folded or twisted apex, and foliage leaves and spikelets of similar length. However, C. gouveiensis is distinguished from C. gracilis by having branch complements of 40‒90 usually ascending subsidiary branches (vs. 70‒195 mostly horizontally oriented subsidiary branches), synflorescences weakly paniculate to racemose (vs. paniculate), glumes I and II collectively 0.3‒0.7 mm long (vs. 0.1‒0.2 mm long), and glumes III and IV awned and abaxially pilose to pubescent at the apex (vs. mucronate and glabrous). The two species also differ in distribution: C. gouveiensis is only known from the region of Gouveia and Diamantina, in the southern portion of the Espinhaço Range in Minas Gerais state, Brazil, in forest fragments at 1,200‒1,300 m.a.s.l., whereas C. gracilis occurs in the southern Brazilian states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, in mixed ombrophilous forests between 550 and 880 m.a.s.l. Based on nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and plastid DNA sequence data (ndhF and trnD-trnT), a sixth lineage within the Euchusquea clade was identified, herein named clade VI—Chusquea meyeriana clade, comprising a significant portion of the Brazilian species of Chusquea. The new species has phylogenetic affinities with the C. meyeriana informal group and is also distinct from C. gracilis in the phylogeny.
Chusquea parviligulata, a new species of Neotropical woody bamboo (Bambuseae: Chusqueinae), is herein described and illustrated, and information on its morphology, conservation status and distribution are provided. It is classified within C. subg. Chusquea based on its relatively elongated internodes, differentiated culm leaves, a triangular and vertically oriented central bud, and infravaginal branching. Based on its occurrence in Brazil and the presence of a white waxy band below the nodes and infravaginal branching, C. parviligulata is further assigned to the C. meyeriana informal group. Within this group, C. parviligulata is most similar to C. clemirae and C. longispiculata, sharing the usually evident division of the subsidiary buds/branches into two groups as well as a triangular central bud and little to no fusion of the overlapping margin of the culm leaf sheaths. Chusquea parviligulata is characterized by having 20–42 subsidiary buds per node; foliage leaf blades adaxially scabrous near the margins and otherwise glabrous or sparsely setose and abaxially mostly glabrous, with a tuft of trichomes at the base; foliage leaf blade base attenuate and slightly asymmetric; and an inner ligule 0.05–0.2 mm long, among the shortest recorded for the genus. Chusquea parviligulata is found exclusively in the Serra da Pedra Lascada, a montane Atlantic Rainforest area in southern Bahia, and it has a restricted occurrence within the Serra. We also report a new locality for C. clemirae and confirm that is has infravaginal branching, not extravaginal branching as originally reported.
With 193 described species, Chusquea is the most diverse bamboo genus in the Neotropical region. Brazil, with 48 accepted species and 44 of them endemic, is one of its major centers of diversity. Among the Brazilian species, C. anelythra was only superficially characterized in its original publication almost 200 years ago, without a clear definition of its type-material, description of culm leaves, or comments on its geographic distribution or related species. As the absence of such information has greatly complicated the taxonomic delimitation of C. anelythra, the major aim of this paper is to clarify the identity of this species based on fieldwork and herbarium investigation, providing an emended description, illustrations, and photos of this species. We also designate a lectotype for the name C. anelythra, and provide a morphological comparison with two similar members of the C. meyeriana informal group. Geographic distribution and conservation status are also updated for this species.
Chusquea is the richest genus of Neotropical bamboos, occurring from Mexico to Argentina and Brazil, with 198 accepted species. In Brazil, 49 members of this genus have been recorded, with the Eastern region being its main center of diversity, especially in the states of Bahia, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro. The Espinhaço Range, found within this region, is considered the largest mountain complex in Brazil, including campo rupestre, caatinga, and cerrado vegetation types and transitional types among these, which explains the particular plant diversity of this region. Our recent taxonomic studies on Brazilian Chusquea subg. Chusquea indicated the presence of a new species herein described and illustrated, named C. calderoniae. It is morphologically related to the C. meyeriana informal group, being most similar to C. attenuata, but differing by the shape of the central bud and the length of the spikelet structures. The new species is endemic to the Espinhaço Range, occurring in riparian forest on the flanks of Pico das Almas, Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, and the Diamantina Plateau in Minas Gerais state, associated to campo rupestre vegetation, in contrast to C. attenuata, which occurs in the Atlantic rainforest in the states of Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro.
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