Bambusa corniculata L.C. Chia & H.L. Fung (1981:368)

Qin, Qiao-Mei, Cai, Zhuo-Yu, Ni, Jing-Bo, Tong, Yi-Hua & Xia, Nian-He, 2022, The floral morphology of four Chinese Bambusa species (Poaceae, Bambusoideae) previously described only from vegetative material, PhytoKeys 213, pp. 143-159 : 143

Bambusa corniculata L.C. Chia & H.L. Fung (1981:368)

Figs 3 , 4

Holotype.

China, Guangdong Province: Guangzhou City, cultivated in South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences (plants originally from Guangxi, Dongxing), 15 August 1978, Nan-Zhu 2599 (IBSC!).

Epitype (designated here).

China, Guangdong Province: Guangzhou City, cultivated in South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 31 March 2016, Qin & Ni QQM 40 (IBSC!).

Description including flowering material.

Culms ca. 8 m tall, 4-7 cm diameter, basally slightly zig-zag, apically drooping; internodes 20-32 cm long, basal ones conspicuously shorter, usually flat and shallowly grooved above branches, plain green, initially white waxy and with caducous sparse hispid hairs; wall ca. 8 mm thick; basal nodes with grey-white sericeous ring-like zones below and above sheath insertion, with short aerial roots. Primary branch bud horizontally elliptic, prophyll margins apically ciliate. Branch complement at lower culm nodes typically with only one branch bearing short, curved, weak, thorny branchlets; at mid-culm with 3 to several branches, central branch dominant. Culm leaf sheath glabrous, apex subtruncate, with a triangular protuberance on one shoulder; auricles unequal, lager auricle oblong or elliptic, ca. 8 mm wide, ca. 3 times larger than smaller one, margin with undulate bristles ca. 1 cm long; ligule ca. 3 mm high, short-fimbriate; blade erect, triangular or narrowly ovate, base 4/5 as wide as sheath apex. Foliage leaf sheath glabrous; auricles absent or tiny, semicircular to ovate, margin with undulate bristles; ligule very low, fimbriate; blade linear to lanceolate, 13-20 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, abaxial surface pubescent, adaxial surface glabrous. Pseudospikelets fasciculate at each node of flowering branches, linear, sessile, basally subtended by several bud-bearing bracts, 2-4 cm long; florets 7-9, middle 2-5 florets fully developed; prophylls ca. 4 mm long, 2-keeled, keels apically sparsely ciliolate; bracts 2-3, lanceolate, 4-6 mm long, glabrous, 1-9-veined, apex acute, mucronate or not; rachilla disarticulating between florets, segments compressed, 2-4 mm long, glabrous, apex ciliolate, lower segments distally inflated, upper segments distally only slightly inflated; glumes 1-3, ovate, ca. 7 mm long, glabrous, adaxial surface puberulent at the upper half, 15-veined, apex acute mucronate; lemma oblong, 8-12 mm long, glabrous, abaxial surface purple-spotted, 18-21-veined, apex acute mucronate, calluses ca. 0.5 mm long, glabrous; palea 8-13 mm long, 2-keeled, keels apically sparsely ciliolate, 4-veined between keels, each side 2-veined; lodicules 3, apex ciliate, anterior 2 obliquely oblong, 2.5-3 mm long, posterior one obovate, ca. 2.5 mm long; stamens 6, filaments filiform, anthers yellow to brownish, 5.5-6 mm long, apex retuse; ovary obovoid, 1.5-2 mm long, apex sparsely hispidulous, styles 3, 0.8-1 mm long, stigmas 3, plumose, 2.5-8 mm long.

Note.

This species is closely related to Bambusa gibba McClure in vegetative morphology. However, B. corniculata can differ from B. gibba by apically acute (versus obtuse) bracts, glabrous (versus puberulent) rachilla segments, apically sparsely ciliolate (versus glabrous) keels of the palea, more veins on the palea and unstalked (versus stalked) ovary.

Figures

Figure 3. Vegetative morphology and pseudospikelets of B. corniculata A clump B clump base C culm internode D thorny branches at culm base E pseudospikelets F culm leaf (abaxial view) G culm leaf (adaxial view) H the distal part of a leafy branch (upper side) I the distal part of a leafy branch (lower side).

Figure 4. Floral morphology of B. corniculata A pseudospikelets B prophyll (abaxial view) C rachilla segment D empty bract (adaxial view) E, F glumes (abaxial view) G lemma (adaxial view) H palea showing glabrous margins I back of palea J pistil K young pistil L lodicules M stamen N terminal floret. D drawn by Qiao-Mei Qin, A-C and E-N drawn by Ding-Han Cui.