Cortaderia vaginata Swallen, Sellowia 7: 9. 1956.

Testoni, Daniel & Linder, H. Peter, 2017, Synoptic taxonomy of Cortaderia Stapf (Danthonioideae, Poaceae), PhytoKeys 76, pp. 39-69 : 55

7. Cortaderia vaginata Swallen, Sellowia 7: 9. 1956. Figs 1D , 2D,G

Type.

Brasil, Santa Catarina, Bom Retiro , Campo dos Padres, 16 Dec. 1948, R. Reitz 2398 (lectotype, designated as holotype by Connor & Edgar, Taxon 23: 603 (1974): US 00133444!; isolectotype: HBR).

Etymology.

vagina (Latin) = sheath. Possibly referring to the conspicuous leaf-sheaths, a feature that is common to most of the genus.

Common names.

Penacho, Capim-Penacho.

Taxonomy.

According to Swallen (1956) this species resembles Cortaderia parviflora , but differs by the glabrous lemmas and long-villous calli. It is unusual among the species assigned to Cortaderia by the glabrous lemma, and the almost glabrous pedicels and inflorescence axes. This species may be a local endemic, and might be quite rare. It is probably most closely related to Cortaderia modesta , which also has a reduced awn, but differs by the sheaths which are lacerated, lax panicles (without axillary panicles), and the glabrous lemma. Geographically it can be immediately identified as the only Cortaderia species from Santa Catarina in southern Brazil.

The leaf anatomy is identical to that of Cortaderia modesta , except that all sections appear to have large empty cells in the middle of the leaf (Fig. 2D ), between the vascular bundles. These were seen on some sections of Cortaderia modesta , but rarely.

Figures

Figure 1. Lemmas of selected species of Cortaderia. A Cortaderia selloana, Juergens 40 (B) B Cortaderia araucana, Borchers s. n. (US) C Cortaderia speciosa, P. M. Peterson 12766 (US) D Cortaderia vaginata, L. B. Smith, P. R. Reitz & R. Klein 7761 (B) E Cortaderia egmontiana, P. M. Peterson, R. J. Soreng & N. Refulio-Rodriguez 17508 (US) F Cortaderia modesta, A. Chase 8288 (US) G Cortaderia hieronymi, A. Burkart et al. 30395 (P) - note that awn and setae are much longer than illustrated H Cortaderia nitida, S. Laegaard 52786 (K) I Cortaderia sericantha, E. Asplund 17175 (B) J Cortaderia bifida, D. N. Smith & J. Cabanillas 7167 (US) K Cortaderia hapalotricha, J. C. Solomon & R. Chevalier 16620 L Cortaderia columbiana, J. P. Schulz 318 (US). All at same magnification.

Figure 2. Leaf anatomy of Cortaderia, as evident from transverse sections. A-B Cortaderia selloana (Villamil 11738) C Cortaderia speciosa (Testoni 644) D Cortaderia vaginata (Zanin 1654). Comparison of bulliform cells in Egmontiana group: E Cortaderia egmontiana (Testoni 634) F Cortaderia modesta (Carauta 927) G Cortaderia vaginata (Zanin 1654). Structures referred to in the descriptions are labelled as follows: 1, multi-layered abaxial sub-epidermal collenchyma layer; 2, aerenchyma; 3, chlorenchyma; 4, primary vascular bundle; 5, midrib; 6, colourless cells; 7, empty cells; 8, bulliform cells.