A New Species of Chusquea sect. Tenellae (Poaceae: Bambusoideae: Bambuseae) from the Bolivian Yungas

Elizabeth K. McMurchie; Maira T. Martinez-Ugarteche; Iván  Jiménez-Pérez; Lynn G. Clark

doi:10.3417/20261039

Elizabeth K. McMurchie Iowa State University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4917-4314
Maira T. Martinez-Ugarteche Universidad Autónoma Gabriel René Moreno and Herbario del Oriente Boliviano (USZ), Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0728-1151
Iván Jiménez-Pérez El Alto, Bolivia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4501-3342
Lynn G. Clark Iowa State University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5564-4688

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3417/20261039

Keywords: Chusquea, Chusqueinae, Neotropical woody bamboo, Poaceae, submontane forests

Abstract

A new species, Chusquea beckii L. G. Clark & McMurchie (Poaceae: Bambusoideae: Bambuseae), is described from herbarium specimens collected in the department of La Paz, Bolivia. This species is most similar to the Bolivian endemic C. ovatifolia Attigala, A. Fuentes & L. G. Clark of Chusquea Kunth sect. Tenellae L. G. Clark, but differs from this species in that it bears branch complements of just two subsidiary branches, the foliage leaves and spikelets are larger in size, the foliage leaves bear sheath summit extensions on both sides of the blade, glumes I and II are scabrous-pubescent, glume III is no more than two fifths the spikelet length, and the synflorescence is weakly paniculate. Due to its restricted range and ongoing land conversion for agriculture within the Bolivian Yungas forests where C. beckii lives, this species is preliminarily assessed as Endangered (EN) under IUCN Red List guidelines.