Cortaderia selloana subsp. selloana

Testoni, Daniel & Linder, H. Peter, 2017, Synoptic taxonomy of Cortaderia Stapf (Danthonioideae, Poaceae), PhytoKeys 76, pp. 39-69 : 46-47

publication ID

https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.76.10808

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/2A7C9D03-2F8D-52A7-B114-4EECA0FEF9CC

treatment provided by

PhytoKeys by Pensoft

scientific name

Cortaderia selloana subsp. selloana
status

 

1a. Cortaderia selloana subsp. selloana Figs 1A View Figure 1 , 2A-B View Figure 2

Common names.

pampas grass, cortadera, cola de zorro, carrizo de las pampas. The origins of the popular name "pampas grass" are somewhat obscure, and do not reflect the ecology of the species ( Stapf 1897).

Taxonomy.

Cortaderia selloana ssp. selloana can be diagnosed by the glumes about as tall as the basal lemma, and lemma without a distinct awn. The plants are generally larger than those of Cortaderia araucana and Cortaderia speciosa , and the panicles are larger (0.5 to 1 m long), more lax, and coloured white, pink or yellowish. The similar size of basal lemmas and glumes (6-15 mm) further separates it from Cortaderia araucana (glumes 9-17 mm long, ca. ½ length of basal lemmas), whereas the larger glumes separate it from Cortaderia speciosa (glumes 6-8 mm, ca. ¾ length of basal lemmas). The large size may also lead to confusion with Cortaderia nitida , but it is easily separated by the larger and laxer panicles, 3-veined, awnless lemmas that are glabrous on hermaphrodite plants; and female plants with tiny staminodes. For the distinction from ssp. jubata see below.

Cortaderia selloana ssp. selloana was originally described as dioecious, but Astegiano et al. (1995) showed that it is gynodioecious, and Testoni and Villamil (2014) recorded several populations with only pistillate individuals (so presumably apomictic) in central and northern Argentina. This subspecies presents the greatest morphological variability and geographical range in the genus. The morphological characterization is also complicated by interbreeding between natural populations and cultivated plants.

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Liliopsida

Order

Poales

Family

Poaceae

Genus

Cortaderia