Cortaderia bifida Pilg., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 37: 374. 1906.

Testoni, Daniel & Linder, H. Peter, 2017, Synoptic taxonomy of Cortaderia Stapf (Danthonioideae, Poaceae), PhytoKeys 76, pp. 39-69 : 61

13. Cortaderia bifida Pilg., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 37: 374. 1906. Figs 1J , 3H

Cortaderia bifida Pilg., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 37: 374. 1906. Type: Peru, "zwischen den Tambo Yuncacoya und Ramospata (Weg von Sandia nach Chunchusmayo), 2000-2400m", 27 Jul. 1902, A. Weberbauer 1328 (lectotype, designated as holotype by Connor & Edgar, Taxon 23: 597 (1974): B-100217561! (http://ww2.bgbm.org/Herbarium/specimen.cfm?Barcode=B100217561); isolectotype: US!).

Cortaderia aristata Pilg. Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 37: 375. 1906. Type: Peru, Prov. Huamalies, Dep. Huanuco, "Berge südwestlich von Monzon, 3400-3500m", 11 Jul. 1903., A. Weberbauer 3349 (lectotype, designated as holotype by Connor & Edgar, Taxon 23: 597 (1974): B-100217562! (http://ww2.bgbm.org/Herbarium/specimen.cfm?Barcode=B100217562); isolectotypes: K!, US!).

Cortaderia trianae Stapf ex Conert, Syst. Anat. Arundineae 100. 1961. Type: New Granada, February 1892, J. Triana 289 (lectotype, designated as holotype by Conert, Syst. Anat. Arundineae 100 (1961): K!).

Etymology.

bis (Latin) = twice + fidu, divide, this presumably refers to the lemma setae.

Taxonomy.

This species can be diagnosed by the combination of the lacerated sheath bases, the long awns and especially the long setae. The shape of the lemmas with lobes and setae are shared with Cortaderia hapalotricha , and the curly fibrous leaf remains are similar to Cortaderia roraimensis . It is separated from Cortaderia roraimensis by the hairy lemmas and by the much longer awns and setae. It differs from Cortaderia hapalotricha by the glabrous adaxial surface above the ligule and the scaberulous inflorescence branches. From the other tall species, Cortaderia nitida , it can be separated by the longer awns (more than 8 mm long). The long awns and setae result in the inflorescences looking similar to those of Cortaderia peruviana , but the bases of the plants are quite different. Consequently, it can be difficult to determine collections which consist only of inflorescences.

The leaf anatomy (Fig. 3H ), in transverse section, shows shallow abaxial groves and deep adaxial clefts. Adaxially there appear to be no papillae (different from the Cortaderia hapalotricha anatomy). Abaxially below the epidermis are large colourless cells. The outer bundle sheath of the primary vascular bundles are completely lignified. Thus broadly similar to the Cortaderia halalotricha anatomy, but differing in a number of traits.

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 3. Leaf anatomy of Cortaderia, as evident from transverse sections. A Cortaderia egmontiana (Moore 2677) B Cortaderia modesta (Glaziou 17913) C Cortaderia hieronymi (Garcia 563) D Cortaderia nitida (Laegaard 53121) E Cortaderia boliviensis (Beck 11273); F Cortaderia sericantha (Ramsay 967); G Cortaderia echinata (Peterson 21587) H Cortaderia bifida (Renvoize 4202) I Cortaderia hapalotricha (Laegaard 53305) J Cortaderia roraimensis (Maguire 60448). Structures referred to in the descriptions are labelled as follows: 1, multi-layered abaxial sub-epidermal collenchyma layer; 2, adaxial islands of collenchyma in the abaxial grooves; 3, chlorenchyma; 4, primary vascular bundle; 5, midrib.