Skip to main content

Elegant bamboo (Temochloa elegans) and liliana bamboo (Temochloa liliana) strengthen the genus

Elegant bamboo (Temochloa elegans) and liliana bamboo (Temochloa liliana) strengthen the genus

NEWS - Elegant bamboo (Temochloa elegans) and elegant bare bamboo (Temochloa elegans var. glabra) are new members and strengthen the genus that previously only had liliana bamboo (Temochloa liliana S. Dransf, 2000). The new taxa were found in limestone habitats in southwest Guangxi, China, and northeast Vietnam.

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Guangzhou, Guiyang Vocational and Technical College in Guiyang and Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology in Hanoi described new species and varieties that strengthen the genus Temochloa into two species with two varieties.

Neomicrocalamus Keng f. and Temochloa S. Dransf. are two genera of climbing bamboos (Poaceae, Bambusoideae, Bambuseae) that are only distributed in limestone areas that are phylogenetically sister groups. The morphology has several similar characters, such as short-necked pachymorph rhizomes, climbing stems and ambiguous inflorescence structures.

Neomicrocalamus has semelauctant ‘inflorescences’, but at the same time, the basic unit of the inflorescence is a pseudospikelet because there are basal prophylls and bracts. This description is very confusing because the semelauctant and iterauctant conditions are very contrasting.

The researchers analyzed newly collected specimens from China and Vietnam to re-examine the ‘inflorescence’ structure of Neomicrocalamus and Temochloa. The new bamboo is more similar to Temochloa and grows at very low elevations (50-250 meters), while Neomicrocalamus is only found above 1000 meters.

Phylogenetic evidence suggests that the new bamboo originated from introgressive hybridization between Temochloa liliana S. Dransf. and Neomicrocalamus prainii. The newly discovered bamboo inherited 80.7% of its genome from the genetically more closely related T. liliana.

T. elegans has short-necked pachymorph rhizomes, creeping stems, solitary and nearly circular primary branchlets, branchial appendages with numerous short branches and nearly equal to the dominant central branch, occasionally repeating and approaching the size of the stem, pseudospikelets with 2-4 fertile florets, 6 stamens with notched anther tips, 3 stigmas and a caryopsis.

The species resembles T. liliana, but differs in solid (vs. hollow) stem segments, hairy (vs. glabrous) profiles on pseudospikelets, paleae longer (vs. as long) than lemmas, and palea tips that are pointed to slightly blunt (vs. 2-lobed). The species is found in southwestern Guangxi, China, and northeastern Vietnam at elevations of 210 meters.

T. elegans is found in only two localities and is not very common there so the number of mature clumps is limited. The Vietnamese population is well protected in Nature Reserves, while the Chinese population is scattered along highways and not in any protected areas. This species should be categorized as Near Threatened (NT).

T. elegans var. glabra can be distinguished from T. elegans var. elegans by its glabrous leaf sheaths and glabrous leaf ligules. The specific epithet refers to the glabrous sheaths and ligules. This taxon is found in limestone areas in northeastern Vietnam at elevations of 140-210 meters.

To date, T. elegans var. glabra is only known from one site in Vietnam and fewer than 10 clumps have been found. Inadequate field surveys have led researchers to propose a status in the category of Data Deficient (DD).

Original research

Cai Z-Y, Zhang Y-Y, Tong Y-H, Vu TC, Xia N-H (2024) Temochloa (Poaceae, Bambusoideae), a newly-recorded bamboo genus for China and Vietnam, with new taxa and a re-interpretation of flowering structures. PhytoKeys 246: 229-236, DOI:10.3897/phytokeys.246.129035
Labels:

Popular Posts

Black potato (Coleus rotundifolius)

Black potato ( Coleus rotundifolius ) is a species of plant in Lamiaceae, herbaceous, fibrous roots and tubers, erect and slightly creeping stems, quadrangular, thick, and slightly odorous. Single leaves, thick, membranous, opposite and alternate. Leaves are oval, dark green and shiny on the upper side, bright green on the lower side. Up to 5 cm long, up to 4 cm wide, slightly hairy and pinnate leaf veins. Leaf stalks up to 4 cm long. Small, purple flowers. Star-shaped petals, lip-shaped crown, dark to light purple with a slightly curved tube shape. Flowering from February-August. Small tubers, brown and white flesh and tuber length 2-4 cm. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Lamiaceae Subfamily: Nepetoideae Tribe: Ocimeae Subtribe: Plectranthinae Genus: Coleus Species: Coleus rotundifolius
Read more

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake

NEWS - Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) create bubble net tools while foraging, consisting of internal tangential rings, and actively control the number of rings, their size, depth and horizontal spacing between the surrounding bubbles. These structural elements of the net increase prey intake sevenfold. Researchers have known that humpback whales create “bubble nets” for hunting, but the new report shows that the animals also manipulate them in a variety of ways to maximize catches. The behavior places humpbacks among the rare animals that make and use their own tools. “Many animals use tools to help them find food, but very few actually make or modify these tools themselves,” said Lars Bejder, director of the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP), University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Humpback whales in southeast Alaska create elaborate bubble nets to catch krill. They skillfully blow bubbles in patterns that form a web with internal rings. They actively control details such ...
Read more

Matchbox bean (Entada phaseoloides)

Matchbox Bean ( Entada phaseoloides ) is a species in the Fabaceae family, a large woody liana with stems up to 18 cm in diameter, dark brown, rough bark, laterally flattened, and spirally twisted. The leaves are bipinnate, up to 25 cm long, with 1-2 pairs of minor leaflets, each divided into 1-2 pairs of pinnules. The pinnules are somewhat leathery, asymmetrical or oblique, up to 10 cm long and 5 cm wide. The inflorescence is a spike-shaped, about 25-30 cm long, bearing numerous sessile flowers. The individual flowers are very small, about 1.2 mm in diameter. The five petals, green with reddish bases, are 3-4 mm long, and the stamens are about 7 mm long. The fruit is a very large, flattened, woody pod or capsule, about 1-1.2 m long and 12 cm wide. It is usually slightly curved and linear, with about 12 segments, each containing a single seed. The seeds are lens-shaped, shiny brown, smooth, 5-6 cm wide and 1-1.5 cm thick. Filipinos used gugo before commercial shampoos were available ...
Read more