Guadua Paraguayana

HABIT:

• Perennial; caespitose.
• Rhizomes short; pachymorph.
• Culms erect; 300–500 cm long; 20–40 mm diam.; woody; with root thorns from the nodes.
• Culm-internodes terete; solid; scaberulous.
• Lateral branches dendroid.
• Leaf-sheath oral hairs ciliate; 3–4 mm long.
• Ligule an eciliate membrane.
• Collar with external ligule.
• Leaf-blade base with a brief petiole-like connection to sheath; petiole pilose.
• Leaf-blades deciduous at the ligule; lanceolate; 5–12 cm long; 8–16 mm wide.
• Leaf-blade venation without cross veins.

 

INFLORESCENCE:

• Inflorescence a panicle.
• Panicle oblong; 5–12 cm long; bearing few spikelets.

 

FERTILE SPIKELETS:

• Spikelets comprising 6–10 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex.
• Spikelets linear; laterally compressed; 40–80 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret.
• Rhachilla internodes obscured by lemmas.

 

GLUMES:

• Glumes persistent; similar; shorter than spikelet.
• Lower glume ovate; 0.5–0.8 length of upper glume; coriaceous; without keels.
• Upper glume ovate; 0.5–0.8 length of adjacent fertile lemma; coriaceous; without keels.

 

FLORETS:

• Fertile lemma ovate; 8–16 mm long; coriaceous; without keel.
• Lemma surface pubescent.
• Lemma apex acute.
• Palea 1 length of lemma.
• Palea keels winged; conspicuously winged.
• Palea surface pubescent; hairy on back.
• Apical sterile florets resembling fertile though underdeveloped.

 

FLOWER:

• Lodicules 3.
• Anthers 6.
• Stigmas 3.
• Ovary umbonate.

 

FRUIT:

• Caryopsis with adherent pericarp.

 

DISTRIBUTION:

• Argentina
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Paraguay
• Venezuela

 

Sources:
GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora
INBAR (International Network for Bamboo and Rattan)