Guadua sarcocarpa (Poaceae, Bambuseae), a new species of Amazonian bamboo with fleshy fruits
Systematic Botany
1991
Journal Article
16
4
630-638
Parque Nacional del Manu Pakitza new species taxonomy systematics plants grasses Poaceae bamboo Guadua sarcocarpa Guadua weberbaueri morphology distributions Madre de Dios Bibliography
Guadua sarcocarpa, a new species with two subspecies from Amazonian Peru, Brazil, and Bolivia is described and illustrated. It is the first species of Guadua known to have fleshy fruits and the first report of an edible bamboo fruit in the New World. The new species shares 10 distinctive morphological traits with Guadua weberbaueri, an apparent close relative. Guadua sarcocarpa subsp. sarcocarpa and G. sarcocarpa subsp. purpuracea differ primarily in the color and length of the pseudospikelets (stramineous, 3-7 cm long in the former and purplish, 1-3 cm long in the latter), and shape and length of the caryopsis (oblong, apex obtuse to ovate, 4-6 cm long vs. ovate, apex abruptly apiculate, 1.5-2.5 cm long).