Synoptic taxonomy of Cortaderia Stapf (Danthonioideae, Poaceae) Author Testoni, Daniel Herbario BBB, Departamento de Biologia, Bioquimica y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional del Sur, San Juan 670, CP- 8000 Bahia Blanca, Argentina daniel.testoni@uns.edu.ar Author Linder, H. Peter Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, CH- 8008 Zurich, Switzerland text PhytoKeys 2017 2017-01-11 76 39 69 http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.76.10808 journal article http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.76.10808 1314-2003-76-39 FFBD980EFF8A8924FFD5FF9FFF903809 238999 8. Cortaderia nitida (Kunth) Pilg., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 37: 374. 1906. Figs 1H , 3D Arundo nitida Kunth in Humb. et Bonpl., Nov. Gen. Sp. [H.B.K.] 1: 149. 1816; Gynerium nitidum (Kunth) Pilg., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 27: 31. 1899. Type: Colombia, inter Guachucal et Tuqueres, sine data, A. J. A. Bonpland s.n. (lectotype, designated as holotype by Connor & Edgar, Taxon 23: 600 (1974): B; isolectotypes: BM, K!). Cortaderia sodiroana Hack., Oesterr. Bot. Z. 52: 238. 1902. Type: Ecuador, in reg. silvat. suband., 1872, L. Sodiro s.n. (lectotype, designated by Connor & Edgar, Taxon 23: 600 (1974): W 25246!; isolectotype: US!). A second Sodiro collection, same date and place, on the same sheet as the lectotype [W 25245], does not belong to Cortaderia nitida , and does not fit Haeckel's description. Etymology. niteo (Latin) = shine. It may refer to the persistently intact, more or less white, leaf sheaths. Common names. "Sigse de Paramo" . Taxonomy. Cortaderia nitida is a distinctive grass. It is the tallest and most robust species of this group. The lamina margins are inrolled. The basal sheaths gradually become shorter with age, but do not become lacerated, the leaf blades are scabrid in the upper half but not the lower, and the inflorescence branches which are scaberulous while the pulvini often have a few long hairs (the latter seems to be unique in the genus). The callus usually has very long spreading hairs (more than 2 mm, almost equivalent to the lemma hairs), and the setae are less than 2 mm long. The other tall Cortaderia , Cortaderia bifida , has central awns that are longer than 8 mm, and very well developed setae. The lemma shape is similar to Cortaderia columbiana , but the inflorescence branches are scaberulous in Cortaderia nitida , and villous in Cortaderia columbiana . This species also approaches the Selloana group by it large size, big plumose inflorescences, and especially by the lemma shape. It is easy to confuse the lemmas of the two groups, but in Nitida group the lemmas are 5-7 veined, hairy in both sexes, while in Selloana group the lemmas are 3-veined, hairy in female plants and glabrous in hermaphrodite plants. The plastid sequence data also places this species as sister to the Selloana group, but this is not corroborated by the ITS-based phylogeny. Laegaard (1997) mentions a distinct form of smaller and more delicate plants from the province of Azuay in Ecuador, and with three-nerved glumes, but we have not seen any material of it. The leaf anatomy (Fig. 3D ) is similar to that of Cortaderia boliviensis , and approaches that of Cortaderia sericantha . A well-developed layer of collenchyma is found below the abaxial epidermis, and overall there is little evidence of lignification. It differs from Cortaderia sericantha by the well-developed adaxial grooves and the not quite so massive collenchyma, and by the presence of adaxial papillae.