Teinostachyum Munro
Sometimes referred to Schizostachyum
Habit, vegetative morphology. Perennial; caespitose. The flowering culms leafy. Culms 400–1000 cm high; woody and persistent; to 3 cm in diameter; not scandent (shrubby or arborescent); branched above. Primary branches/mid-culm node many. Young shoots extravaginal. Leaves not basally aggregated. Leaf blades broad; 10–50 mm wide (15–30 cm long); cordate, or not cordate, not sagittate; pseudopetiolate (the blade recurved); without cross venation (but with bridging by pellucid glands); disarticulating from the sheaths; rolled in bud; an unfringed membrane.
Reproductive organization. Plants bisexual, with bisexual spikelets; with hermaphrodite florets.
Inflorescence. Inflorescence indeterminate; with pseudospikelets (?); paniculate (spikelets in spike-like panicles); spatheate; a complex of ‘partial inflorescences’ and intervening foliar organs. Spikelet-bearing axes paniculate (the spike-like panicles on leafy branches); persistent. Spikelets not secund.
Female-fertile spikelets. Spikelets 15–75 mm long; disarticulating above the glumes; disarticulating between the florets. Rachilla prolonged beyond the uppermost female-fertile floret; the rachilla extension with incomplete florets.
Glumes one per spikelet, or two; shorter than the adjacent lemmas; awnless. Spikelets with incomplete florets. The incomplete florets both distal and proximal to the female-fertile florets. The distal incomplete florets merely underdeveloped. Spikelets with proximal incomplete florets. The proximal incomplete florets 1. The proximal lemmas shortly awned, or awnless (but mucronate); similar in texture to the female-fertile lemmas.
Female-fertile florets 2–10 (? ‘few to many’). Lemmas similar in texture to the glumes; not becoming indurated; entire; pointed; mucronate to awned. Awns when present, 1; apical; much shorter than the body of the lemma. Lemmas 9–11 nerved. Palea present; several nerved (5–9); 2-keeled. Palea keels hairy (ciliate). Lodicules present; 3; free; membranous; ciliate, or glabrous; not toothed; heavily vascularized (with 3–9 nerves). Stamens 6. Anthers not penicillate; with the connective apically prolonged, or without an apically prolonged connective. Ovary glabrous; with a conspicuous apical appendage. The appendage long, stiff and tapering. Styles fused. Stigmas 2, or 3.
Fruit, embryo and seedling. Fruit free from both lemma and palea. Pericarp thick and hard (crustaceous); free.
Abaxial leaf blade epidermis. Costal/intercostal zonation conspicuous. Papillae present (numerous, costally and intercostally). Intercostal papillae over-arching the stomata; several per cell (tall, variable in size and irregular in shape, thick-walled). Long-cells of similar wall thickness costally and intercostally (thin walled). Mid-intercostal long-cells rectangular; having markedly sinuous walls. Microhairs present; clearly two-celled, or uniseriate (occasionally three-celled); panicoid-type (some with 2 basal cells); (57–)63–66(–69) microns long; (5.1–)6–6.6(–7.8) microns wide at the septum. Microhair total length/width at septum 8.8–12.9. Microhair apical cells (27–)28.5–30(–33) microns long. Microhair apical cell/total length ratio 0.43–0.53. Stomata common (in bands alongside the veins); 24–27 microns long. Intercostal short-cells common; in cork/silica-cell pairs; silicified. Intercostal silica bodies tall-and-narrow, or crescentic, or saddle shaped (the saddles mostly imperfect). Numerous, bulbous-based, tiny-pointed ‘prickles’ present. Costal short-cells predominantly paired (plus a few short rows). Costal silica bodies saddle shaped (abundant), or tall-and-narrow (a few), or oryzoid (a few); not sharp-pointed.
Transverse section of leaf blade, physiology. C3; XyMS+. Mesophyll with adaxial palisade; with arm cells; with fusoids. The fusoids external to the PBS. Leaf blade adaxially flat (except beside midrib). Midrib conspicuous (large); having complex vascularization. Bulliforms present in discrete, regular adaxial groups; in simple fans. All the vascular bundles accompanied by sclerenchyma. Combined sclerenchyma girders present (with all the bundles); forming ‘figures’ (all bundles). Sclerenchyma all associated with vascular bundles.
Taxonomy. Bambusoideae; Bambusodae; Bambuseae.
Distribution, ecology, phytogeography. 3 species; India.
Paleotropical. Indomalesian. Indian.
References, etc. Leaf anatomical: this project.
Special comments. Fruit data wanting.
Illustrations. • Abaxial epidermis of leaf blade
Cite this publication as: Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M. J. (1992 onwards). ‘Grass Genera of the World: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval; including Synonyms, Morphology, Anatomy, Physiology, Phytochemistry, Cytology, Classification, Pathogens, World and Local Distribution, and References.’ http://biodiversity.uno.edu/delta/. Version: 18th August 1999. Dallwitz (1980), Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993 onwards, 1998), and Watson and Dallwitz (1994), and Watson, Dallwitz, and Johnston (1986) should also be cited (see References).
