Monocladus Chia, Fung & Yang
Habit, vegetative morphology. Perennial. The flowering culms leafy. Culms 100–500 cm high; woody and persistent; to 1.5 cm in diameter; branched above. Primary branches/mid-culm node 1. Culm internodes solid. Unicaespitose. Rhizomes pachymorph. Leaves not basally aggregated; auriculate; with auricular setae. Leaf blades linear-lanceolate to lanceolate; subcoriaceous; broad; 35–80 mm wide (and 20–40 cm long); pseudopetiolate; minutely cross veined; disarticulating from the sheaths.
Reproductive organization. Plants bisexual, with bisexual spikelets; with hermaphrodite florets.
Inflorescence. Inflorescence indeterminate; with pseudospikelets; spatheate.
Female-fertile spikelets. Spikelets disarticulating above the glumes; disarticulating between the florets. Rachilla prolonged beyond the uppermost female-fertile floret.
Glumes two; shorter than the spikelets; shorter than the adjacent lemmas; pointed; similar. Spikelets with incomplete florets. The incomplete florets distal to the female-fertile florets. The distal incomplete florets merely underdeveloped. Spikelets without proximal incomplete florets.
Lemmas entire; pointed; awnless. Palea present; relatively long (in the first floret, and leathery), or conspicuous but relatively short (in the other florets, and membranous). Lodicules present; 3; free; glabrous. Stamens 6. Anthers not penicillate; without an apically prolonged connective. Ovary glabrous; without a conspicuous apical appendage. Styles basally fused. Stigmas 3.
Taxonomy. Bambusoideae; Bambusodae; Bambuseae.
Distribution, ecology, phytogeography. 4 species; southern China. Glycophytic.
Paleotropical. Indomalesian. Indo-Chinese.
References, etc. Morphological/taxonomic: Chia, Fung and Yang 1988.
Special comments. Cf. Indosasa, Schizostachyum. The ovary apex (not mentioned in the original, unsatisfactory Latin descriptions) is assumed to be unappendaged. The only other difference from Schizostachyum is the glabrous lodicules. Fruit data wanting. Anatomical data wanting.
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).