Cortaderia araucana Stapf, Gard. Chron. ser. 3, 22: 396. 1897.

Testoni, Daniel & Linder, H. Peter, 2017, Synoptic taxonomy of Cortaderia Stapf (Danthonioideae, Poaceae), PhytoKeys 76, pp. 39-69 : 47-48

2. Cortaderia araucana Stapf, Gard. Chron. ser. 3, 22: 396. 1897. Fig. 1B

Moorea araucana (Stapf) Stapf, Gard. Chron. ser. 3, 34: 400. 1903. Type: Chile, llanos de Valdivia, 20-XII-1852, W. Lechler 613 (lectotype designated by Connor & Edgar, Taxon 23: 598 (1974): K 000308157!; isolectotypes: P photo!, W photo!, US! fragm. ex K).

Cortaderia quila var. patagonica Speg., Anales Mus. Nac. Buenos Aires 7: 194. 1902. Type: Argentina, Chubut, "non rara in rupestribus secus Carren-leofú, aest. 1899-900", N. Illín s.n. (lectotype, here designated: LP!).

Cortaderia longicauda Hack., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 10 (243-247): 169. 1911. Type: Chile, Valdivia, "Potrero Coihue, I-1861", R. A. Philippi s.n. (lectotype designated as holotype by Connor & Edgar, Taxon 23: 598 (1974): W-1916-0039626 (http://jacq.nhm-wien.ac.at/djatoka/jacq-viewer/viewer.html?rft_id=w_19160039626&identifiers=w_19160039626); isolectotype: BAA!).

Cortaderia araucana var. fuenzalidae Acevedo, Bol. Mus. Nac. Hist. Nat. Santiago de Chile 27(4): 239. 1959. Type: Chile, Curico, Potrero Grande, 5-XI-1943, M. Espinosa s.n. (lectotype, here designated: SGO photo!).

Cortaderia araucana var. skottsbergii Acevedo, Bol. Mus. Nac. Hist. Nat. Santiago de Chile 27(4): 240. 1959. Type: Chile, provincia Chiloé, región del Corcovado, sine data, C. Reiche s.n. (lectotype, here designated: SGO photo!).

Etymology.

- ana, indicating connection. From the Araucania region of Chile.

Common names.

cortadera

Taxonomy.

In the Selloana group, Cortaderia araucana is readily diagnosed by the basal lemmas longer than 12.5 mm and much longer than the glumes. The spikelets are 20-35 mm long and the lemma of the basal floret 14-25 (30) mm long (including awn of 5-11 mm long). The species is found in the southern (austral) Andean region.

Cortaderia araucana includes extensive morphological variation, and both gynodioecious and apomictic populations. This variability led Acevedo Vargas (1959) to recognize three varieties, which are no longer maintained. In northern Patagonia Cortaderia araucana and Cortaderia selloana are sympatric, but the plants of Cortaderia araucana are somewhat smaller, with less lax panicles and flowering in the austral spring (late November and early December), whereas Cortaderia selloana flowers in the austral summer (January and February). Further, the spikelets are different: the glumes are shorter than the basal floret, the lemma may terminate in an awn that arises between two lower lateral setae. The leaf anatomy of both species is similar.

Figures

Figure 1. Lemmas of selected species of Cortaderia. A Cortaderia selloana, Juergens 40 (B) B Cortaderia araucana, Borchers s. n. (US) C Cortaderia speciosa, P. M. Peterson 12766 (US) D Cortaderia vaginata, L. B. Smith, P. R. Reitz & R. Klein 7761 (B) E Cortaderia egmontiana, P. M. Peterson, R. J. Soreng & N. Refulio-Rodriguez 17508 (US) F Cortaderia modesta, A. Chase 8288 (US) G Cortaderia hieronymi, A. Burkart et al. 30395 (P) - note that awn and setae are much longer than illustrated H Cortaderia nitida, S. Laegaard 52786 (K) I Cortaderia sericantha, E. Asplund 17175 (B) J Cortaderia bifida, D. N. Smith & J. Cabanillas 7167 (US) K Cortaderia hapalotricha, J. C. Solomon & R. Chevalier 16620 L Cortaderia columbiana, J. P. Schulz 318 (US). All at same magnification.