Hierochloe redolens var. spicata ( Parodi 1941: 196 ) Lema, Sahuquillo & Pimentel, 2021

Lema-Suárez, Irene, Sahuquillo, Elvira & Pimentel, Manuel, 2021, A revision of Hierochloe sect. Monoecia (Anthoxanthinae, Pooideae, Poaceae), Phytotaxa 478 (1), pp. 92-104 : 99-100

4.3. Hierochloe redolens var. spicata ( Parodi 1941: 196) Lema, Sahuquillo & Pimentel comb. nov.

Basionym: Hierochloe spicata Parodi (1941: 196) .

Type: — CHILE. Magallanes, R.A. Philippi s.n. (holotype: BAA-00000185 digital image! ex herb. Parodi no. 13646; isotype: US n.v.) . Homotypic names: Anthoxanthum spicatum (Parodi) Veldkamp in Schouten & Veldkamp (1985: 349).

Description: Perennial grass, 100–130 cm, culms 3–4-noded. Leaf-sheaths shorter than the internodes. Ligules triangular. Leaf-blades 23–35 cm × 8–10 mm wide, glabrous. Panicle up to 15 × 1–1.5 cm wide, spiciform, continuous or interrupted. Lower branches adpressed, geminate. Rhachis glabrous. Spikelets 6–7 mm, cuneate. Glumes lanceolate. Lower glume 5.5 mm long, reaching the apex of the florets, 1-veined. Upper glume 6.5 mm, exceeding the apex of the florets, 3-veined lemma of male florets 5 mm, oblong, papyraceous, truncate or obtuse. Awn 1–1.5 mm, subapically inserted. Lemma of lower male floret scaberulous, scabrous above, ciliate on midvein and ciliolate on margins, 1- keeled, 5-veined, dark brown. Lemma of upper male floret scabrous, ciliolate on margins. Lemma of apical female floret up to 4 mm, membranaceous, pubescent.

Leaf anatomy: Long cells up to 190 μm. Stomata in adaxial surface up to 45 μm. Bulliform cells present. Leaf section with numerous alternate quadrangular and triangular ribs.

Habitat: Sandy soils in coastal areas, 15–20 m a.s.l. ( De Paula 1975).

Distribution: Present only in Chile (from Araucania to Magallanes) ( De Paula 1975).

Genome size and DNA-ploidy levels: 2C = 13.28 pg, 4 x.

Phenology: no dates.

Specimens examined:— CHILE. Araucania Region: Cautin: Temuco 1923 (US-1189418).

Observations: Villalobos et al. (2019) indicated that this taxon should be kept as a species based on the digital image of the type and on previous descriptions by Parodi (1941) and De Paula (1975). However, according to Villalobos et al. (l.c.), all the specimens assigned to this taxon by De Paula (1975) correspond to H. gunckelii . In addition to this, molecular analyses by Lema-Suárez et al. (2018) placed H. spicata in an unresolved clade with all the other varieties of H. redolens .