GUADUA-SARCOCARPA (POACEAE, BAMBUSEAE), A NEW SPECIES OF AMAZONIAN BAMBOO WITH FLESHY FRUITS

Guadua sarcocarpa, a new species with two subspecies from Amazonian Peru, Brazil, and Bolivia is described and illustrated. It is the first species of Guadua known to have fleshy fruits and the first report of an edible bamboo fruit in the New World. The new species shares 10 distinctive morphological traits with Guadua weberbaueri, an apparent close relative. Guadua sarcocarpa subsp. sarcocarpa and G. sarcocarpa subsp. purpuracea differ primarily in the color and length of the pseudospikelets (stramineous, 3-7 cm long in the former and purplish, 1-3 cm long in the latter), and shape and length of the caryopsis (oblong, apex obtuse to ovate, 4-6 cm long vs. ovate, apex abruptly apiculate, 1.5-2.5 cm long).