''Apoclada'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
ian
bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...
in the
grass family
Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in ...
).
The only known species is ''Apoclada simplex'', found in the forests of southeastern
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
(States of
Santa Catarina,
Paraná, and
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
).
[Renvoize, S. A. 1988. Hatschbach's Paraná Grass. 1–76. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]
The genus was for many years thought to contain four species (''Apoclada cannavieira'', ''A. arenicola'', ''A. diversa'' & ''A. simplex'')[McClure, F. 1973. Genera of Bamboos Native to the New World(Gramineae: Bambusoideae). Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 9: 1–148.] Upon further examination and fieldwork at the collection locality, the single piece of material at the US National Herbarium from which ''A. diversa'' had been described, was found to be merely a deformed stem of ''A. simplex''[Guala, G.F. 1992. All About ''Apoclada'' (Poaceae: Bambusoideae) a monograph of the genus. Thesis presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida.][Guala, G.F. 1995 A cladistic analysis and revision of the genus ''Apoclada'' (Poaceae:Bambusoideae). Systematic Botany 20(3): 207–223] Later, with revised concepts of morphological interpretation in the bamboos and strong molecular evidence[Guala, G.F., D. Bogler, J. Sadle and J. Francisco Ortega 2000. Molecular Evidence for polyphyly in the genus ''Apoclada'' (Poaceae: Bambusoideae). Bamboo Science and Culture 14:(1): 15–20.] it became clear that the two species formerly known as ''A. arenicola'', and ''A. cannavieira'' which are endemic to the cerrado
The Cerrado () is a vast ecoregion of Tropics, tropical savanna in central Brazil, being present in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Maranhão, Piauí, Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Paraná ...
of central Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
are actually unrelated to ''A. simplex'' and are correctly placed in their own genus '' Filgueirasia''.[Guala, G.F. 2003. A new genus of bamboos from the cerrados of Brazil. Bamboo Science and Culture 17(1): 1–3]
The stems of this bamboo grow to more than 13 m tall although half that is more common. Like all bamboos, the upright stems (also called culms) grow from horizontal underground stems called rhizomes. In ''A. simplex'' these rhizomes can be more than 40 cm long, thus although this species is technically a clumping type of bamboo, groves of it often appear much like those of the Asian running bamboos because of the long distance between culms. The culms are light to dark green or sometimes reddish, and about 1.9–4 cm in diameter with internodes every 7–38 cm. The foliage leaf blades are long and thin, 1.3–16.4 cm long and 2–7 mm wide.
;formerly included[
see '' Filgueirasia''
* ''Apoclada arenicola - Filgueirasia arenicola''
* ''Apoclada cannavieira - Filgueirasia cannavieira''
]
See also
*List of Poaceae genera
Poaceae, also known as the true grasses, is the fourth largest plant family in the world with around 12,000 species and roughly 800 genera. They contain, among others, the cereal crop species and other plants of economic importance, such as the b ...
References
External links
Guala, G.F. 2003. A new genus of bamboos from the cerrados of Brazil. Bamboo Science and Culture 17(1): 1-3.
Guala, G.F., D. Bogler, J. Sadle and J. Francisco Ortega 2000. Molecular Evidence for polyphyly in the genus Apoclada (Poaceae: Bambusoideae). Bamboo Science and Culture 14:(1): 15-20.
A photo of ''Apoclada simplex'' near Cacador, Brazil.A photo of the upper (adaxial) leaf surface of ''Apoclada simplex'' taken with a scanning electron microscope.
{{Authority control
Endemic flora of Brazil
Bambusoideae genera
Monotypic Poaceae genera
Taxa named by Floyd Alonzo McClure
Bambusoideae