Nordic Journal of Botany 32: 468–470, 2014 doi: 10.1111/j.1756-1051.2013.00979.x, © 2014 The Authors Nordic Journal of Botany © 2014 Nordic Society Oikos Subject Editor: Torbjörn Tyler Accepted May 2012 Cephalostachyum chevalieri a new synonym of Kinabaluchloa wrayi (Poaceae: Bambusoideae), and a new bamboo record for Vietnam Van Tien Tran, Nian-He Xia, Hoang Nghia Nguyen and My Hanh Diep V T Tran and N.-H Xia (nhxia@scbg.ac.cn), Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and Sustainable Utilization/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Digital Botanical Garden, South China Botanical Garden, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, CN-510650 Guangzhou, China – H N Nguyen, Forest Science Inst of Vietnam, Dong Ngac, Tu Liem, Hanoi, Vietnam – M H Diep, Ho Chi Minh City Univ of Natural Science, 227 Nguyen Van Cu, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Cephalostachyum chevalieri A Camus is found to be a new synonym of Kinabaluchloa wrayi (Stapf ) K M Wong, extending the species range from the Malay Peninsula to Vietnam Its type, Chevalier 4485, and other specimens collected from the type locality, have the same culm leaf, pseudo-spikelet and flower characteristics as K wrayi The genus Kinabaluchloa K M Wong (Wong 1993) was separated from Bambusa to accommodate two species, K wrayi (Stapf ) K M Wong and K nebulosa K M Wong in Malaysia Whereas K wrayi was only recorded from Peninsular Malaysia, K nebulosa is known only in Borneo, recorded from Sabah and Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo) and Brunei Kinabaluchloa is distinguished from Schizostachyum Nees, which it otherwise superficially resembles in its branch complement of many subequal branches developing from a single culm bud, by ovaries that are slightly hairy at the apex, from which three stigmas arise directly, and the presence of a vestigial terminal flower in the pseudo-spikelet Of the two species, K wrayi is characterised by one perfect flower, whereas K nebulosa has two perfect flowers (Wong 1993, 1995) Cephalostachyum chevalieri A Camus was proposed based on the type specimen Chevalier 4485 – a flowering branch collected by Poilane in the Nha Trang Mountains (Camus 1943) Very few diagnostic characters were given in the protologue of this species, only the presence of an apical sterile floret, two stigmas in the flower, and an ovary with a steeple-like appendage on a pubescent apex were mentioned, but no descriptions of the culm leaves were provided With this information alone, it was not possible to directly compare this species with Kinabaluchloa Recently, it we got the possibility to examine the type material of C chevalieri, isotype material of K wrayi (kept at P) and compare these with our collections from the type locality at Mount Hon Ba (Khanh Hoa Province) and from Mount Bidoup (Lam Dong Province) near the type locality The branch complement of many subequal branches developing from a single culm bud was generally similar in these collections (Fig 1A, D) The culm leaves of the 468 Vietnamese material were essentially similar in all aspects to that described for K wrayi (Wong 1993, 1995) and bear a ring of spreading pale bristles at their base around the culm node (Fig 1B) and have narrowly linear blades (Fig 1C) and low rim-like auricles bearing stiff pale bristles Dissection of pseudo-spikelets from the Paris isotype confirmed the presence of one perfect flower and a terminal vestigial flower in the pseudo-spikelet (Fig 1F), lodicules (Fig 1G) and stigmas in the sole perfect flower (Fig 1H), as was found in K wrayi It is clear that C chevalieri does not belong in Cephalostachyum Munro, which is a genus characterised by very long-awned bracts and glumes at the base of pseudospikelets that are tightly aggregated into a terminal ball-like head, and two stigmas (Holttum 1958, Xia 1993, Wong 2004, Yang et al 2007) Instead, C chevalieri belongs in Kinabaluchloa and appear synonymous to K wrayi, as described above Kinabaluchloa wrayi (Stapf) K M Wong (1993) Basionym: Bambusa wrayi Stapf, Bull Misc Inform Kew (1893, p 14) Type: Malay Peninsula, Perak, Gunong Inas, Wray 4166 (holotype: K, isotypes: P, SING) Taxonomic synonym: Cephalostachyum chevalieri A Camus (1943, p 74) syn nov Type: Annam, A Chevalier 4485 (holotype: P) Figure (A) branch complement at a node from V T Tran 704, (B) node with culm leaf removed Note ring of spreading bristles from V T Tran 703, (C) culm leaf with reflexed linear blade from V T Tran 703, (D) type specimen of Cephalostachyum chevalieri, Chevalier 4485 (P), (E) single pseudo-spikelet from (P), (F) flower with palea addorsed to a rachilla internode bearing a vestigial terminal flower, from (P), (G) lodicules from (P), (H) stigmas from (P) Distribution Additional specimens examined Malay Peninsula: Peninsular Malaysia Borneo: Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei (Wong 1995) Vietnam: Hon Ba Mountain (Khanh Hoa Province), Bidoup Mountain (Lam Dong Province), Chu Yang Sin (Kon Tum Province), in montane forest at elevations between 500 and 1600 m a.s.l Vietnam, Khanh Hoa Province, Hon Ba Mountain, 500 m a.s.l., 15 Jul 2009, V T Tran 703 (FSIV ϭ Forest Science Inst of Vietnam), 15 Jul 2009, V T Tran 7031 (IBSC); Vietnam, Lam Dong Province, Bidoup Mountain, 1550 m a.s.l., 15 Dec 2009, V T Tran 704 (FSIV) 15 Dec 2009, V T Tran 7041 (IBSC) 469 Acknowledgements – This work was supported by the South China Botanical Garden (SCBG), the SEP Bamboos Project and Forest Science Institute of Vietnam (FSIV) We gratefully acknowledge Dr K M Wong (Singapore Botanic Garden) for helpful comments on early drafts of the manuscript We also thank the Board of the Muséum National d/Histoire Naturelle Paris, as well as Prof Jean-Noel Labat, Dr Sovanmoly Hul, and Dr Thomas Haevermans for their kind help in locating specimens References Camus, A 1943 Cephalostachyum chevalieri A Camus, bamboo nouveau de L’Indochine – Bull Soc Bot Fr 94: 74–75 470 Holttum, R E 1958 The bamboos of the Malay Peninsula – Gard Bull Singap 16: 1–135 Wong, K M 1993 Four new genera of bamboos (Gramineae: Bambusoideae) from Malesia – Kew Bull 48: 517–532 Wong, K M 1995 The bamboos of Peninsular Malaysia – For Res Inst Malaysia, pp 150–151 Wong, K M 2004 Bamboo, the amazing grass A guide to the diversity and study of bamboos in southeast Asia – Int Plant Genet Resour Inst., Univ of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur Xia, N H 1993 Studies on the genus Schizostachyum and other bamboos from China – J Trop Subtrop Bot 1: 1–10 Yang, H Q et al 2007 Generic delimitations of Schizostachyum and its allies (Gramineae: Bambusoideae) inferred from GBSSI and trnL-F sequence phylogenies – Taxon 56: 45–54 ... well as Prof Jean-Noel Labat, Dr Sovanmoly Hul, and Dr Thomas Haevermans for their kind help in locating specimens References Camus, A 1943 Cephalostachyum chevalieri A Camus, bamboo nouveau de L’Indochine... (H) stigmas from (P) Distribution Additional specimens examined Malay Peninsula: Peninsular Malaysia Borneo: Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei (Wong 1995) Vietnam: Hon Ba Mountain (Khanh Hoa Province),... The bamboos of Peninsular Malaysia – For Res Inst Malaysia, pp 150–151 Wong, K M 2004 Bamboo, the amazing grass A guide to the diversity and study of bamboos in southeast Asia – Int Plant Genet