Discovery of the first succulent bamboo (Poaceae, Bambusoideae) in a new genus from Laos’ karst areas, with a unique adaptation to seasonal drought

Thomas Haevermans (1) , Dulce Mantuano (1, 2) , Meng-Yuan Zhou (3) , Vichith Lamxay (4) , Agathe Haevermans (1) , Patrick Blanc (5) , De-Zhu Li (3)

1 ISYEB - Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité
2 UFRJ - Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
3 KIB - Kunming Institute of Botany [CAS]
4 National University of Laos
5 CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Lush jungle flagship species, woody bamboos (Poaceae-Bambusoideae) are famed for their synchronous flowering as well as the extensive "bamboo forests" some species can form in tropical or temperate environments. In portions of their natural distribution, Bambusoideae members developed various adaptations to seasonality in environmental parameters, such as frost or seasonal drought. A new taxon, Laobambos calcareus, described here, is extremely novel in showing the first documented case of succulence in bamboos, with its ability to seasonally vary the volume of its stem depending on the quantity of water stored. Anatomical studies presented in this paper document this specificity at the cellular level. Though no flowers or fruits are known yet, unique morphological characteristics along with an investigation of its phylogenetic affinities using molecular data show that this new taxon should belong to a new genus herein described.

Keywords: Bambusinae; desiccation tolerance; genetic resources; xerophyte

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Biodiversity; Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Vegetal Biology; Botanics

Thomas Haevermans, Dulce Mantuano, Meng-Yuan Zhou, Vichith Lamxay, Agathe Haevermans, et al.. Discovery of the first succulent bamboo (Poaceae, Bambusoideae) in a new genus from Laos’ karst areas, with a unique adaptation to seasonal drought. PhytoKeys, 2020, 156, pp.125 - 137. ⟨10.3897/phytokeys.156.51636⟩. ⟨mnhn-03027685⟩