A Taxonomic Revision of Otatea (Poaceae: Bambusoideae: Bambuseae) Including Four New Species

Previous molecular and morphological phylogenetic analyses, character-based analysis and ecological niche modeling identified seven monophyletic groups formed by populations of Otatea, a Neotropical woody bamboo genus belonging to subtribe Guaduinae. Thus the genus comprises at present seven species, four of them new to science. These four new Mesoamerican species are here described and illustrated: Otatea carrilloi from Chiapas, O. ximenae from Oaxaca, O. reynosoana from the Pacific slopes of Guerrero, Jalisco and Nayarit and O. transvolcanica from the Transmexican Volcanic Belt. A comprehensive taxonomic revision of the genus Otatea is presented based on collections for this project and on herbarium specimens.