Four new species of Chusquea (Poaceae:Bambusoideae) from Brazil and Ecuador

Four new species of Chusquea - C. bahiana, C. bradei, C. leonardiorum, and C. loxensis - are described and illustrated. Chusquea bahiana and C. bradei, classified within subg. Rettbergia within Chusquea based on their infravaginal, geniculate branching and spatheate, often contracted inflorescences, are endemic to the Atlantic forests of Bahia and Espirito Santo, Brazil, where they are relatively uncommon. Chusquea leonardiorum and C. loxensis are native to the paramos of southern Ecuador; C. leonardiorum is moderately widespread, but C. loxensis is known from only two populations in the Parque Nacional Podocarpus in the province of Loja. These two species are allied with Chusquea sect. Chusquea based on their erect to arching or scandent habit, extravaginal branching, and relatively numerous subsidiary branches per node.