Guadua londonoae (Poaceae, Bambusoideae), a new bamboo species from the Amazon Basin with remarkably large foliage leaf auricles

Summary A new species of Guadua (Poaceae, Bambusoideae) from the Amazon Basin is described and illustrated. Guadua londonoae is easily distinguished from other species in the genus by a unique combination of primarily vegetative morphological characters. The most prominent diagnostic feature is the size of the auricles on the foliage leaves, which are on average four times longer than the maximum length previously recorded for any Guadua species. This species occurs in the southern and central Amazon rainforest, distributed mainly along the Madeira and Tapajós River Basins, where it grows along forest edges and in gallery forests. A morphological description, illustrations, field photographs and a distribution map are provided.