Chusquea

Chusquea is a genus of evergreen bamboos in the grass family. Most of them are native to mountain habitats in Latin America, from Mexico to southern Chile and Argentina.

They are sometimes referred to as South American mountain bamboos. Unlike most other grasses, the stems of these species are solid, not hollow. Some animals are, to various extents, associated with stands of Chusquea, for example the Inca wren, monito del monte, and the plushcap.

Notable species
Chusquea culeou, the Chilean feather bamboo or colihue cane, from southern Chile and adjacent western Argentina, is notable as the most frost-tolerant South American bamboo and the only one that has been grown successfully to any extent in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, with successful growth as an ornamental plant north to Scotland. The colihue cane was used by the Mapuches Indians to make instruments and as lances during the War of Arauco.

Chusquea quila (in Spanish quila), in contrast to Colihue, has a spreading or vining growth. It prefers wet places and does not grow above 500 m, where C. culeou becomes more dominant. Chusquea quila can form pure stands called quilantales. Very few plants can grow under this species.

In Chile, Chusquea species have been historically harvested for seed by indigenous peoples, but the flowering and seeds of the species, is associated to mice vermin.

Taxonomy
The genus Chusquea now includes species formerly classified in Dendragrostis, Rettbergia, Swallenochloa, and Neurolepis. The genus has been organized into three subgenera, subg. Rettbergia, subg. Swallenochloa and subg. Chusquea, although molecular evidence only supports a monophyletic subg. Rettbergia.

Species
193 species are accepted: • # Chusquea abietifolia – Caribbean

• # Chusquea acuminata – Brazil (Rio de Janeiro state)

• # Chusquea acuminatissima – Colombia and Venezuela

• # Chusquea albilanata – Colombia and Ecuador

• # Chusquea amistadensis – Costa Rica and Panama

• # Chusquea andina – central and southern Chile

• # Chusquea anelythra – eastern Brazil

• # Chusquea anelythroides – southeastern Brazil

• # Chusquea angusta – Colombia, Venezuela, and Guyana

• # Chusquea angustifolia – eastern Colombia to western Venezuela

• # Chusquea annagardneriae – Ecuador

• # Chusquea antioquensis – central Colombia

• # Chusquea aperta – Mexico (Veracruz and Oaxaca)

• # Chusquea arachniformis – north-central Colombia

• # Chusquea argentina – south-central and southern Chile to southwestern Argentina

• # Chusquea aristata – southwest Colombia to Peru

• # Chusquea aspera – Peru

• # Chusquea asymmetrica – Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia

• # Chusquea attenuata – Brazil (Minas Gerais state)

• # Chusquea aurea – Venezuela

• # Chusquea baculifera – southeastern Brazil

• # Chusquea bahiana – eastern Brazil

• # Chusquea bambusoides – eastern and southern Brazil

• # Chusquea barbata – Peru

• # Chusquea bilimekii – Mexico (Mexico and Veracruz states)

• # Chusquea bradei – Brazil (Bahia and Espirito Santo states)

• # Chusquea caparaoensis – Brazil (Minas Gerais state)

• # Chusquea capitata – southeastern and southern Brazil

• # Chusquea capituliflora – southeastern and southern Brazil

• # Chusquea ciliata – central Chile

• # Chusquea ciliatifolia – Brazil (southeastern Bahia and northeastern Minas Gerais states)

• # Chusquea circinata – Mexico (Sinaloa to Chiapas states)

• # Chusquea clarkiae – Colombia

• # Chusquea clemirae – Brazil (Bahia state)

• # Chusquea contrerasii – Mexico (Jalisco)

• # Chusquea coronalis – Mexico (Chiapas) to Costa Rica

• # Chusquea cortesii – central and southern Mexico and Guatemala

• # Chusquea costaricensis – Costa Rica

• # Chusquea culeou – central and southern Chile, southwestern Argentina

• # Chusquea cumingii – central Chile

• # Chusquea cylindrica – Trinidad

• # Chusquea decolorata – Peru

• # Chusquea deficiens – central Bolivia to northwestern Argentina

• # Chusquea deflexa – El Salvador and Honduras

• # Chusquea delicatula – Peru and Bolivia

• # Chusquea depauperata – Peru and Bolivia

• # Chusquea diversiglumis – Venezuela and northern Brazil

• # Chusquea dombeyana – Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru

• # Chusquea egluma – Argentina (Salta Province)

• # Chusquea elata – southern Ecuador

• # Chusquea enigmatica – Mexico (San Luis Potosí and Veracruz states)

• # Chusquea erecta – Brazil (São Paulo state)

• # Chusquea exasperata – Ecuador and Peru

• # Chusquea falcata – Ecuador

• # Chusquea fasciculata – Brazil (Minas Gerais)

• # Chusquea fendleri – Venezuela

• # Chusquea fernandeziana – Juan Fernandez Islands and central Chile

• # Chusquea fimbriligulata – Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru

• # Chusquea floribunda – southern Bolivia and northwestern Argentina (Jujuy and Salta provinces)

• # Chusquea foliosa – Costa Rica and Panama

• # Chusquea fruticosa – Brazil (Minas Gerais state)

• # Chusquea galeottiana – Mexico (Guerrero and Oaxaca states)

• # Chusquea gamarrae – Peru

• # Chusquea gibcooperi – Mexico (Hidalgo, Veracruz, and Puebla states)

• # Chusquea gigantea – Chile (La Araucania)

• # Chusquea glauca – Mexico (Veracruz state)

• # Chusquea glomerata – Colombia and Venezuela

• # Chusquea gouveiensis – Brazil (Minas Gerais state)

• # Chusquea gracilis – Brazil (Santa Catarina state)

• # Chusquea grandiflora – Panama and Colombia

• # Chusquea guirigayensis – northwestern Valencia

• # Chusquea guzmanii – Mexico (Jalisco state)

• # Chusquea hatschbachii – Brazil (Santa Catarina state)

• # Chusquea heterophylla – southeastern Brazil

• # Chusquea huantensis – Peru

• # Chusquea ibiramae – southeastern Brazil

• # Chusquea imbricata – Brazil (Minas Gerais state)

• # Chusquea inamoena – Peru

• # Chusquea intipaqariy – Peru

• # Chusquea jorgemoranii – Ecuador

• # Chusquea juergensii – southeastern and southern Brazil, Argentina (Misiones province)

• # Chusquea kleinii – Brazil (Santa Catarina)

• # Chusquea laegaardii – Ecuador and Bolivia

• # Chusquea lanceolata – Mexico (Chiapas state) to Honduras

• # Chusquea latifolia – Colombia

• # Chusquea lehmannii – Colombia and Ecuador

• # Chusquea leonardiorum – Ecuador

• # Chusquea leptophylla – southeastern and southern Brazil

• # Chusquea liebmannii – western Mexico to Costa Rica

• # Chusquea ligulata – Colombia

• # Chusquea limensis – Peru

• # Chusquea linearis – Venezuela, Guyana, northern Brazil

• # Chusquea londoniae – Colombia and Ecuador

• # Chusquea longifolia – Mexico (Chiapas state) and Guatemala

• # Chusquea longiligulata – Costa Rica

• # Chusquea longipedicellata – Peru

• # Chusquea longipendula – Bolivia (Cochabamba)

• # Chusquea longiprophylla – Colombia

• # Chusquea longispiculata – Brazil (São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro states)

• # Chusquea lorentziana – Bolivia and northwestern Argentina

• # Chusquea loxensis – Ecuador

• # Chusquea maclurei – Ecuador

• # Chusquea macrostachya – southern Chile

• # Chusquea maculata – Colombia and Venezuela

• # Chusquea magnifolia – Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, and northern Brazil

• # Chusquea matlatzinca – Mexico (Michoacán state)

• # Chusquea mayrae – Costa Rica

• # Chusquea meyeriana – southeastern and southern Brazil

• # Chusquea microphylla – Brazil (Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais states)

• # Chusquea mimosa – southern Brazil

• # Chusquea mirabilis – Brazil (Bahia state)

• # Chusquea mollis – Colombia and Venezuela

• # Chusquea montana – central and southern Chile to southwestern Argentina

• # Chusquea montisylvicola – Ecuador (Loja)

• # Chusquea mulleri – Mexico (Veracruz state)

• # Chusquea multiramea – Venezuela

• # Chusquea nana – Ecuador

• # Chusquea nedjaquithii – Mexico (Oaxaca state)

• # Chusquea nelsonii – Mexico (Michoacán and Guerrero states)

• # Chusquea neurophylla – Ecuador and Peru

• # Chusquea nobilis – Colombia and Ecuador

• # Chusquea nudiramea – Brazil (Santa Catarina state)

• # Chusquea nutans – Brazil (Bahia and Minas Gerais states)

• # Chusquea oligophylla – southeastern and southern Brazil

• # Chusquea ovatifolia – Bolivia

• # Chusquea oxylepis – eastern and southern Brazil

• # Chusquea pallida – northeastern Colombia to northern Venezuela

• # Chusquea paludicola – Costa Rica

• # Chusquea parodii – Bolivia

• # Chusquea parviligulata – Brazil (Bahia state)

• # Chusquea patens – Costa Rica and Panama

• # Chusquea paucispiculata – Peru and Bolivia

• # Chusquea perligulata – Ecuador

• # Chusquea perotensis – Mexico (Veracruz and Oaxaca states)

• # Chusquea peruviana – southern Peru to Bolivia

• # Chusquea petiolata – Colombia

• # Chusquea picta – Peru and Bolivia

• # Chusquea pinifolia – southeastern Brazil

• # Chusquea pittieri – Mexico (Chiapas state) to Panama

• # Chusquea pohlii – Cosa Rica and Panama

• # Chusquea polyclados – Peru

• # Chusquea pulchella – Brazil (Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states)

• # Chusquea purdieana – Colombia and Venezuela

• # Chusquea quila – central and southern Chile

• # Chusquea ramosissima – Bolivia, Paraguay, eastern and southern Brazil, northern Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina

• # Chusquea renvoizei – Bolivia

• # Chusquea repens – Mexico (Chiapas and Oaxaca states)

• # Chusquea rigida – Ecuador

• # Chusquea riosaltensis – Brazil (Minas Gerais state)

• # Chusquea rugoloana – Peru

• # Chusquea scabra – Costa Rica and Panama

• # Chusquea scandens – Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia

• # Chusquea sclerophylla – Brazil (Serra do Órgãos of Rio de Janeiro state)

• # Chusquea sellowii – southeastern and southern Brazil

• # Chusquea septentrionalis – Mexico (Durango state)

• # Chusquea serpens – Costa Rica to Venezuela and Ecuador

• # Chusquea serrulata – Colombia and Ecuador

• # Chusquea silverstonei – northwestern Colombia

• # Chusquea simpliciflora – Mexico (Chiapas) to Ecuador and Venezuela

• # Chusquea simplicissima – central Peru

• # Chusquea smithii – Peru

• # Chusquea sneidernii – Colombia

• # Chusquea spadicea – Colombia

• # Chusquea spathacea – Colombia

• # Chusquea spectabilis – Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador

• # Chusquea spencei – Colombia and northern Venezuela

• # Chusquea spicata – Bolivia and south-central and southeastern Peru

• # Chusquea straminea – northern Peru

• # Chusquea stuebelii – Colombia and Ecuador

• # Chusquea subtessellata – Costa Rica and Panama

• # Chusquea subtilis – Costa Rica

• # Chusquea subulata – Colombia and Ecuador

• # Chusquea sulcata – Mexico (Veracruz, Oaxaca, and Chiapas), Guatemala, and Costa Rica

• # Chusquea talamancensis – Costa Rica

• # Chusquea tarmensis – Peru

• # Chusquea tenella – southeastern and southern Brazil and northeastern Argentina

• # Chusquea tenuiglumis – southeastern Brazil

• # Chusquea tessellata – Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela

• # Chusquea tomentosa – Costa Rica

• # Chusquea tonduzii – Costa Rica

• # Chusquea tovarii – Ecuador and northwestern Peru

• # Chusquea tuberculosa – northeastern Colombia

• # Chusquea uliginosa – south-central and southern Chile

• # Chusquea uniflora – Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru

• # Chusquea urelytra – eastern and southern Brazil

• # Chusquea valdiviensis – south-central and southern Chile and southern Argentina

• # Chusquea villosa – Ecuador

• # Chusquea virgata – Costa Rica and Panama

• # Chusquea vulcanalis – Costa Rica and Panama

• # Chusquea weberbaueri – northern Peru

• # Chusquea wilkesii – Brazil (Rio de Janeiro state)

• # Chusquea windischii – Brazil (Santa Catarina state)

• # Chusquea yungasensis – Bolivia