Lectotypification of names in Duthiea (Poaceae)

The genus, Duthiea Hackel (1895: 200) consists of three species, viz. D. brachypodium (P.Candargy 1901: 65) Keng & Keng (1965: 182), D. bromoides Hackel (1895: 200) and D. oligostachya (Munro ex Aitchison 1880: 108) Stapf (1896: sub Pl. 2474), distributed mainly in mountainous zones of Afghanistan to western China (Kellogg 2015). Duthiea is characterized by having pedicelled spikelets arranged to congested one-sided racemes; rachilla disarticulating above the glumes and between the florets; glumes equal to sub-equal, elliptic or lanceolate, with 5-7 nerves, persistent; lemma hirsute or villous with bifid apex and geniculate single awn with twisted column arising from the sinus of lemma; lodicules absent; ovary obovoid; style single, tomentose, longer or shorter than the stigmas; stigmas 2, terminally exerted from the floret; caryopsis cylindrical, covered with forwardly directed bristles (Bor 1953, 1960). A monographic study focusing Duthiea was carried out by Bor (1953) in his work Notes on Asiatic Grasses where detailed descriptions were supplied, but no types were indicated for the names he included in the genus. Therefore, in the present communication, we reviewed the nomenclatural status of all the known species in the genus and lectotypified D. bromoides and D. oligostachya.

Automated summary

The genus Duthiea consists of three species, mainly distributed in mountainous zones from Afghanistan to western China. Characteristics of Duthiea include pedicelled spikelets arranged to congested one-sided racemes, with disarticulating rachilla above the glumes and between the florets. A monographic study focusing on Duthiea was conducted by Bor, where detailed descriptions were provided but no types were indicated for the names included in the genus.