Revisión taxonómica de las especies del género Chloris (Poaceae: Chloridoideae) en Sudamérica

A taxonomic revision of the genus Chloris Sw. in South America has been made. As a result of this study 25 taxa are recognized, most of them are native, some introduced or naturalized, distributing from Colombia and Venezuela to Argentina. The genus is recorded for the first time to North of Patagonia: C. virgata Sw. One new taxon is described for the science: Chloris ciliata f. reptans A. M. Molina & R´ugolo and two new combinations are established: C. dandvana var. breviaristata (Hack.) A. M. Molina & R´ugolo and C. dandyana var. stolonifera (Parodi) A. M. Molina & R´ugolo. The identity of taxa previously included under synonym are reexamined: C. ciliata f breviseta Hack, C. grandiflora Roseng. & Izag. and C. parodiana Roseng. & Izag. A new taxon is cited for Argentina: C truncata R. Br., new for South America. The following new records for Bolivia and Paraguay are given: C. canterae Arechav., C. castilloniana Lillo & Parodi var. castilloniana, C. castilloniana var. pubescens Caro & E. A. Sanchez, C. ciliata Sw. f. ciliata, C. ciliata f. breviseta Hack., C. dandyana var. breviaristata (Hack.) A. M. Molina & R´ugolo, C. dandyana var. stolonifera (Parodi) A. M. Molina & Rugolo and C. parvispicula Caro & E. A. Sanchez. In addition the following taxa are recognized: C. affinis Caro & E. A. Sanchez, C. berroi Arechav., C. dandyana C. D. Adams var. dandyana, C exilis Renvoize, C. gayana Kunth, C. halophila Parodi var. halophila, C. hatophila var. humilis Chr. Muller, C. inflata Link, C. orthonoton Doll, C. pycnothrix Trin., C. radiata (L.) Sw. and C. sesquiflora Burkart New synonyms are established. Nomenclatural considerations about problematic taxa within Chloris and a discusion about the identity of C. elata Desv. and C. barbata Sw. is given. The following taxon is excluded within Chloris: C. submurica Kunth and included in Eustachys Desv. A dichotomic key for recognizing all species, varieties and forms that grow in South America is given, as well as a description, synonyms, iconography, geographical distribution, ecological observations and vernacular names for each species are provided. The morphological characters of taxonomic value for the species are discussed. Results of epidermal observations on spikelets with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been made.