Table 2.

Morphological comparison of Yushania stoloniforma and its related species.

Character	Yushania stoloniforma	Y. confusa	Y. pingshanensis	Y. auctiaurita
Clumps	Scrambling	Erect	Erect	Erect
Culm height	2–2.5 m	1–2 m	1.2–2 m	1–2.5 m
Culm diameter	0.2–0.5 cm	0.2–1 cm	0.5–0.75 cm	0.3–0.8 cm
Internode	16–28 cm long, sparsely white powder with a densely ring below node, nearly solid	10–33 cm long, initially white powder, nearly solid	13–35 cm long, a ring of white powder below nodes, wall 1.5–2.5 mm thick	16–22 cm long, white powder below nodes, wall 1–3 mm thick
Branch complement	1–5	1–5	1–3	1–3
Sheath scar	Glabrous, with persistent remains of sheath base	Initially yellow setose	Glabrous	Initially retrorsely brown setose, with persistent remains of sheath base
Culm sheath	Persistent or tardily deciduous, leathery, brown setose, margins setose	Persistent, leathery, brown setose, margins setose	Persistent, densely light yellow verrucose setose abaxially, margins densely ciliate	Persistent, cartilaginous, yellow-brown setose, margins densely ciliate
Culm sheath auricle	Falcate	Absent	Small, oblong or falcate	Falcate, large
Culm sheath oral setae	4–7, 3–4 mm long, radiating	Several, 1–2 mm, readily deciduous	3–5, 3–6 mm long	Many, 3–6 mm long, radiating, yellow-brown
Culm sheath ligule	Truncate, ca. 1 mm	Truncate, ca. 1 mm	Truncate or arcuate, ca. 0.6 mm	Arcuate, ca. 0.5 mm
Culm sheath blade	Erect or reflexed, linear-lanceolate	Reflexed, linear-lanceolate or linear	Reflexed, triangular-linear or linear-lanceolate	Erect or decumbent, narrowly triangular or lanceolate, glabrous, margins serrulate
Leaf number of the ultimate branch	5–6	2–5 (7)	5–9	3–8
Leaf sheath	2–4 cm long, glabrous, margins white ciliate	(2) 3–6.5 cm long, glabrous, margins white-gray ciliate	5.2–6.5 cm long, glabrous, margins glabrous	Glabrous or gray pubescent, apically white powder, margins yellow-brown ciliate
Leaf auricle	Elliptic	Absent	Small, purple	Purple, falcate
Leaf oral setae	Several, 2–5 mm long, yellow, radiating	2–5 mm long	4–8, yellow, 3–8 mm long	Many, 2–7 mm long
Leaf ligule	Truncate, ca. 1 mm	Truncate, glabrous, ca. 1 mm	Truncate, glabrous, ca. 0.3 mm	Arcuate, ca. 1 mm
Petiole	Glabrous	Densely pubescent, rarely glabrous	Glabrous	Abaxially occasionally white powder
Leaf blade	5–11 × 0.7–1.5 cm, glabrous, secondary veins 3–4 pairs	(3)8–13 (21.5) × 0.6–1.5 (2.1) cm, abaxially basally gray hairy, secondary veins 4–6 pairs	9–17 × 1.3–2.2 cm, glabrous, secondary veins 6–8 pairs	8–16 × 1.3–3 cm, glabrous, secondary veins 5–9 pairs
Habitat	Under the cultivated fir forest, 1100 m, Longshan, Hunan.	Widely distributed, usually under forest at elevations of 1000–2300 m.	Under broadleaved evergreen forest on mountain ridges, 1500–2000 m, Pingshan, Sichuan.	Under broadleaved forest, 1700–1800 m, southeast Guizhou.