Abstract
Merostachys is one of the more species-rich genera of Neotropical woody bamboos. Merostachys includes ca. 55 described species; one of them is M. bifurcata, which is recorded from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and was described based only on vegetative characters. Morphological analyses carried out in both national and foreign herbaria allowed us to record flowering specimens of this species. We propose here an emended description of M. bifurcata by including data for the reproductive structures, and we propose an epitype for this name. Comments about the taxonomy, habitat, distribution and phenology of this species are provided. A distribution map is provided and an illustration of the main morphological characters of this species is also included.