November/December 2005 :Bromeliad Gazette. Vol:29. Number:06

September Meeting from the Secretary’s desk
A plea from the BSI for assistance in helping taxonomists from less wealthy countries to attend the Tillandsia Symposium in San Diego in 2006 was considered a worthy one. We decided to send $100.
We also discussed how many of Die Bromelie’s Special edition of the Tillandsia tectorum complex by Lieselotte Hromradnik we should get. It is not only a technical book but a picture book too. It will also be a ‘wish’ book because many of the plants are hard to obtain even by the Tillandsia connoisseurs! It is scheduled to be published by the end of the year and Margaret and I have finished our part of the translation. It was fascinating work! At the moment there appears to be BIG decisions made as to whether it should be in German German (Lieselotte is Austrian) and the English in Yank English (who will be the most buyers!) or Aussie English from the translators!

The Ortgiesia talk was given by Derek & Bill. Derek was reading from his technical notes!
We all know about Aechmea and that the name is Greek for spear which is supposed to describe the inflorescence. We would have discussed how to pronounce this genus but there were no Ancient Greeks present and we could all understand the Eek part! I think we all know that Aechmea is where taxonomists put plants when they do not know where else to put them! But there is one subgenus of Aechmea that seems fairly natural and comes from SE Brazil, mostly Santa Catarina and is called Ortgiesia . This was named after a Swiss Botanical Garden Curator many many years ago in 1869. In fact the first one was called Ortgiesia tillandsioides . Question? Which Ortgiesia looks like a Tillandsia ? Answer Aechmea recurvata !
First I must point out that there are more hybrids being grown in this group than species because of the number grown from seed. You will always see these names on a Bromeliad seed list and we know this group is very promiscuous. Peter Franklin of Raymond Terrace, NSW has grown many from seed and is always getting surprise results. Many just grow the seed and do not realise the differences they are getting and yet make no attempt to query the name!
At one time it was fairly easy to get seed in from overseas and this was valuable especially if it was a new species to us and from wild collected sources. You may recall that 10 years or so ago a new rule came in for Cactus and Succulent seed where you had to get a permit to import. This now costs $40 so it would be senseless importing one packet of seed! These days very few people import and if they do then they are a redistribution point for Aussie growers. It appears this fee is coming in for Bromeliaceae. This means that if you do get imported seed it will be a rare commodity and all the more reason to check that it is species and not hybrid. If it is hybrid then backcrossing should be on the cards to get back to the species. Don’t throw your resultant hybrid plants away because they still have the valuable genes in them somewhere!
There are now some 20 species in this sub genus and most are being grown in Adelaide. 13 come from Santa Catarina which means they should be easy to grow here. I have an Email contact in this area called Ludwig Buckup who is and expert in Insects but is interested in Bromeliads. We often have discussions about where he collects certain species and you certainly have to beware so called habitat collected. I know one time I queried one plant with him and on further enquiry the farmer said his grandfather had made just one trip in his life-time to Rio de Janeiro and must have brought a plant back with him! I am also amazed how he sometimes queries me about a plant that just has to be a hybrid from USA.
Let us now look at the species. It is interesting that Lyman Smith did his key on the colour of the petals and yet many species have a variety with white flowers! Some of the following list were not in my plea for plants to be brought in because I knew you would not have them. Many of you did respond to the call including Alf Carr so we had plants to comment on. If we missed your particular plant I can assure you it was not intentional! We talked about a simple inflorescence as being one where the flowers all come from the main centre axis or rhachis. A compound inflorescence is where the flowers are on side branches at the bottom part of the inflorescence.
alegrensis, I don’t know much about this other that it looks like a candida with a simple inflorescence.
apocalyptica, Hard to find. The rhachis is supposed to be glabrous.
blumenavii, another elusive one. Many have this name but not the proper plant!. There is also a var. alba
calyculata, was common here 20 years ago and is still around in old collections
candida, We had been growing a plant under this name for many years but it is different to the one that Harry Luther showed us in the Journal of Brom. Soc 2003. The problem is that it was based on a horticultural plant and a painting by Morren at the start of the last century. It is still being grown at Liege but rarely flowers!
caudata, seems to come in many shapes and sizes as well as several forms of a variegated version. All have the yellow flowers where the inflorescence is always compound at the base. Then there is var. eipperi which has blue flowers and to my mind should be a species in its own right. The var. alba is an impressive plant when in flower and is in Australia. It was confused at one time with A, candida .
coelestis, This is a bit of an enigma because the albo-marginate variety is easier to grow than the non-variegated one. If you speak to Maurice Kellett about this plant he will say the berries are delicious! There are advantages and challenges with the internet. You must have travelled interstate and seen other collections and some of the names on THEIR plants seem wrong! This may be due to growing conditions or because you love plant identification like I do! With Internet your problems widen especially if you get photos of plants from say Brazil. This species is just one that is a challenge.
comata, We oldies used to call this plant A. lindenii but its name got changed and it all started in 1851(2) where the botanist named more than one species when he described a new genus. The rules say you can only do one at a time so the genus name was illegitimate. Lyman Smith followed this reasoning. BUT even though the genus name was illegimate the species name was legitimate. So we go back to 1851 and the name comata prevails. Thought you would like to know! There seems to be quite a variation in the length of the inflorescence. ‘Comata’ by the way means dense. It is a pity that the variegated form makoyana does not hold its reddish tinge which it has when the pup is young.
cylindrata, I suppose one way to describe this species is to say it is a blue flowered A comata with variation in the length of the inflorescence. There are several Cultivar names for variations in this species.
gamosepala, This could be described as a A. cylindrata with spaces between the flowers. Commonly called the matchstick plant which causes me to shudder. Don’t forget the var. nivea with its white petals. There is a variegated form. Two cultivar names ‘Lucky Stripes’ and ‘Mardi Gras’ are used.
gracilis, We grew this for years until Harry specially sought it out when on a trip to Brazil. Ours was really a small A. organensis . I don’t think that A. gracilis is in Australia.
guaratubensis, Never seen one. Don’t confuse it with A. guaraparaensis which we do have!! kertesziae, We include A. leppardii here as a smaller version. This species has yellow petals but bright red sepals and a bit more open than A. comata .
kleinii Nobody seems to be growing this.
organensis, Very popular. Like a blue flowered A caudata . There are at least two of the large flowered form. One called Queensland and the other NSW! Then there is a medium sized one as well the small form that used to call A. gracilis .
pimenti-velosoi, Been in Australia for years there is even a weakly variegated form. It is a small prickly fellow similar to A. recurvata but with less rigid leaves and where the inflorescence is low down in the leaf rosette. There was a strongly variegated form that came in from the USA but is now called ‘Pie in the Sky’ because it is more linked to A. comata .
pseudonudicaulis Originally described as being close to A. nudicaulis but Harry believes it is closer to this group. I don’t know anyone who is growing this.
recurvata, very popular even with its spines. 3 varieties. Var. recurvata where the inflorescence is well above the leaves and the other two where the inflorescence is sunken. Few people actually look at the floral bracts to see that they have teeth in var. ortgiesii and entire in benrathii . All three varieties are well worth growing and there are also forms with different shades of red in the leaves at anthesis. We had a var. benrathii x var. ortgiesii on display which I regret to say added nothing to what nature has already provided and only raises the question, What is it? - if the label gets lost!
seideliana we think we may have this in Australia even though the petals on ours is blue and not white. Only those with very narrow leaves seem to be close to the original description. Those plants with wide leaves seem to be more likely to be a hybrid. As I said at the beginning, some people take little note of the progeny they get from a seed packet. We believe that our A. seideliana came to Australia as seed.
winkleri. An odd little species where the sepals are green and we believe it is in Australia with many called A. winkleri on the label but without the tell-tale green sepal.

There was one plant that George Rudolph brought in that he had been growing epiphytically. We felt sure it was the hybrid ‘Blue Wheat’ which has an interesting history. It came to Adelaide originally as Aechmea triticina but when it flowered questions were asked ! It was clearly an Ortgiesia of sorts and not in the subgenus Pothuava. The inflorescence was like an ear of wheat just as triticina means this. It was someone’s blue in identifying it this way and the flowers were blue. So what better name than ‘Blue Wheat’!

Aechmea Blue Wheat. Photos by Peter Franklin.

And so to the other Display plants that Bill talked about. First up was a Quesnelia decora in bud a looked like a Billbergia ! What is the difference between these two genera. Don’t Know? Well here goes. There is very little difference especially those from Quesnelia subgenus Billbergiopsis (in English this means like a Billbergia !). Firstly Billbergia flowers are said to be zygomorphic but as we saw by looking at a side view of a Billbergia flower the bottom petal was only slightly out of line with the other two. In the Cactaceae both zygomorphic and actinomorphic flowers ( the flower is symmetrical whichever way you look at it) can be in the same genus. Secondly, the stamens exceed the petal tube in Billbergia but not in Quesnelia . However, in Tillandsia you can have species where the stamens are exserted or enclosed. But the genus Quesnelia still exists.
There were several Billbergia distachia in flower. This is one of the easiest billbergias to identify with its open inflorescence and deep furrowed ovaries.
And so to Billbergia elegans . These days we are closer in correctly identifying this species. 30 years ago even Lyman Smith confused it with B. sanderiana . These days we only have problems differentiating B. elegans from B. amoena var. carnea !
Billbergia ‘Violet Beauty’ is difficult to identify because we have no old photographic record. It seems so close to B. pyramidalis where the inflorescence should always be erect. B . ‘Violet Beauty’ tends to nod and the petals are a pale violet colour as against red with blue tips.
There was a nice little plant brought in by Len Cork that he had got from Maureen as a seedling even though it had the wrong name. It looked like a Fosterella and when flowering it needs to be identified. As I have said before we must preserve species.
Several tillandsias were also on display.

TV
As recommended at our meeting, who saw ‘Gardening Australia’ on Channel 2 on Sept 24th. I thought our only Victorian member Maurice Kellett did a great job. He was lucky to have so many tillandsias in flower when the cameraman called. You could tell he is an Accountant when he included all the smallest detail of minute seedlings in his estimation of his 60,000 plants! I thought it was only South Aussies that bragged! Now for another quiz. What did you remember other than the plants? Was it Maurice’s jumper? One thing did disturb me was his reference to him probably not seeing the maturity of some of his seedlings – he is younger than me!

October meeting from the Secretary’s desk.
It was mainly a meeting about Broms without prickles so it is not remiss of me to mention this little bit of information first. You may recall me mentioning Aechmea ‘Primera’ at a meeting a couple of months ago and some looked at me like stunned mullets when I was referring to the non-patented Aechmea ‘Smoothie’. ‘Primera’ is only a fancy name for a spineless Aechmea fasciata but few seemed to be growing it.
Aechmea fasciata competes successfully with Guzmania in the lucrative ‘Cut Flower’ market in Europe where you get a long lasting flower in its own vase at a reasonable price. Growing of ‘Primera’ in Adelaide may change because at least Dave Wecker has been on the prowl at local nurseries and came across a supply. He is more shrewd than most but akin to what Peter Huddy used to get up to. They wait for the flower to die off under the nursery care, watching for offsets. By this time, the nursery is ready to throw the plants out!
This is what was on the label which really annoys me because it is a way to try to get plant breeding rights in Australia without paying the requisite fees. ‘Propagation prohibited’ NL Patent, EU Patent, USA patent pending. These comments have no legal backing in Australia. You can propagate plants under this name in Australia with impunity. You can sell plants in Australia under this name with impunity but keeping a wary eye on the Internet to see if Australian PBR Rights have been granted. Apparently the PBR authorities turn a blind eye to this practice but woe betide anyone caught breaching any PBR. Apparently it is covered by the Trade Practices Act!. As far as I am aware nobody has been warned!

The Offending Label

Adam had organised the plants so we looked at the green leaved forms with colourful inflorescences first, then the ‘Glyph’ forms with their tessellated leaves and insignificant night flowers, and finally where attempts had been made to combine leaf variation and bright flowers. In the first group there were only one or two species but many hybrids. Interestingly these had a wide range of parentages. One of especial interest was Vriesea erythrodactylon ‘White Cloud’. This variegate with a difference had been around for some 20 years just under the unofficial name of a striated form of the species. It is a challenge to grow well but when it is, the centre leaves are almost totally white with black tips. Only the few outer leaves giving it sufficient chlorophyll to survive! It is a reluctant flowerer! The sword shaped inflorescences last for months with the yellow flowers being produced progressively through this period. We saw ‘Blackie’ – so called because of the black tips to the floral bracts, ‘Nigra’ – so called because of a darker red bracts, to ‘Negro’ – where the floral bracts a very dark purple that does look black under certain light!
And so to those with ‘Glyph’ markings on the leaves like hybrids ‘Erotica’ and its sister ‘Angela’ ( just how did these two names get linked?) and species V. fosteriana .
Adam pointed out the differences you can find under the name ‘Belgische Hybride’ This was a name given to a seed batch from Belgium grown in Australia 40 years ago. It surely shows their tenacity for life reliability for them to survive to this day. They compete successfully with the latest hybrids from Deroose and Corn Bak.
We saw a single spiked ‘Grafton Sunset’ not foliar fed and a branched spike that had been foliar fed. It is interesting that this seems to be the rule for many Vriesea hybrids. And yet the branching habit of plants in the wild can be used as a diagnostic tool to separate species. This branching habit of hybrids is no doubt caused by crossing branched species with non-branching species. Many more species of Vriesea are involved in hybridisation than in Guzmania .
We had both Vriesea splendens and its hybrid ‘Splenriet’ on display. Experience tells us that ‘Splenriet’ will be the easiest to grow.

And so to the Guzmania where the cut flower mode that affects us all whether gardeners or not. By this I mean we are all attracted by a plant in flower especially if it is a plant not commonly seen in Adelaide. Even without a name on the label. Growing on the offsets to maturity should not be at the front of the purchasers mind! Guzmania lingulata is known for its long lasting inflorescence with colourful floral bracts and has been hybridised and hybridised with just one or two other species to get different colours. So much so, if you lose the label it is almost impossible to identify it specifically. Don’t expect flamboyant flowers because these are only small and generally white. It is the bracts that attract! If you chance to take your flowering Guzmania indoors expect a slight loss of colour.
Many of the plants on display had been recent acquisitions and were in flower. We know from past experience that species Guzmania do not like contrasting temperatures, neither too hot nor too cold. But there is a better chance with hybrids because of their natural vigour. Adam treats his guzmanias similar to his vrieseas and finds that rainwater is a help. Dave Wecker buries the pot into beds which would also reduce the temperature fluctuation. With this technique don’t plant the plant direct into the bed, just keep it in the pot. This will help you extract the plant easily should this be necessary for maintenance.

And so to the other plants that Len Colgan talked about. Amongst those in pots were flowering specimens of the old faithful Quesnelia liboniana , a tub of Aechmea recurvata from Joan Williams and an Aechmea ‘Aussie Ruby’ from Bob McGregor. There was also an Aechmea filicaulis F2 which Bill Treloar is still nurturing after so many years (must be nigh on 30 years) when most of us threw this plant out when we realised it has nothing to do with A. filicaulis but a hybrid with links to A. recurvata. At least we can say that Bill is consistent and as such this plant will be officially named ‘Philippa‘ so it can be recorded. This is the one that Bill says has pink petals and Margaret says pale lilac. This means that we can use ‘Phil’ for the one that Bill says has blue petals (blue for a boy) when it eventually gets its photo taken!

Aechmea Philippa. Photos by Derek Butcher.

Aechmea nudicaulis rubra is a nurseryman’s name with no detail recorded as to its identity. In the BSI Journal in 2003, page 233 this was remedied by giving it a Cultivar name ‘Xavante’ named after a tribe of Brazilians who paint themselves red! If you have this plant would you please change the label.
It was good to see Fosterella spectabilis in flower but also another Fosterella from Len Cork. This had been brought in to the September meeting, only this time the flower was more advanced. Despite it having Dyckia velascana on the label I believe it could well be Fosterella vasquezii from photos I have seen. If so we all await it to offset! Well, at least I do! It may interest you to know that in the collecting team at the time it was found in 1993 was a certain D. Rudolph which makes you wonder!

Last but not least I must mention the tillandsias. Tillandsia tectorum was there in two forms – one that just grows and grows and rarely flowers and the other a large fluffy ball that does flower now and again. Then there was a plant budding up that looked like T. albida to me but T. incarnata to Len Colgan. Len was so confident in his ‘guess’ that he put a 10c bet on it! Len Cork promises to tell us if the petals are red or white!
Finally we were able to see something that nobody else in Australia has ever seen and that was T. lorentziana and T. argentina AND T. pfeufferi . Only one T. pfeufferi was ever collected and nobody knows whence it came other than Bolivia/Argentina somewhere. Len says it is a natural hybrid and I say he cannot say that until he has grown on self set seed – he is young enough, (just) - or has done a viable pollen count.

Pups – a bit of lexicography by D Butcher.
Just where did this expression start in Bromeliads? It means the offsets that occur at the base of the plant. After questioning Brom-L and Round Robin participants on the Internet in August 2005, Geoff Lawn of Perth suggested the answer could well lie in Bromeliad Society Bulletin 1952 where Mulford Foster, the then Editor wrote about Muriel Waterman. Anyone who has read about Muriel from her fellow Kiwis will realize she was a one eyed Bromeliad grower and rather eccentric too! Her diaries could well have been destined for the rubbish tip but for the action of Andrew Flower who saved them from a shed in a local Botanical Garden. These make interesting reading and suggest her main contacts were in England or the USA. She had very little contact with Aussies.
This is what appeared in the Bulletin with a drawing of pups by Mulford Foster where the caption reads “Mrs Waterman is never in the doghouse but she is always finding “pups” on her bromeliads”.
Clearly Mulford Foster was impressed with the word ‘Pups’ and we know from reports from others that it was a word that Mulford frequently used. I feel sure it was because of his great influence on bromeliad growers for nearly 30 years that this expression is now so widespread. It is catchy and has less letters than offsets or offshoots, and never gets confused with cuttings! Why pups and not kittens or chickens will remain a mystery. There is also a suspicion that this term was used even earlier with Agaves and Aloes of Succulent plant interest. It should be noted that these too are monocotyledons like Bromeliaceae and offset similarly.

And now to the word ‘keiki’ that means child in Hawaiian. This word is used by plant growers in Hawaii for any offset to a plant whether Banana or Bromeliad! Interestingly it has been used to describe the offsetting seen in so many orchids for which Hawaii is famed, that occur high on the stem and not at the base. This has lead it to be associated with this sort of happening in Bromeliaceae, say Tillandsia secunda or even T. dasyliriifolia (see Ramirez in J. Brom. Soc. 54(3): 112-121. 2004).

It is a trait of the English language to experiment with new words or new meanings as though there are not enough already! Some continue and some get discarded. I am sure that ‘Pup’ will remain in Bromeliad usage for many years to come but will always refer to ‘normal’ offsetting at the base. The seedling type offsets that sometimes occur in Alcantarea and saxicolous Tillandsias have yet to have their own special name. It has been said that Hair Pups and Grass Pups have been used to describe these in the USA but these have not, as yet, appeared in any official publication of the BSI. Which one will appear first? Which one will prevail? Other offsetting in the inflorescence such as you find in Orthophytum and others, will get the name adventitious added to them if only to denote they are emerging in an unexpected place. Outside Hawaii, will ‘keiki’ apply just to these floral phenomena? Who knows?

Finally, early in the 1950’s Mulford Foster coined the word ‘bromel’. Much to the disgust of both Racine and Mulford, Aussies further reduced it to broms!