Desc from S&D
Leaves to 8 dm long;
Sheaths ovate, 9 cm or more wide, densely appressed-castaneous-lepidote, castaneous on the inside;
Blades ligulate, acuminate, mucronate, 33 mm wide, armed with coarse pale teeth 5 mm long, densely appressed-white-lepidote especially below.
Scape erect, 8 mm in diameter;
Scape-bracts tubular-involute, erect, imbricate, ovate, acuminate, serrate, densely brown-appressed-lepidote.
Inflorescence very densely bipinnate, ovoid, many-flowered, exceeded by the leaves, 15 cm long, 10 cm in diameter;
Primary bracts like the scape-bracts, equaling or exceeding the axillary spikes, serrate;
Spikes densely 10-20-flowered;
Rhachis compressed, 4-winged with the wings decurrent on the backs of the floral bracts.
Floral bracts very broadly ovate, entire or minutely serrulate, mucronulate, equaling the sepals, strongly convex, combining with the rhachis-wings to form a pouch about the flower, prominently nerved, the lower ones with a median wing;
Flowers sessile, 26 mm long.
Sepals strongly asymmetric, 13 mm long including the slender, 4 mm long, terminal mucro, connate for 2 mm;
Petals mucronate, 18 mm long, bearing 2 fimbriate scales 3 mm above the base;
Stamens slightly shorter than the petals, anthers 6 mm long, acute;
Ovary ellipsoid, 8 mm long, constricted toward the apex, the epigynous tube deep, infundibuliform;
Berry scarcely enlarged from the ovary;
Seeds 2.5 mm long, ovoid, acute, brown.
Type. Plumier unpublished plate (P, US photo), tropical America.
Distribution. Martinique, Lesser Antilles.
WINDWARD ISLANDS. Martinique: Hahn 581 (K, P); Belanger 467 (P); 1956, Cotrell s n, cultivated Marnier-Lapostolle (US).
Notes.
Plant discussed in BSB 1964 p70 is probably not A. serrata but A. smithiorum var. longistipitata.
Tillandsia maxima Strangeways, Sketch Mosq. Shore: 138. 1822 (see Mabberley, Taxon 33: 444. 1984)
Comments from E Gouda 7/2008
I looked up the Taxon article and Mabberley states that Tillandsia maxima Strangeways. (1822) it is an unnecessary name for Tillandsia serrata L. (1753)
In fact it is only mentioned (nomen) in a subscript of the book "Sketch of the Mosquito Shore.... p.138
Wild Pine (Tillandsia Maxima). This plant fixes itself, and takes root on the body of a tree, commonly in the fork of the greater branches of the wild cotton tree. By the conformation of its leaves, which have a broad hollow base (Browne's Natural History of Jamaica, p.191), it catches and retains water for every shower. Each leaf resembles a spout, and forms at it base a natural bucket of reservoir, which contains about a quart of pure water, where it remains perfectly secure, both from the wind and the sun, yielding refreshment to the thirsty traveler in places where water is otherwise to be procured (Edward's History of the West Indies, vol. 1st, p.565).
I found that Mosquito (difficult to find) was never really established as a country or colony under the Scots and is considered to be about 200 miles along the Caribbean Shore of Nicaragua but I saw also references to Honduras.
So the conclusion by Mabberley is wrong as Aechmea serrata is from Martinique and I suppose we are dealing with Aechmea bracteata var. bracteata (sometimes confused with A. serrata!), which is quite common at the Caribbean coast as far as I know. This species was not yet described at that time, but it does not make sense to use this older name any way. I have added the record in the Taxon database including all references.
Protologue
2. Aechmea martinicensis n. sp. Baker, Jour. Bot. London 17: 132. 1879.
Leaves with a long entire oblong base three to four inches broad, the closely minutely serrated lamina not seen complete. Scape sheathed by many large imbricated lanceolate bract-leaves. Flowers in a very dense, oblong bipinnate panicle four to six inches long, with crowded more or less ascending distichous spicate branches one inch to one inch and a half long, half inch broad, which are subtended by lanceolate branch-bracts nearly as long as the branches, with close minute horny serrations like the leaves. Flowers crowded, erecto-patent, each enclosed in two coriaceous navicular flower-bracts, the outer one under half an inch long, with a conspicuous pungent macro, the inner one smaller, its back entirely adnate to the rachis. Calyx including the ovary one-half to five-eighths of an inch long; sepals lanceolate, distinctly macronate, twice as long as the ovary. Petals not seen.
Martinique, Hahn, 522! 581! (Herb. Kew.) Closely allied to A. bracteata, from which it may be reognised easily by its firmer pectinately-toothed branch-bracts.
Detail from Baker 1889
80. AE. MARTINICENSIS Baker in Journ. Bot. 1879, 132.
Leaves with a very large entire oblong base; blade not seen.
Peduncle erect, a foot long; bract-leaves imbricated, adpressed, the upper serrated.
Inflorescence a dense oblong panicle 3-4 in. long, with numerous densely-flowered erecto-patent distichous branches 1-1.5 in. long, the lower subtended by ovate-lanceolate rigid sharply-toothed bracts;
rachis excavated into a winged pocket opposite each flower, which is subtended by an ovate navicular bract .5 in. long, with a large cusp.
Calyx including ovary 0.5-0.625 in. long;
sepals lanceolate, twice as long as the ovary, with a large erecto-patent cusp.
Petals shortly protruded.
Habitat. Martinique, Belanger 467! Hahn 522! 581 !
Closely allied to A. bracteata from which it differs by its broader conspicuously toothed branch-bracts.
A more complete description and a more exact illustration was given by Lamarck; but it is only in these last years that it was the subject of a deeper survey by Mez.
The herbarium of the Museum of Paris owned collected material from Martinique by Messrs Belanger and Hahn; and P. Duss indicates it grows on the trees in the lower woods, and also in the forests, close to the sea, in Guadeloupe and Martinique, between 25 and 600 metres altitude.
The plant was cultivated for a long time in the greenhouses of the Museum and also exist in the garden of Luxemburg; but we don't believe that one can find it in the living plant collections other than those two establishments, nor has its flowering ever been seen.
This species is so rare having just bloomed in the greenhouses of the Museum, that we are happy to contribute a description from life, with accompanying photographs and drawings executed according to nature.
Plant short stemmed, with offsets.
Leaves in a rosette utriculum, to 16, from 50 to 60 cm long, very wide and enveloping in their bottom part, at a height of about 10cm forming a gutter with parallel sides, acuminate with a spiny tip. The leaves, more or less recurved, 4 cm wide at the middle; their edges with small reddish green teeth, very close together, hooked with a wide base; finely lined on both sides, pale green and lightly covered with whitish lepidote, especially underneath; the sheath is brownish on the inside.
Scape thick, cylindrical, 30cm high, erect, green, enveloped by the sheaths of the scape bracts, erect, imbricate and the higher ones especially are shorter; scape bracts tooth edged like the leaves, and those next to the inflorescence are a very pale green.
Inflorescence compact, ovoid panicle, one could nearly say a spike, on account of the reduction of the secondary branches. 10cm long and thick, and hardly exceeds the height of the leaves. It is composed of distichous complanate spikes with very short peduncles, 4 - 5 cm long, generally 3 flowered,
Primary bract large leaflike, pale green, strongly spined on the edges and terminated with a pointy brownish spine, especially larger when situated closer to the bottom part of inflorescence. Those at the base longer than the spike, 5 cm long or 2.5 times longer.
Floral bracts 15 - 20mm long; long-oval, concave keeled, strictly imbricate, greenish, rigid, membranous on the edges, streaky veined, with a prominent line on the back in the shape of wing and terminating in a brownish spiny tip. Each envelope the flower to the tip of the sepals.
Sepals asymmetric, thick, greenish white, 12 mm long, strongly imbricate, convolute, top blunt with a brown long acicular point.
Petals purple, 15 mm long, narrow claw and a widened top in an oval blade.
Stamens a little shorter than the petals, anthers pure white, 6 mm long.
Ovary glabrous, ellipsoid,
Style and stigma as with other species of Aechmea
If Aechmea serrata cannot be classed as the most ornamental Bromeliad, it is an interesting species, remarkable for the beauty of its foliage and specially for the greatly spiny toothed leafy bracts that come with inflorescence.
We must thank Mr. Labroy, Head Gardener of the greenhouses of the Museum, for having induced it to flower. It took place last January 20 after the application of special attention, such as reduction of the waterings during the period of vegetation rest, then repotting in very fertile compost, composed of a third of good earth of heather to two thirds of leaf compost, and placing in a hot and humid environment.
D. Bois
Let us now look at 'Blooming Bromeliads' by Baensch 1994 page 65. This is what Baensch had to say.
"Aechmea serrata. This is a large bromeliad resembling A. smithiorum as far as the habit is concerned. However, the inflorescence is far more compact. The possibility remains that this plant is in fact a variety or form of A. smithiorum and is incorrectly referred to as A. serrata in the collections. According to the monograph by Smith & Downs, A. serrata has, as its name indicates, serrated instead of entire primary bracts"
- - To me this is an odd statement. I would have put the name as A. smithiorum with the comment it was in collections wrongly as A. serrata!! To qualify for the name A. serrata you would assume that some part of the plant must have teeth.
Aechmea serrata came into being through Mez in 1896 although it had been known under the name 'serrata' since 1703. I now quote from Smith & Downs
Aechmea serrata (Linnaeus) Mez, DC. Monogr. Phan. 9: 243.1896.
Synonyms
Caraguata clavata et spicata, foliis serratis Plumier, Gen. 10. 1703.
Tillandsia serrata Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 286. 1753.
Caraguata serrata (Linnaeus) Schultes filius in Roemer & Schultes, Syst. 7(2): 1231. 1830.
Platystachys plumieri Beer, Bromel. 9. 1856; nomen illegitimum.
Aechmea martinicensis Baker, Jour. Bot. London 17: 132. 1879. Type. Martinique, Hahn 522 (K), Dec 1871.
Aechmea plumieri E. Morren ex Baker, Handb. Bromel. 45. 1889; nomen, non Aechmea plumieri Baker, Handb. Bromel. 50. 1889.
The Type is based on Plumier's unpublished plate which is the one reproduced in Smith & Downs p1902, AND on the second line I read 'Caraguata clavata et spicata, foliis serratis' So, in this taxon the leaves are serrate too!
The serrate primary bracts also come into the equation with A. martinicensis where Baker 1889 stresses the serrate primary bracts to distinguish between it and A. dichlamydea! A. smithiorum did not come on the scene until 1896.
Let us now look at A. plumieri Morren which was treated by Baker 1889 as a synonym of A. lingulata but treated in Smith & Downs as a synonym of A. serrata. If you really want to muddy the water Baker 1889 also had a Caraguata serrata Hort which must have been different to the synonym in Smith & Downs because it became Nidularium scheremetiewii!!
What I am trying to say is that we should at least follow Smith & Downs unless we can prove Lyman Smith wrong. Further proof that there was a plant growing on Martinique which was greatly different to the woolly non toothed primary bracted A. smithiorum we only have to read what was said in Paris in 1907.
(See Aechmea serrata revue Horticole Paris text above)
Plants in Australia with this name seem to be linked to Florida and the same link seems to apply to plants being grown in Costa Rica and Brazil. I feel sure that the plant in Baensch's book can also be linked to 'collections' on mainland USA as the photograph of Wally Berg's plant shows. Note that this plant was being sold in Florida by at least Boggy Creek Nursery.
These plants could well have supplied the seed for the BSI seed bank in 1989 and Peter Franklin in Australia has an offset of what is grown in Florida as A. serrata and seedlings from self-set seed for this same misidentified taxon. We also know that seed offered as Aechmea serrata from the BSI seed in Oct 1990 was even more suspect because this was the origin of the cultivar Aechmea 'Que Sera'. So unless you have some form of provenance the name of Aechmea serrata on the label may well be suspect!
Aechmea serrata is probably on the endangered list because of the work of the French botanist, Claude Sastre who has given me detail on this elusive plant. It does appear to be under cultivation in Europe both in France and Belgium. There is also a large clump growing in the Jardin de Balata in Martinique but does NOT set seed.
If anybody thinks they are growing the 'true' Aechmea serrata would they please advise Selby Gardens so it can be properly identified and a program started for its conservation.
Literature cited
Baensch U & U. 1994. Blooming Bromeliads page 65 Nassau/Bahamas
Bois D. 1907. Revue Horticole (Paris) 79(7): 129-31.
Kent J., 2004. J. Brom. Soc 54(4): 176.
Smith L B & R J Downs. 1979. Flora Neotropica, Monograph 14, Part 3 Bromelioideae (Bromeliaceae). New York Bot. Gdns. New York
Ross Little of Pinegrove Nursery tells me that he still has customers confused about plants they have, called Aechmea serrata whereas really they are A. smithiorum They should at least know there is confusion about these two names. It is also possible that the same nusery is selling one plant under two names, therefore doubling sales. As such I believe that your readers should be aware of the problem and we repeat an article from the Journal of the Briomeliad Society International in 2005. (Ed. See above)
AECHMEA SERRATA IS NOT ONLY very rarely seen in cultivation, but it is also seldom found growing in its place of origin. It is native to the French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinque in the Carihbean Sea, where it grows epiphytically on certain trees at altitudes between 30 to 600 meters or 90 to 1,800 feet. It may possibly be found in other West Indian islands.]
This species was discovered in 1753 by P. Plumier, who gave it the name of Bromelia ramosa & racemosa foliis arundinaceis serratis (Plantarum Americanarum, p. 53, pl. 64, 1775). Various others have given this bromeliad other names: Tillandsia serrata Linne; Caraguata serrata Roemer & Schultes; Platystachys plumieri Beer; Aechmea plumieri Baker; Caragate dentee Lamarck; and Aechmea serrata Mez.
The name serrata comes from the Latin term serratus, which means dentate or toothed like a saw. The leaves are edged with dark reddish-brown sharp teeth, which are about 2 mm or 1/12th of an inch long. These teeth are separated from each other by a distance of approximately 1 to 9 mm.
The leaves of Aechmea serrata are large, their length measuring usually 60 cm. or two feet. If the plant were to receive regular feeding and careful culture it probably would assume much greater proportions. As can be noted from the accompanying photograph, the leaves are fairly rigid. The leaves are covered with white scales which are placed in parallel rows like thin silvered lines following the length of their support. These scales, which are more numerous on the underside of the leaf than on the upper, are necessary for the wellbeing of the plant, for they absorb the humidity from the air as well as derive nourishment from dust and other particles that might fall on them. The illustration showing the closeup of these scales shows them magnified about nine times.
The flower spike is 60 cm or two feet high and presents a harmonious combination of pink and green shades lasting long before the first flower starts to open. The paniculate inflorescence has a diam. of 13 cm. or 5 inches and a height of 25 cm. or 10 inches. Each raceme is a compound of 6 to 8 (rarely 9) flowers. At their base is a slightly pendent bract; there are other bracts along the stem practically hiding it. The coloration of the bracts is a mixture of pink and green, edged with white hairs. The blossom starts from the base, and each morning for two full months, three to seven flowers open with dark violet petals and a violet stigma surrounded by white stamens.
A blossom lasting two months seems a record indeed! The fruits increase in size during the 5 or 6 months which are necessary to ripen them, during which time their coloration turns to a deep violet, lasting for weeks and weeks in this showy condition. During this time offshoots develop for the perpetuation of the species.
A detailed description with drawings of Aechmea serrata was published in the Revue Horticole de France for the year 1907, page 129. The described plant which was in flower fifty eight years ago differs from the ones we now have by its smaller dimensions and its different bracts. This old plant had been imported from La Martinique, but was lost during the war because of lack of heating in the greenhouses. The ones we have now come from La Guadeloupe. We are trying to get a new importation from Martinique in order to compare the two plants in case there may be two varieties of this Aechmea. As to cultivation, we keep the seedlings in a hot greenhouse and give the adult plants a minimum temperature of 17C or 62F. A compost of oak or beech mold leaves may be used, but we prefer our usual orchid compost in which are mixed one third each of osmunda, polypodium roots, and sphagnum moss. The plants do best in filtered sunlight.
Aechmea serrata is a very showy, beautiful plant and is one that will lend itself to modern indoor decoration. Because of its long blooming season it is certainly a desirable plant. It is our hope to get some even more striking specimens through hybridization.
1 Ru de l'Eglise, Boissy Saint Leger, France
NOTE: In all probability this plant is A. smithiorum var longistipitata !