Billbergia Oeser
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Billbergia Oeser
Name registered to replace 'Oeser's Bigeneric Hybrid' BCR ... "A hybrid between seedlings from Oeser derived amoena seed imported by Nick Kemp - not actually a "bigeneric" - tall plant w/slightly knuckled mostly discolored wide leaves w/yellow and white splashes on pink and green background - a look-alike for Foster's amoena v. rubra? Butcher advocates renaming to 'Oeser' in his 1997 listing. Butcher 1986, Bromeletter 1994 3:14
cv. of amoena hybrid?
Ian Hook 03/07 from Gordon Ramsey
Ian Hook 04/23
WHAT YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT BILLBERGIA 'OESERS BIGENERIC HYBRID'
by Derek Butcher Sth Australia in Bromeletter 32(3): 14. 1994
This comes from a reliable source, is a sort of death bed confession, and takes us back to the time before even Grace Goode and Bill Morris started their Billbergia hybrids over thirty years ago. Both were puzzled by the way this plant behaved as a parent and neither of them could help me in my thirst for knowledge for the Hybrid Check List.
None of us like to show our ignorance. On Bromeliad matters I generally just nod my head and make a note somewhere in my brain so that I can refer to my files "back in the den" and then make a most erudite comment.
All I know in this case is that seed had been obtained by Nick Kemp from Oeser as Billbergia amoena and plants grown on. Some were in strong light and sane grown in more shade so they grew up looking different, and being billbergias they flowered. It was decided to cross pollinate the colourful sort with the green sort, seed was set and progeny raised. What name should be given to this occurrence? "Bigeneric" was a word they had heard of, and it sounded just the thing. So it came into being. Most of us know NOW that bigeneric means a hybrid between 2 plants from different genera. As a comparison, we all slowly got used to biodegradable, but what about biogenic?
What intrigues me about the whole thing is that this has puzzled the greatest of minds and yet has a simple explanation. Needless to say this challenge came from Queensland. Do we change the name? I think not, because it has a sort of tradition about it. The number of different sorts of Billbergia amoena which are in cultivation and which are cultivars and which are still within the species range make cultivar names almost essential. Perhaps Billbergia 'Oeser's Bigeneric Hybrid' is a mouthful but it does describe one of these many forms.
Note. In time for the 1998 Cultivar Register it was decided to call this plant Billbergia 'Oeser'
