Please refer to the "Uncle Derek Says" article for Fascicularia bicolor on fcbs website.
This plant most closely resembles ssp. bicolor in leaf cross section and base of leaf.
But it is roughly 3 to 5 times the size of the Fascicularia bicolor ssp. bicolor shown on this (Bromeliads in Australia) website, and the leaves are not stiff or erect.
It has been in Sydney collections for many years as pitcairniifolia and the specimens I have seen certainly seem to have different growth habit and size to those labelled ssp. bicolor. So I intend to keep the two plants seperately labelled, for convenience, until I have seen more evidence to the contrary.
The water is further "muddied" by the formal description of pitcairniifolia being deemed unnaceptible (on a technicality ?), and by the existence of a somewhat similar plant Greigia sphacelata. We can only hope that one or more of these plants in circulation in Sydney will flower for a closer examination. Unfortunately the fcbs website reports that all 3 may be non-flowering here, due to the warm winters in Sydney.
Please refer to the "Uncle Derek Says" article for Fascicularia bicolor on fcbs website.
