was Tillandsia narthecioides
now Lemeltonia narthecioides (See DD02/17: for all new (DNA resolved) species & Cultivars.)
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Lemeltonia narthecioides
Ian Hook, Sydney 04/09.
Rob Bower 03/21
Rob Bower ... "L. narthecoides. Does anyone have an idea of what narthecoides is derived from (oides being 'looks like')"
Chris Larson ... "Narthecium {genus name} is derived from the diminutive of Greek narthex (rod) meaning 'small rod'. {See Narthecium.}
One would assume the long flower spike - or the leaves, or like a Narthecium."
Bruce Dunstan ... "Narcissus is a genus of Amarylidaceae including the Daffodills and Jonquils all known for their strong scent, which L. narthecioides also has and I guess was named for. I remember seeing vast colonies growing on citrus trees in the mountains below Quenca on the way towards Indanza. The plants were quite red due to the altitude and also high sun exposure. I’ve moved my plants out into more sun this summer to try to recreate the foliage colour."
Bruce Dunstan 03/22
Bruce Dunstan ... "Was Tillandsia narthecioides. Night flowered and scented. I saw them growing on citrus on the Eastern slope in Ecuador in high light with red foliage."
Peter Tristram ... "It looks like the original clone from Kent's, imported in the early '80s. Fantastic clump doing brilliantly at your new place. It should be fragrant too. The recently created genus isn't huge in species, but all interesting."
Bruce Dunstan ... "I remember seeing it near San Juan Bosco in Morona Santiago, Ecuador. Growing in full sun on citrus trees. The foliage was pretty red with the elevation and sun exposure. Wishing I'd taken a photo. The attached Heliconia peteriana is known from just this spot and sadly there is very little forest in the surrounding area."
Bruce Dunstan 02/24
Peter Tristram ... "Hi Bruce. It's a great little species, best as a clump, as your pic shows. If it's from me, does it have a source? If not it'll be the Selby clone obtained in 1988, unless it's someone else's import. Got to preserve the species, and their provenance, if known. I must look for my clones and repot them!"
Bruce Dunstan ... "I got it from Cheryl and Len Waite so it likely was originally from you. I can remember seeing big red clumps growing on citrus in the sun above Indanza on the Amazon slope in Sthn Ecuador. Wish I'd stopped and taken a photo."
Peter Tristram ... "Yep, should have stopped! I had a similar feeling after we passed heaps of what looked like T. peruviana, in Nth Peru, expecting to see more. Didn't.
I have sold the Selby clone of narthecioides for about 30 years, all over the place. It's bigger than at least one of the Hromadnik forms, and much darker. Hardy species too."
Lemeltonia narthecioides (C. Presl) Barfuss & W. Till, comb. nov. Phytotaxa 279(1); 001-097. 2016
Basionym:—Tillandsia narthecioides C. Presl, Reliq. haenk. 1: 125 (1827), Type:—Haenke s.n. (holo PR!)

Tillandsia narthecioides Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 125. 1827.
Desc from S&D p854
Plant stemless or very short-caulescent, flowering about 45 cm high.
Leaves 20-30 in a dense rosette, all or nearly all erect, 2-4 dm long;
Sheaths elongate, scarcely distinct, covered with a ferruginous membrane of appressed scales;
Blades long-attenuate, 5 mm wide or less, sparsely and minutely lepidote beneath, subchartaceous when dry.
Scape erect, much shorter than the leaves, very slender;
Scape-bracts tubular-involute, erect, the lower imbricate, the upper elliptic, obtuse, 15 mm long, equaling the internodes, purple.
Inflorescence simple, lax, linear, 12 cm long, 25 mm wide, to 30-flowered;
Rhachis completely exposed, glabrous, regularly undulate especially toward apex, not at all thickened at the bases of the flowers, internodes ca 6 mm long.
Floral bracts spreading, linear-elliptic, obtuse, ca 13 mm long, 3.5-4 mm wide, equaling the sepals, scarcely carinate, glabrous outside, strongly nerved, chartaceous;
Flowers sessile.
Sepals equally subfree, elliptic, obtuse, 7-14 mm long, coriaceous, glabrous, strongly nerved, the posterior carinate;
Petals white, the blades spreading, 6 mm long;
Stamens deeply included, exceeding the pistil, filaments high-connate.
Capsule slenderly cylindric, acute, to 36 mm lortg.
Type. Haenke s n (holotype PR, photo US), Guayaquil, Ecuador, 1790-91.
DISTRIBUTION. Epiphytic in forest, 20-960m alt, southeastern Ecuador.
ECUADOR. GUAVAS: Near Guayaquil, Sodiro 171/41 (B, B photo 1249/9); Balao, Jan !892, Eggers 14277 (B, US); Bucay, 5-7 Jul 923, Hitchcock 20407 (US); 8-15 Jun !945, Camp E-3676 (NY, US); Las Americas, Balzar to Quevedo, 28-29 Sep 1952, Fagerlind & Wibom 391 (S); Pa!me to Dau!e, 30 Sep 1952, Fagerlind & Wibom 412 (S); Ducur, Guayaquil-Cuenca road, 1956, Teuscher 2110-56 (US); Man¬glaralto, 2 May 1962, Gilmartin 700 (US). LOS RIOS: Hacienda Clementina on Rio Pita, 26 Mar 1939, Asplund 5491 (S, US); 30 Mar 1953, Fagerlind & Wibom 2644 (S, US).

Tillandsia narthecioides Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 125. 1827.
T. foliis glabris linearibus planis apice subulatis, basi dilatatis, spica racemosa simplicissima, floribus distichis patentibus, bracteis glabris calycis longitudine, capsula lincari elongata.
Hab. in Guayaquil. Perennial.
Radices longae filiformes teretes ramulosae copiosae. Caulis semipedalis erectus simplicissimus basi creberrime foliosus, in reliqua sua altitudine vaginis alternis oblongis acutis striatis subimbricatis obtectus. Folia 8 pollices longa erecta glabra linearia plana, apice subulata canaliculata, basi dilatata 3 lineas lata. Spica 4 pollices longa erecta simplicissima, rhachi flexuosa compressa, Flores distichi distantes fere horizontaliter patentes. Bracteae 4 lineas longae oblongae obtusae striatae glabrae. Calyx glaber longitudine bracteae, laciniis oblongis obtusis. Capsula 15 lineas longa linearis trigona mucronata, valvis externe rugoso-venosis, interne fuscis nitidulis, dein recurvatis subtortis. Semina lineari-oblonga fusca. Pappus elongatus semine multoties longior.

Updated 22/03/24