Neoregelia camorimiana
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Neoregelia camorimiana
| Terry Davis, BSA Show 05/10. |
Diane Cornale 12/24 |
Neoregelia camorimiana Pereira & Penna, Bol. Mus. Bot. Mun. Curitiba 62:2. 1985
Plant flowering ca 35cm high, stoloniferous, stolons ca 12cm long, 1cm diam.,
Leaves ca.15, ligulate, making an inflated base but by no means constricted, rigid, all over purplish, circling the internal inflorescence the bottom part of the blade a beautiful red.
Sheath ovate, ca. 9cm long, both sides purple, white lepidote,
Blades sub-erect, sub-linear, ca. 25cm long, max width 4cm, tip almost rounded and wine coloured, tip soft, upper side glabrous, underneath punctate white lepidote and dark purple spotted,
Scape 30mm long, 8mm diam.,
Scape bracts ovate, acuminate, toothed and white,
Involucral bracts sub-triangular, membraneous, entire, white tipped,
Inflorescence simple, corymbose, sub-globose, top flattened, 45mm long, 30mm diam.,
Floral bracts 34mm long, 8mm wide, linear, hyaline, entire, pink near the tip, glabrous, not keeled, tip rounded mucronulate, equalling middle of the sepal.
Flower with pedicel 50mm long,
Pedicel 8mm long.
Sepals 20mm long, obovate, apiculate, 4mm connate, asymmetric, glabrous, red towards the tip,
Petals 30mm long, joined for 20mm, blade 10mm long, triangular, acute, violet, spreading at anthesis.
Stamens 18mm long,
Filaments flattened, joined to petal for 12 mm, white,
Anthers lanceolate, apiculate, base blunt arrow shaped, dorsifixed above the base.
Ovary cylindrical, 18mm long, white, Epigynous tube 2mm long, Placental locule fixed in the middle, Ovules apiculate.
Type: State of Rio de Janeiro, Jacarepagua, Camorim. leg. Luiz K. Correiade Araujo no. 46, 18th January 1983. Holotype HB
Differs from N. indecora in
Leaf blade spotted purple with red tip.
Floral bracts linear and reaching the middle of the sepal.
Differs from N. olens in
Leaves purple spotted not without spots
Leaf sheaths purple not green.
Leaf blades rounded not broadly acute.
Leaf tips soft not pungent.
Leaves 4cm wide not 3cm.
Leaves glabrous on upper surface only
Inflorescence 3cm diam., not 2cm.
Floral bracts equal the middle of the sepals not totally
Flower 50mm long not 38mm
Sepals 4mm connate not very short
NEOREGELIA OLENS/CAMORIMIANA
by Derek Butcher circa 1998
These two species are very similar if not identical and it is just one example of how difficult it is to identify species Neoregelia amidst a welter of Cultivars.
Let us start with Adda Abendroth who found a plant near her home in Brazil and which is mentioned in her letters (See Bromeletter 1996 #4 page 6 and #6 page 6). She called the plant Neoregelia chlorosticta but although she sent many specimens to Lyman Smith this collection is not mentioned in Flora Neotropica and she could well have misidentified it.
Somehow or another, Bill Morris got hold of a plant that may be linked to Adda and this plant became known as 'Bill's Red' and also as 'Ernie's Neo'! It was called 'Ernie's Neo' because he tended some of Bill's plants when Bill moved to the Cairns area in the early 1960's. By the time Bill returned this plant had completely circled an Iron Bark tree! We acquired an offset and I was convinced it was a species because of its history.
In 1996 Elton Leme described a Neoregelia crispata in the BSI journal and I was convinced this could well be Bill's plant. I triumphantly wrote to Harry Luther about my "discovery". Harry had different ideas and suggested "It seems closer to the concept of N. camorimiana but with longer floral bracts that could well shrink when dried!". This had me looking for the description of N. camorimiana by Pereira and Penna in a Curitiba Botanical Journal made in 1985. This was in Latin and Portuguese! But there was a drawing! Not fully convinced I put N. aff. camorimiana on the label to be on the safe side. (Aff. means affinity to).
We also had a plant also from Bill but at another time which was called 'Pigmented olens' which under our conditions grew very similar to 'Bill's Red'. This too has been named N. aff camorimiana.
Now to more recent developments. Geoff Lawn in Western Australia reported a Neoregelia chlorosticta from Bill Morris that sounded exactly like my N. aff camorimiana. This was taking coincidence a bit too far and because of the history I have related, all three names must be closely linked.
There is even a 'Geoff Lawn chlorosticta' circulating in Brisbane which would be safer known as N. aff camorimiana. As Harry told me in 1997 "Neo chlorosticta always has green spots on reddish leaf sheaths". There seems to be two forms at least, a high altitude form from around Rio near Itatiaia and a lower altitude form that is more robust from Parana. The latter is "Foster's TRUE N. marmorata" I believe.
Geoff says that his plant does not turn red in the centre at anthesis but as I point out, if the leaves are totally reddish how do you know if this occurs! Rob Smythe in Townville is always commenting on this lack of contrast in so many neoregelias grown under his conditions.
Why do I link N. olens with N. camorimiana? On my photocopy of the description of N. camorimiana I see a cryptic note in Harry's handwriting "?cf olens" (cf has a similar meaning to aff.)
Updated 24/12/24
