Tillandsia Knize's Bolivariensis
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Tillandsia Knize's Bolivariensis
BCR ... "Mature rosettes with leaves to 10cm. long, caulescent, branched, trailing growth to 1 metre long. Bought as "Tillandsia tectorum bolivariensis KK39" from wild collector / seed merchant Karel Knize (Peru) in 1984. There are lots of places called Bolivar whether Province, district or township in Peru and Ecuador. We do not know which one but assume Peru. Referred to Lotte Hromadnik (Germany) in 2005 but she could give no lead re correct I.D."
Country of origin: Peru ?
cv tectorum ?
Ray Clark ... "I have been trying to get a decent photo of this tectorum for a while, the flower itself measures about 8mm long and 8mm across the three petals. The name "boliviarensis" does appear on our DVD but I am unable to cross check on the taxon list. Checking my collection details I see that Derek bought this plant in from Mr. Knize many years ago so most likely named after a locality we think, definitely a little different from the norm though."
Chris Larson ... "This is not a valid name. From memory it is what Knize sold it as - so Derek kept the name on the tag to keep it separate. (Pretty much the same as the pet names I put on my tags to remind me of things.)
The name, as I remember it, denoted that Knize claimed it came from Bolivia - which is similar to other stories which made us have little regard for the labels that came with his plants. We got a lot of great things from him though."
Ray Clark ... "Derek has kindly pointed out to me that this plant is already registered on the BCR as T. Knize’s Bolivariensis. I had mis-spelled it when copying a label."
Geoff Lawn ... "As it's botanical status is still undetermined, the registered cultivar name of T. 'Knize's Bolivariensis' will stay in the BCR.
Under I.C.N. Rules it should never have been given a Latin-sounding / spelling species name in the first place. Only when a described species is later found to be not a recognised species is it to become a cultivar name with the original species epithet intact.
No wonder growers are confused when they see a species-sounding cultivar name written in lower case - and it's not on any authorised Taxon List."
Updated 13/11/20