Ken Woods, Rio Hondo form.

"caulescent form", Ken Woods, 01/10.

Ken Woods. Peach form 01/06.

capitata, Ken Woods 09/04.

capitata, Ken Woods 11/09.

capitata, Ken Woods 05/11.

John Olsen 01/10.

"Guatemala 986"

"Select Red 364"

"Select Red, Guatemala and O.Ferris"

John Olsen 12/19 "These tall forms have a longer spike and a leaner head”

Yellow Jamaican

Red

Orange

Rob Bower 01/23 ex. Neville Ryan

Chris Larson 05/15 T. capitata 'Jamaican Yellow' (NR)

Bob Hudson 05/15 (From N.T.)

John Olsen 05/15. Yellow and Orange forms similar to 'Jamaican Yellow'. I also have a similar "tall red" form.

Adam Bodzioch 01/15 as "Large Scarlet". Flowers not a high as most capitata

Mark Supple 12/10. Ex. Chris Larson as "capitata Lau Mexico".

Ian Cook 02/18 as "Scarlet Giant"

Chris Larson 08/22 capitata Oaxaca

Chris Larson ... "T. capitata Oaxaca. Linked pretty close to Temascal I'd venture a guess. Temascal is in the state of Oaxaca I think."
Grant Paterson ... "Chris Larson: I have some Temascal that look like this and then some smaller and some without many trichomes. What ever they are I really like these forms."
Ray Clark ... "Grant Paterson: I have Temascal too as per pics on BCR, mine blushes quite a bit redder and definitely scurfy, possibly locality related."
Chris Larson ... "Grant Paterson: I have different Temascals. But this one is very different. Then again quite often people put tags on unnamed plants - and sometimes it is difficult to trace the history. Peter Tristram may have more detail on this one. The flower colour is very different to my others."

Len Colgan 02/10.

"Mexico" from German Brom Conf.

"Orange" with green-grey leaves.

"San Christobal" V.large. Lydia Kohres.

Peter Tristram 12/10. Labelled "capitata LH".

Peter Tristram 12/10. Labelled "Rio Hondo".

Bob Hudson 12/12. "Rio Hondo".

Note: The story of capitata "Peach" and "Rio Hondo" is not yet written, and there is sure to be more decided "soon".
Officially they have been combined and registered as "Rio Hondo", but the story will probably not end there, as these few notes show.

John Olsen 08/10/11 "Further to the capitata/Rio Hondo debate I have attached my version. It came as Capitata Peach. The photo shows the colour achievable in full morning sun.
I also have plants labelled Rio Hondo which are just now sending up a flower spike which seems likely to be relatively short.
John
PS if any of you have other pics of capitata send them to me for my assembly of Aussie Capitatas. Picture and provenance where known."

Chris Larson 06/01/11 "The T.capitata Peach/ Rio Hondo problem has been going on for a long time.
The quantities brought in by Collectors Corner, Green and Company & Ari from up Billinudgel way, are massive. These are, now, all imported as T.capitata Peach and are known this way all over the world where Guatemalan imports come in. I know there are different plants which are around under the "T.capitata Peach" name. I have sold plants as "T.capitata Peach or Rio Hondo" as I know that T.Rio Hondo is the registered name, but the buyer is more likely to own it (if he or she does) under the name T.capitata Peach.
Dereks article: My information is gathered from imports from around 6 or 8 different sources in Guatemala over the past 18 years. The imports have usually listed this plant as T.capitata Peach - only rarely T.sphaerocephala - though the sphaerocephala name was used spasmodically a long time ago, only T.capitata Peach has been used in the recent past (at least 5 years, possibly 10 or more). Maybe T.sphaerocephala was their first guess, then they concurred on the other name - I don't know. So while the information in the article may have been true at the time from the sources quoted, it does not represent the situation in my experience.
From personal comments (and here I could be wide of the mark) one of the main arguments for using "Rio Hondo" and staying away from the "T.capitata" part, is that Renate had it earmarked for a new species. This (if I'm not mistaken) has been shelved as Renate has found intermediaries & now this is likely not to happen. Please correct me if I am wrong. So we have the BCR & Derek arguing to use T.Rio Hondo & the commercial world (and I mean world) using T.capitata Peach. The dominant source of plants in the public arena generally come from commercials - so guess which name is predominant.
This has been muddied further by a plant Pam Koide sells as T.ionantha Peach. This is in the BCR as T.Peach - so the name T.capitata Peach would be invalid under ICNCP rules anyway.
So John, if the provenance leads back to me - I advise the people to use the name they would like. If I don't use both names, the purchaser may buy the same plant twice.
Cheers, Chris"

Derek Butcher 09/01/11 "Chris L and John.
Just a little more grist to the mill. I hope John can get a photo of his stocky 'Peach' because we may be able to nail it. You see Pam Koide sells capitata 'Peach' from Mexico and capitata caulescent from Guatemala. Therefore there must be a difference but we do not have photos.
T. riohondoensis fell by the wayside and I carried it on as 'Rio Hondo'. Its demise was more because there are great discussions from the Cubans who claim the name capitata as their own and what happens to those found in the mainland of Central America ? That was 5 years ago! 'Manana'
UD"

Tillandsia 'Peach' & 'Guatemalan Peach' November 2013
See DD 11/13: for discussion of the registration of these two forms.

capitata 'Peach'. Photo Pamela Hyatt.

capitata 'Guatemalan Peach'. Photo Dennis Cathcart.

Peter Tristram 01/12. Many of you know about the selection of interesting capitata of many colours, sizes and shapes, from Cuba, collected and introduced into cultivation by Lydia Koehres. Many of them come from the area around Vinales. There are a lot of different colours and shapes and some she hasn’t parted with yet too. The pics are of a pale yellow bracted form with a maroon flush, very obvious when watered. Both are very well frosted especially the elongated one. Some of you will have similar plants labelled ‘capitata (or aff.)

Bob Hudson 12/12.

Peter Tristram 12/12. Tall left, Lydia right.

Justin Lee 05/24 as "Weirdo Orange"

This and other query from Ken Woods here in Australia prompted me to action.
Dennis Cathcart named ‘Maya’ in Cargo Report #7-3 for a supposed natural hybrid of xerographica x capitata occurring in Guatemala. Some followed this naming and others not, so we see its photo in ‘New Tillandsia Handbook’ by Shimizu & Takizawa, 1998 on page 113 as a formula. Just for interest sake, on the same page you will see a Dimmitt hybrid namely T. xerographica x brachycaulos. This was named ‘Betty’ by Paul Isley. We know that T. brachycaulos and T. capitata are very similar, in fact some collected plants seem to fall between the parameters of both species. It depends whether you are a lumper or a splitter! To my mind a hybrid with these as parents should show some sort of similarity but in this case they don’t. Here the man-made hybrid gives a hint of what the natural hybrid should look like. In this case it adds weight to my belief that the parentage xerographica x capitata was the wrong one to use!

Apparently this all started in 1989 when Uwe Feldhoff collected a plant at Zacapa, Rio Hondatal, Guatemala and sent a specimen to Renate Ehlers in Germany. Investigations showed that it was different to what is generally considered to be the range of the very variable T. capitata. Although T. rhodocephala, another variant within T. capitata in the broad sense, was published in 1994, no action has yet been taken with this particular taxon.

Guatemalan exporters meanwhile, had also been selling this plant around the world to the general nursery trade as Tillandsia sphaerocephala Guatemala. The true T. sphaerocephala from Bolivia was, at that time, not common in collections and which in any event had been confused with T. schreiteri in Smith & Downs, Flora Neotropica. Never had it been found in Guatemala and in any event the stamens are included so it was an odd identification. The plant was also distributed by the name of T. harrisii to which it does have some vague similarity when young and not in flower!

When I knew that Renate Ehlers was not immediately going to describe this taxon I decided to call it by the name of Tillandsia ‘Rio Hondo’ and it is recorded as such in the Bromeliad Cultivar Register with notes referring to ‘Uncle Derek says’.

In July 2001 Anwyl Bromeliads in New Zealand, imported a shipment from Tropimeyer (Guatemala) that included Tillandsia "sphaerocephala.". 40 or 50 plants flowered whilst in the quarantine house, and all were the same and were given the provisional name of 'Yellow Rose' because the coloration of the primary bracts was quite different from any other Tillandsia capitata photos in the records. So several hundred of these plants are being grown in NZ collections with the label Tillandsia capitata 'Yellow Rose'. This colour was unique and may have been the result of the obligatory gassing because subsequently, remaining plants flowered later in cultivation with that orange coloured primary bract typical of ‘Rio Hondo’. Indeed, offsets from what were called ‘Yellow Rose’ flowered similarly.

To summarise, we have a plant variously called, T. xerographica x capitata, T.‘Maya’, T. sphaerocephala Guatemala, T. harrisii, Tillandsia capitata ‘Yellow Rose’ in New Zealand, and T. ‘Rio Hondo’.
Because of the duplication problem with T. ‘Maya’ would you please change all labels to read T. ‘Rio Hondo’ or T. capitata ‘Rio Hondo’and I will note the Cultivar Register accordingly.

References
R Ehlers & P. Koide, 1994, J. Brom. Soc. 44:130
Hideo Shimizu and Hiroyuki Takizawa, 1998, New Tillandsia Handbook Japan Cactus Planning Co. Press
L.B. Smith and R.Downs, 1977, Flora Neotropica, Monograph 14, Tillandsioideae, Hafner Press

Chris Larson 10/14..."I just thought I’d post these photos as some who trawl eBay will have seen them but others haven’t.
The story started with Peter Tristram & I importing some plants of Guatemalan origin out of Europe. We both got a couple of T. capitata var guzmanoides which were a nice darker clone with scarlet bracts – and definitely not var guzmanoides. These flowered at a smaller size, at least mine did, at around 12” tall. It also self set seed.
Then I got offered some more expensive Guatemalan plants (than our usual lines) as a one off – which included this var guzmanoides again. I only got a few. Some flowered at around 45cm tall with scarlet bracts – and are just starting to pup. Monster capitatas – as those that have seen them will attest. A few nutters have them now. I thought I’d better put this info out as these plants will be appearing around.
I’m still not sure whether to register it as T. capitata 'Scarlet' as I’m not sure that the 2 clones I have are not the same or what will happen with the pups."
Derek Butcher 11/14...."The only ones really interested in blatant wrong names seems to be we Antipodeans! Bromeliads in Australia has the problem partly solved because the right detail are under T. lautneri. Feldhoff started off this misnaming. The use of Scarlet is a nurseryman's solution but is frowned upon by Registrars. Why not call this 'Feldhoff'? It identifies the source AND that it is different."

2017 update on var. guzmanoides below

Elm Mema 06/17. Our plant labelled T. lautneri (see above) is blooming. We found that it is not the real T. lautneri. It has exsert stamen and not bulbose. It looks like Chris Larson photos referenced in the T. lautneri article on 'Bromeliads in Australia'. I've not found the named conclusion of this plant yet.

Tillandsia capitata var. guzmanioides by Derek Butcher July 2017.
Nearly there but this is to tell you there has been a change of heart. You may have noticed that in the New Bromeliad Taxon list that Tillandsia capitata var guzmanioides is not treated as a synonym of T. lautneri. In fact it should be treated at species level but that will take further research. Now for a bit of history.
It all started in 1939
Tillandsia capitata Griseb. var. guzmanioides, var. nov., L B Smith, Contr. Gray Herb. 127: 18, pl.1, figs. 5-7. 1939
acaulis, florifera ad 5 dm. alta; foliis cyathiformi-rosulatis, inflorescentiam subaequantibus, minutissime denseque lepidotis; vaginis magnis, ellipticis, atro-castaneis; laminis anguste tri¬angularibus, longe acuminatis, planis, ca. 2 cm. latis; scapo leviter curvato, 6 mm. diametro, glabro; scapi bracteis foliaceis, dense imbricatis, supremis inflorescentiam superantibus; inflorescentia perdense ellipsoidea, 8 cm. longa, bipinnatim paniculata; bracteis primariis eis scapi similibus sed brevioribus, spicis axillaribus bene occultantibus; spicis bifloris, basi bracteas steriles binas late alatas gerentibus; bracteis florigeris ovatis, acutis, sepala subaequantibus, carinatis, membranaceis, . dense adpresseque brunneo-lepidotis; sepalis lanceolatis, acutis, ad 27 mm. longis, membranaceis, dense lepidotis; petalis 35 mm. longis, verisimiliter tubulose imbricatis; staminibus ignotis. Tab. I, fig. 5-7.
MEXICO: Chiapas: Mt. Tacana, alt. 2000-4038 m., Aug. 1938, Matuda 2308 (G, TYPE; Mich.).
Translated by Butcher.
Plant stemless, flowering to 5dm high
Leaves forming a cup shaped rosette, almost equalling the inflorescence, very small dense lepidote
Sheath large, elliptic, dark brown
Blades narrow triangular, long acuminate, flat, ca 2cm wide
Scape lightly curved, 6mm diam, glabrous
Scape bracts leaf like, densely imbricate, the upper ones exceeding the inflorescence
Inflorescence very dense ellipsoid, 8cm long, a bipinnate panicle
Primary bracts similar to scape bracts but shorter, well covering the axillary spikes
Spikes 2 flowered, 2 sterile bracts with wide wings at the base
Floral bracts ovate, acute, almost equalling the sepals, keeled, membranaceous, dense appressed brown lepidote
Sepals lanceolate, acute, to 27mm long, membranaceous, dense lepidote
Petals 35mm long, probably forming an imbricate tube
Stamens unknown

This variety differs from typical Tillandsia capitata in its densely lepidote sepals, but as T. capitata in rare instances shows a very few scales on the sepals, it seems best now not to call the Matuda plant a distinct species. A full description is given in case further collections should make the differences seem stronger than varietal: The variety also shows a tendency to brown rather than gray indument and to strict rather than recurving primary bracts.

Our next reference is Smith & Downs (1977)
332b. Tillandsia capitata var guzmanioides L. B. Smith, Contr. Gray Herb. 127: 18, pl. 1, figs. 5-7. 1939. Fig 319 E-G.
Tillandsia tephrophylla Harms var guzmanioides (L. B. Smith) Rohweder, Ab. Gebiet Auslandsk. Univ. Hamburg 61(Reihe C, 18): 80. 1956.
Sepals densely lepidote.
TYPE. Matuda 2308 (holotype GH, isotype MICH), Mount Tacana, Chiapas, Mexico, Aug 1938.
DISTRIBUTION. Saxicolous and epiphytic, 900-3800 m alt, southern Mexico, Guatemala. MEXICO. Jalisco: Guadalajara, Mar 1913, Diguet s n (MICH). Guerrero: Petaquillas, Mochistlan to Colotlipa, 28 Mar 1952, Moore & Valiente 6191 (BH, US). Chiapas: Ciudad las Casas (San Cristobal), 25 Mar 1949, Carlson 1683 (F, US); 19 Jan 1965, Breedlove & Raven 8099 (DS, US); Tuxtla, 3 Apr 1957, Foster & Van Hyning 2960 (US); Tehuantepec, 7 Apr 1957, Foster & Van Hyning 2977 (US); Zontehuitz, Chamula, 30 Jul 1964, Breedlove 6687 (DS, US). GUATEMALA. San Marcos: San Sebastian to Volcan Tajumulco, 16 Feb 1940, Steyermark 35792 (F). JALAPA: Soledad, 4 Dec 1939, Steyermark 32906 (F). Chimaltenango: Cerro de Tecpam, Santa Elena, 4 Dec 1938, Standley 58727 (F)

Differences are simplified but the number of paratypes grows and I wonder how accurate these are.

We now move to 1993
Tillandsia lautneri, R Ehlers, Die Bromelie 2; 38-40. 1993
syn T. capitata var. guzmanioides L B Smith (Matuda 2308)
Translated by Butcher from the German
Plant stemless, to 30cm high, 15cm diam, growing in groups with small basal offsets, making a narrow, erect, sub-bulbose rosette.
Leaves numerous, soft and very thin, dark green, with striking black brown sheaths.
Sheaths to 12cm long, to 6cm wide, elliptic, spoonshaped, arched, distinct from the blade, both sides small punctulate lepidote.
Blades about 2.5cm wide above the sheath, to 15cm long, triangular acuminate, erect, dark green, the edges reddish brown and bent, with a weak asymmetric keel, adaxial (inside) shiny, with fine punctulate scales, abaxial (outside) strongly nerved, and with dense grey appressed scales.
Scape to 6cm long, bent over, wholly covered by the leaves.
Scape bracts densely covering the scape, to 20cm long, subfoliate, becoming erect.
Inflorescence compound, bipinnate, to 7cm long, to 5cm wide, ellipsoid-capitate, to 10 – 20 sessile, dense, erect, spikes.
Primary bracts similar to scape bracts, ca. as long as the spikes, which are inserted on the flat side, the upper gradually becoming shorter and with triangular blade, thin membranous, shiny red or orange.
Spike to 3cm long, to 1.6cm wide, oval, complanate, mostly 2 flowered, with an extra 2 sterile bracts at the base and one apical, thin stemmed, stunted flower, the lower and upper spikes mostly reduced to 1 flower.
Flower bract 1.5 – 1.9 (- 2.5)cm long, 6 – 10 ( -12)mm wide, oval, acute, very thin membranous, inside nerved, outside green red, finely scaled, keeled, 1 – 3mm shorter than the sepal.
Sepal 1.8 – 2.2cm long, 6 – 7mm wide, lancelike acuminate, thin membranous, almost free (uniformly joined for about 2mm), all keeled, nerved, finely punctulate lepidote.
Petal 7 – 7.7cm long, 6 – 7mm wide, narrowing to 4mm at base, tongue-shaped, forming an erect tube, the tips erect and not bent sharply outwards, two coloured, the top 1/3 violet (#54) with white edges, then becoming white.
Stamens as long or shorter than the flower tube. Style longer than the filament, 7cm long, thin, white. Lobes small, a little wider than the style, erect, violet ( Type I B&G). Filaments in 2 rows of unequal length, to 6.5 cm long, the upper portion 0.75mm wide, flat-oval, narrowing to the base, straight, white. Anthers erect, 3mm long, 1mm wide, joined almost at the base, dark brown. Pollen egg yellow.
Ovary 8mm high, 3mm wide at base, conical, triangular in cross section, light green.
Type locality Guatemala, Dept. Huehuetenango, Sierra Los Cuchumatanes, km343, 2350m, leg Jurgen Lautner, L91/6, 10th March 1991, epiphytic on Pinetrees. (Holotype and Isotype WU)
Habitat and range: Southern Mexico and Guatemala.
Other material cited. Bot Gardens Herb Sarasota, Hill (Jnr) 6/7/1980 near St Christobal, Chiapas, Mex. and Bush & Burch Nov 1980 near San Cristobal on road towards Palenque at 2300m.

Differs from T capitata in
1. Habit slightly bulbose.
2. Leaves dark green with dark brown sheaths.
3. Flower bracts smaller and thin and shorter than the sepals.
4. Sepals almost free.
5. Stamens included

Differs from T. sierrajuarezensis in
1. Spikes shorter (only 2 flowered)
2. Primary bracts longer
3. Flower bracts much shorter, punctulate lepidote.
4. Petals longer and bi-coloured (violet with white base and tip)
5. Stamens included

The plant is named after Botanical Garden Supervisor Jurgen Lautner. In the Botanic Garden of Gottingen, he has taken care of the Bromeliads for many years and on many trips to Mexico and Guatemala he has discovered several unknown Tillandsias.
Although very clearly the plant has a large number of characteristics distinguishing it from T. capitata, it is identical to T. capitata var. guzmanioides L. B. Smith. The author made it a variety on one single characteristic, namely scaled sepals, of T. capitata Grisebach.
Harry Luther advised me that years ago, Sue Gardner had already deposited at the herbarium of the Sarasota Botanical Gardens, material classified as T. capitata var. guzmanioides ( Hill Jr. s. n., 6. July 1980, Mexico, Chiapas, near St. Christobal, and Bush & Burch s. n., Nov 1980 Chiapas, near San Cristobal on the way to Palenque 2300 m). I determined that it was not a var. of T. capitata but should be published as a species and status nova.
The plant has no relationship to the T. capitata complex but seems closer to that of T. sierrajuarezensis Matuda / T. violacea Baker. I have named the plant after the collector of the holotype, Jurgen Lautner as well as providing a new status.

In June 2017 Elm and Loma from Thailand sent me some photos of T. lautneri which they said must be a mistake because it was different to the last T. lautneri she had which died after flowering. She was intrigued with discussions made on the Bromeliads in Australia website http://www.bromeliad.org.au/ under T. lautneri because it looked like her plant. All roads lead to Guatemala and Chris Larson suggested we did not forget the Guide to Guatemala Tillandsias published in 2010. I have this on file with the comment SUSPECT because it had several anomalies.

From Mario Veliz in Guia de Recon. del Gen. Tillandsia de Guatemala 24. 2010
Tillandsia capitata Griseb var guzmanioides L. B. Smith Contr. Gray Herb. 127:18 (1939)
Synonym: Tillandsia lautneri Ehlers (W3tropicos)
* {Derek Butcher’s comments - "Reference to this database in 2017 shows the reverse situation!"}
Translation by Butcher
Epiphyte or rupicolous, 30-40 cm in flower, acaulis.
Leaves 23-37 cm long,
Sheaths 4.5-5.5 cm wide, ferrugineous to almost brown, dense appressed lepidote.
Blades 1.5-2.5 cm broad, smooth to finely nerved, dense pale lepidote, triangular, involute acute.
Peduncle from 14-23 cm; bracts foliaceous, hiding the peduncle.
Inflorescence compound, short fusiform to capitate, slightly to markedly pendulous;
Primary bracts 11-15 cm, longer than the spikes, foliaceous;
Spikes 2-3.5 cm, erect, with 1-2 flowers.
Floral bracts 2-2.3 cm, almost as long as the sepals, imbricate, erect, narrowly carinate, sparsely appressed lepidote, becoming subdense apically, submembranaceous to chartaceous.
Flowers sessile,
Sepals coriaceous, densely pale lepidote apically with scales brown centrally, free, the 2 posterior ones carinate;
Petals purple, 5-7.5 cm long.
Altitude: 900-3500 masl
Distribution: known in Guatemala in the departments of Chimaltenango, Huehuetenango, Jalapa, Sololá and Quetzaltenango. Mexico (Chiapas)

In line with Smith’s description in 1939 there is no reference to stamens but these are exserted in the photo accompanying the description. Problems arise when Ehlers’ description is compared to Veliz’s description. What plant/s were used to construct the description?

I referred the problem to Eric Gouda who decided there were sufficient differences to treat T. capitata var guzmanioides as being separate from T. lautneri.
Some of you may have noticed that I did the translating. The protologue by Smith was in Latin, T. lautneri was in German, and T capitata var guzmanioides sensu Veliz was in Guatemalan Spanish. This is further complicated by Botanical Latin which is not the same as Classical Latin and there is difference with botanical German and basic German, and the same with Spanish.

So we wait for further revelations in trying to understand the complexities of what is known as Tillandsia capitata.