Tillandsia mallemontii Click thumbnails for full size, scaled to a new window.
Tillandsia mallemontii
Fragrant.
Ken Woods 02/08.
Peter Tristram 12/10. (Bruce's)
Herbarium specimen, Paris.
Ian Hook, 10/05. (! probably T. Nezley !)
Ian Hook, 01/07. (! probably T. Nezley !)
Chris Larson to Derek Butcher, 30/01/16 ... "Brent was observant yesterday and spotted this one which is what I always thought as T. Nezley (the one I referred to the other day) – though the photo of the flower on the BCR shows it is not Nezley.
Some may find this one “around” as it gets mixed in with T. mallemontii in the polypak stuff in Bunnings etc.
Any ideas ?" Derek Butcher ... "According to the description in S&D this species is quite variable and your photo could well be of T. mallemontii. Botanically speaking, Baker in 1889 got it horribly confused with T. linearis.
Now to 'Nezley'. I got my plant in 1984 from a forgotten source in Qld. Its photo is on the BCR. The parents quoted were usneoides and mallemontii. I assumed it was a hybrid and did not check to see if it was in fact a hybrid. I accepted the name as Nezley even though it was probably ex Nezley because people rarely call a plant after themselves. The name 'Nezley' first got into my checklist in 1991. The plant was discussed at Albury in 2006 and nobody could supply any history. It was suggested that the parentage could well be T. usneoides x T. recurvata. [Ed. See historical findings under 'Nezley' and 'Nes Misso']
And so the name Nezley stays in the records.
As an aside in 1991 I got a couple of seedlings from Maurice Kellett called T. mallemontii but when they flowered they looked like small T. streptocarpa so I affectionately called them 'Mauries mallemontii' but did nothing further." Ian Hook ... "I have some pics of mine on our web under T.mallemontii titled "probably Nezley".
I originally got from 2 sources (but don't know which survived), 2005 BSA Show and an old collector, Bert Plemback 2007
Shape, flower, and growing habit different to mallemontii and to usneoides. It doesn't flower much for me and has an insipid pale blue non-fragrant flower on short stem.
Chris Larson suggested the non-flowering bunch he saw here was T. Nezley.
Maybe Nezley stretches all the way from almost usneoides to almost mallemontii (or single flowered streptocarpa)." Derek Butcher ... "The whole problem with 'Nezley' is that we cannot find its real origin. Who did the hybrid? Everything is so secretive.
We know that T. mallemontii can be up to 20 cm long. I enclose a herbarium specimen from Paris. Sorry I do not have the Berlin one.
The plant I got in 1984 called Nezley has blue flowers which when you come to think of it is strange when one of the alleged parents has green flowers. Therefore, if there is such a thing as 'Nezley' I would have expected greyish petals and feel we should put a couple of your photos in the BCR to show variation in petal colour to be expected. We will see what Geoff thinks.
After all of this I think we should not be too hasty in writing off the name T. mallemontii which seems very variable in size.
Note that with all the new hybrids we are going to have increased problems of identity. It may be safer to call a plant Tillandsia hybrid than guessing what it might be. The only mention in the BCR regarding a usneoides and mallemontii is our 'Nezley' and we don't even know if that is correct.
BTW, I think VB Bob should be looking at 'Holm's Mallensis' for his almost 'Nezley'"
Rob Bower 12/21
Tillandsia mallemontii Glaziou ex Mez in Martius, Fl. Bras. 3(3): 608, pl.114, fig.1. 1894. Tillandsia linearis sensu Baker, Jour. Bot. London 25: 234. 1887. Non Vellozo, 1825. Phytarrhiza uniflora E. Morren ex Baker, Handb. Bromel. 164.1889. Nomen. Based on E. Morren Icon (K).
Desc from S&D p872 Plant caulescent; roots present; stem very slender, 1-2 dm long, branching. Leaves distichous, to 12 cm long, cinereous, densely pruinose-lepidote; Sheaths narrowly ovate, to 2 cm long, membranaceous, glabrous within and below on the outside; Blades mostly spreading or reflexed, irregularly curved, linear, long-attenuate, 1-1.5 mm in diameter. Scape terminal, straight to strongly curved, to 13 cm long, lepidote, almost filiform; Scape-bracts like the floral bracts but sometimes long-laminate, l or 2 immediately below the inflorescence or rarely one somewhat remote. Inflorescence always simple and distichous-flowered, narrowly lanceolate, complanate, 25 mm long, 4 mm wide, densely 1-4-flowered; rhachis glabrous, compressed, slightly geniculate. Floral bracts slightly more than twice as long as the internodes but not really imbricate because separated by the flowers at anthesis, ovate, acute, to 9 mm long, ecarinate, nerved, thin, densely lepidote; Flowers erect, subsessile. Sepals suboblong, acute, 12.5 mm long, glabrous, nerved, equally short-connate; Petals to 17 mm long, claw linear, blade suborbicular, obtuse, 6.5 mm wide, spreading at anthesis, blue or violet; Stamens deeply included, exceeding the pistil; anthers oblong, obtuse, 2 mm long; Ovary cylindric, abruptly contracted into the short thick style. Type. Glaziou 14345 (holotype B, US photo, isotype K), Tijuca, Guanabara, Brazil, sd. DISTRIBUTION. Epiphytic in low woods or forest or rarely saxicolous, 0-800 m alt, eastern Brazil.
BRAZIL. PIAUI: Serra do Brejo, Luetzelburg s n (1 Mez). RIO GRANDE DO NORTE: Serra dos Martins, Luetzelburg s n (! Mez). BAHIA: Serra do Chuque, northeastern Bahia, Luetzelburg s n (! Mez). RIO DE JANEIRO: Alto de Macae, Novo Friburgo, 1891, Glaziou 18563 (B, K, US). GUANABARA: Horto Imperiali, Sao Cristovao, 1897, Ule 1313 in part (R): s d, Lindman A-35 (5); Restinga de Grumari, Guaratiba, 8 Mar 1935, Freire 609 (R); 11 Apr 1952, L. B. Smith & Mus. R 6534 (R, US); Jacarepagua, Taquara, 6 Mar 1966, E. Pereira 10456 (HB, US). SAO PAULO: Without exact locality, Saint-Hilaire C2-1451 (P). PARANA: Vila Velha,10 Mar 1904, Dusen 4107 (R); 27 Aug 1939, Foster 413 (GH, R); 28 Aug 1939, M. Kuhlmann s n (SP); 15 Feb 1965, S. Vogel 623 (US); Jaguariaiva, 10 jul 1910, Dusen 10071 (5); Rio Amazonas, Porto Amazonas, s d, Lange in Dusen 9530 (5, US); Engenheiro Blei, Lapa, 30 jan 1949, Hatschbach 1201 (US); Lagoa Dourada, Vila Velha, Ponta Grossa, 20 Jan 1965, Smith & Klein 14876 (HBR, R, US); 7 Feb 1965, Dombrowski 1479 (US); 13 Dec 1965, Reitz & Klein 17532 (HBR, US); 24 Feb 1967 , Hatschbach & Smith 16059 (US). SANTA CATARINA: Tuberao, Jan 1889, Ule 1313 e p (B, CORD, GH); Turvo, 20 Jan 1944, Reitz C-399 (GH); 876 (R); Florianopolis, s d, Reitz 3903 (HBR); Corupa, 8 Feb 1952, Reitz 4283 (HBR); 25 Apr 1951, A. Seidel 16 (HBR); Rio Tavares, Lagoa de Piri, Florianopolis, 13 Mar 1952, Reitz 4593 (HBR); Smith & Reitz 6194 (R, RB, US); Ibirama, 1954, Gevieski 101 (HBR, US); Serra do Matador, Rio do Sul, 26 Jan 1959, Reitz & Klein 8344 (HBR, US); Alto Matador, Rio do Sul, 30 Jan 1963, Reitz 6383 (HBR, US); Rio Tavares, Florianopolis, 16 Mar 1966, Klein et al 6713 (FLOR, HBR); Florianopolis, Klein 7254 (FLOR, HBR). RIO GRANDE DO SUL: Cachoeira to Colonia Santo Angelo, 5 Jan 1893, Lindman A-1007 (5); Pelotas, Jan 1923, Parcus s n (MVM); Porto Alegre, 5 Jan 1933, Rambo s n (LIL, P ACA); Sao Salvador, Dec 1941, Eugenio2210 (GH); Sao Leopoldo, 26 Dec 1942, Rambo s n (LIL, PACA); Lagoa dos Quadros, 18 Jan 1950, Rambo s n (HBR, PACA, US); Morro Grande, Osorio, 10 Jan 1952, Rambo s n (PACA, US); Lagoa de Pinguela, 28 jan 1952, Pabst 10162 (RB); Campo Bonito, Torres, 26 Feb 1952, Reitz 4413 (HBR).
