Peter Tristram 05/11

Peter Tristram 05/17

Peter Tristram 2011 ... "Pics of a large species, currently in bloom, I got from Lydia in 2006 (label misplaced or plant mislabelled). T. trauneri looks reasonable for a match, though I think it has bloomed early. Kind of a pamelae with frosting and spreading floral bracts or a cretacea with wider leaves and a decurved spike. I suppose this group, including mooreana and kalmbacheri, are much easier to figure out (sort of!). By the look of it it will bloom for ages – over 4 months since my last pics, and the first flowers have just emerged.
Peter Tristram 2017 ... "Lots of Tills have nodding spikes, with varying degrees of ‘nodness’. Some are small, like T. stricta, while others are true tank Tills and always have the nod (positive geotropism I guess). Others, still, nod when the flower head seemingly gets too heavy for the scape (peduncle) but more on these later. There is another group that heads off to one side, not directly down at all. Maybe it can be assumed that the position of the bracts and their flowers must work for pollination whether erect, oblique or pendant and the myriad of combinations.
I showed some tanks at the Brissy Till Day, including the attractive, nodding Mexicans, T. mirabilis (see above) and T. trauneri, both pretty large, cliff dwellers. trauneri looks to be related to pamelae, mooreana and cretacea (all with purple flowers). The spike begins to decurve as it lengthens, arching over gracefully, whereas mirabilis heads south as soon as the leaves let it. If petal colour is any guide, mirabilis is yellow-green, like the epiphytic prodigiosa but how closely they are all related phylogenetically will be revealed in the Mexican studies I guess.
I also bought a pamelae from Lydia, at great expense as it was supposed to be trauneri. John, check yours – if it looks like pamelae then it likely is! trauneri has darker, more ligulate leaves."