Vriesea Black Hawaiian Click thumbnails for full size, scaled to a new window.
Vriesea Black Hawaiian
Unknown parents.
From the Bromeliad Cultivar Registry ... "This cultivar needs to be registered because of confusion as to its identity. Apparently it is being grown in Queensland and New South Wales as ‘Royal Hawaiian’, 'Hawaii' AND ‘’Black Hawaiian’. We have already straightened out the confusion with David Shiigi’s correctly named ‘Royal Hawaiian’ and the Aussie false ‘Royal Hawaiian’ which is now identified as ‘Aussie Royal Hawaiian’ in the records. ‘Black Hawaiian’ has a similar history dating back to the 1990’s when it was apparently given this unregistered name to distinguish it from the now ‘Aussie Royal Hawaiian’ BECAUSE it had really dark red floral bracts that turned black after flowering. Apparently someone seeing the plant in Newcastle, NSW thought it had to be the then unregistered, ‘Royal Hawaiian’ because it had similar leaves. It was something done in all innocence because there was no official record of any of the 3 names' existence! While this was happening Ross Little was quietly growing a plant he had obtained from Sydney grower Bob Christoffel back in the late 1990's as Vr. 'Black Hawaiian' and, he did not change the label but agrees that now is the time to register this name. Similarly, Richard Harper from the Brom Place Nursery, N.S.W. got his stock from Bob Christoffel as V. 'Hawaii' and has been selling under this name for over 10 years. If you look at the plant it does have discolor attenuate leaves similar to ‘Aussie Royal Hawaiian’, ‘Nissa’, and ‘Elvira’ but without a hint of any ‘Glyph’ markings. The real difference lies in the colour of the floral bracts Mature rosette 55 cms. diameter x 30 cms. high and to 60cms. tall in spike. Reg. Doc. Ross Little 2/2012"
Ian Hook's (previously un-named) plant has a similar history, from early Sydney Collectors. THE BCR photos are included here for comparison.
Ian Hook 02/13. From Joyce Thomas 03/10. Flowered 12/12.
Ian Hook 02/13. From Joyce Thomas 03/10. Flowered 12/12.
Ian Hook 02/16.
Ian Hook 02/16.
From Bromeliad Cultivar Register. Ross Little, Vic Przetocki.
