SEMBSSEMBSSEMBSSEMBSSEMBSSEMBSSEMBSSEMBSSEMBSSOUTHEAST MICHIGAN BROMELIAD SOCIETYAFFILIATE OF BROMELIAD SOCIETY INTERNATIONALMARCH /APRIL 2014

Tillandsia leiboldiana Schlechtendal 1844 epiphytic in forest, southern Mexico and Central America

Graphite – P. Goff

April Meeting

Our next meeting is Saturday. April 12, 2014, 2 pm at Matthaei Botanical Gardens, Room 164.

SEMBS Bromeliad Order: At the April meeting, we’ll take orders for Tillandsias from Tillandsia International, and we’ll also see what interest there might be in placing an order for bromeliads from Michael Kiehl - http://www.michaelsbromeliads.com/ . Check out the “Our Collection” tab to see his complete list (currently 34 pages!). If anyone has specific requests, Paul will contact Michael to inquire/confirm availability. Paul Wingert will place an order requesting Michael’s “grower’s choice” (minimum 25 plants). Michael sells these plants to societies at a price of $4 each. With the cost of shipping and MI sales tax included the cost will be about $5 per plant. If there is a particular interest in certain bromeliads, i.e. the “miniature Neos.” which we’ll be discussing at the meeting, or Billbergias, the likelihood is that Michael will largely accede to our wishes. There’s no need to bring money to the April meeting, but express a commitment for the number of plants that you would like to order. We’ll distribute the plants at the May meeting. First selections will be for those who commit to order at the April meeting. If you cannot attend the meeting, contact Paul Wingert pcwingert@gmail.com with individual requests. The deadline for the order will be April 27. There will likely be some extra plants available for sale, even if you don’t commit to the order in April.

The April meeting will feature a presentation on Small and Miniature Bromeliads. For those of us who live in a temperate climate, it seems only natural to be attracted to these more manageable size plants. It’s possible to display a respectable and varied collection of miniatures even on a modest windowsill. Most are very happy growing under artificial lighting, a multi-tubed 4 foot fluorescent light fixture can accommodate as many as 50 minis growing in 4” pots. In a greenhouse, it’s possible to afford them more room. Allowed to grow into specimen clumps, they can make a rich tapestry of colors and textures!

There are numerous species that have been available for many years. A list of species and selected cultivars follows, below. Most of those listed can successfully be grown to maturity as a single specimen in a 4” pot. Photos can be found for just about all of them at the web page for the Florida Council of Bromeliad Societies, then click on the Photo Index tab. (The following link

http://fcbs.org/pictures.htm should take you there directly)Aechmea brevicollisAechmea recurvata var. benrathiiAechmea cv. ‘Kiwi’Aechmea cv. ‘Red Dragon’Aechmea cv. ‘Aztec Gold’ Aechmea cv. ‘Lucky Stripes’ Billbergia ‘Poquito Mas’Billbergia ‘Poquito Blanco’Billbergia ‘Lou Wilson’Canistrum billbergioidesCryptanthus acaulisCryptanthus bivittatus (and cultivars)Cryptanthus ‘Earth Angel’Dyckia chlorostamineaEncholirium ‘Angelita’Deuterocohnia brevifoliaDeuterocohnia lorentzianaDeuterocohnia lotteaeGuzmania lingulata var. minor

Neoregelia ampullacea (many varieties, including cvs. ‘Punctate’, ‘Punctate Red’)Neoregelia albifloraNeoregelia cyaneaNeoregelia dungsianaNeoregelia FireballNeoregelia lilliputianaNeoregelia olens (several varieties)Neoregelia paucifoliaNeoregelia pendula var. brevifoliaNeoregelia sarmentosaNeoregelia tigrinaOrthophytum saxicola var. saxicolaOrthophytum saxicola var. aloifoliaTillandsia cyaneaVriesea carinataVriesea correia-araujoiVriesea lubbersiiVriesea racinae

This is by no means a complete list. Think of it more as a “starting point” for some fun research! I left out lots of Tillandsias, though there are some small ones that can be grown in pots, and many could be mounted on cork or cypress to grow in a window. I deliberately left off any Neoregelia hybrids. In the last 20 years or so, there has been an explosion of new hybrids, and many of these are highly desirable for collectors! I’ll recommend some more individual research- go to the Bromeliad Cultivar Registry- http://registry.bsi.org/ and click on Advanced Search. In the drop down box, select the genus Neoregelia, then type one of the species listed above in either the seed parent or pollen parent box. You’ll find the search results in the left hand column. Click on the links that you find, and drool at the photos that you see! It’s like taking a wonderful virtual window-shopping trip! At least from there you can begin to develop a “want list”. The next step is finding a grower who has what you’re looking for! As a teaser, I’ll suggest entering ‘Punctate Red’ in the pollen parent box. I’ll bring a couple of the “results” plants to display at the April meeting.

Viridantha – The Genus We Have Ignored by Andy Siekkinen

While watching the great presentation by our guest Ivón Ramirez at the March meeting of the San Diego Bromeliad Society, one thing she mentioned struck me as odd: the genus Viridantha [= “green flower”Ed.] I have known this name from the literature and was vaguely aware of its details. It is composed of some plants that we should be familiar with and a few that are less common. The species we knew as Tillandsia atroviridipetala, T. plumosa, T. ignesiae, T. mauryana, T. lepidosepala, and T. tortilis (also T. tortilis ssp curvifolia now elevated to a species in its own rights) belong to this entirely Mexican genus. There are two obvious features that they share: uniquely green colored petals and white fuzzy leaves much like the T. tectorum complex of South America.

I know many of us in the cultivation side of the bromeliads get frustrated when names are changed back and forth. Part of this is due to the simple progression of science in having a better understanding of the plants we love. When someone proposes something new (or tries to revive an older understanding of it), not everyone will immediately agree—or at least say so. When something is presented in a peer-reviewed publication it is accepted as the current state of understanding unless someone publishes why they disagree. Both publications should have data or the reasons that support their case.

In this case, the new genus Viridantha was proposed in a publication in 2002 by Adolfo Espejo-Serna. I have not come across any publication that refutes it and several from other authors mention it with at least implicit support (Givnish, 2011; De Silva 2013). The Givnish (2011) publication that gave a second and stronger case for the 8 subfamilies as opposed to the traditional 3 (another topic that is hard to get people in horticulture to change their thinking on!) just mentioned it in the context of being in the Tillandsiae tribe within the Tillandsioideae subfamily—essentially noting its validity. The De Silva (2013) publication discusses the different genera in the subfamily and also agrees that the genus Viridantha is monophyletic (meaning a single, unified group which has a common ancestor and includes all surviving descendants from that ancestor). Is part of the problem that the publication was in Spanish so not very many English speaking hobbyists have read it? Or are people just not aware that it was even published?

So now that we have had this genus published for 12 years without any counterpoint argument being published, are you willing to start using this new genus name? The only thing that I can see that may change my mind is when the larger genetic studies focusing on the Tillandsioideae subfamily are completed. Until then, the plants in my collection will now be labeled as Viridantha atroviridipetala, V. plumosa, V. mauryana, and V. lepidosepala!

Cited literature:DeSilva 2013—An Updated Overview of Taxonomy and Phylogenetic History of Tillandsioideae Genera (Bromeliaceae: Poales). Global Journal of Botanical Science 1, 1-8.Espejo 2002—Viridantha, A New Genus of Bromeliaceae (Tillandsioideae) Endemic from Mexico, Acta Botanica Mexicana 60, 25-35.Givnish 2011—Phylogeny, Adaptive Radiation, and Historical Biogeography in Bromeliaceae: Insights from an Eight-locus Plastid Phylogeny. American Journal of Botany, 95 (872-895)

(Ed. note: Thanks are due Andy Siekkinen for offering SEMBS this article with photographs which he compiled for the San Diego Bromeliad Society newsletter. Andy is an intrepid explorer of the flora and fauna in Mexico, the spiny Hechtias in particular. His website, www.eagle-eye-adventrues.com, is a treasure trove of excellent habitat photos featuring cactus, orchids, bromeliads and other plant families.)

Viridantha atroviridipetalaV. atroviridipetala with mammillaria (growing as an

epiphyte!)

V. atroviridipetala

V. atroviridipetala

V. lepidopetala

V. mauryana V. mauryana

V. plumosa

V. plumosa

V. plumosa