VOLUME XXXIX - No. 3 - MAY/JUNE 2005

Bromeliaceae

2Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

OFFICERSPRESIDENTVICE PRESIDENTPAST PRESIDENTSECRETARYTREASURER

COMMITTEE

AUDITORCOMBINED SHOW COMMITTEE

CONVENTION COMMITTEE

BROMELIACEAE EDITORSALES AREA STEWARDFIELD DAY CO-ORDINATORLIBRARIANSHOW ORGANISERSSUPPER STEWARDSPLANT SALES

COMPETITION STEWARDSHOSTSHALL STEWARDBSQ WEBMASTERSOCIETY PHOTOGRAPHERSLIFE MEMBERS

VacantBob Reilly (07) 3780 8029Wayne Lyons (07) 3202 8454Karen Murday (07) 3359 2373Glenn Bernoth (074) 6613 634David Brown, Beryl and Jim BatchelorJoe Green, Len and OliveTrevor,Barry Kable,Doug Upton, Peter ParozAnna Harris Accounting Services Bob Cross, M O’Dea N. Ryan, Bob ReillyGreg Cuffe (Convenor)Bob Cross(Display), Wayne Lyons,Bob ReillyOlive TrevorRoss StenhouseNorma Poole & Phyllis JamesNancy KickbuschEvelyn ReesBob CrossNev Ryan & Barry GennNancy Kickbusch (Convenor)N. Poole (Steward)Arnold James, Ruth HigginsJoy Upoton, David BrownJoy Upton & David BrownKieth Dawson (07) 3285 6710Doug Upton, Viv DuncanGrace Goode OAM, Bert WilsonPeter Paroz, Patricia O’DeaMichael O’Dea

The Bromeliad Society of Queensland Inc.

P. O. Box 565, Fortitude ValleyQueensland, Australia 4006,Home Page www.bsq.org.au

Front Cover: Billbergia pyramidalis Photo by Ross StenhouseRear Cover: Pitcairnia smithiorum Photo By Ross Stenhouse

3Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

Bromeliaceae Copy DeadlinesJul/August.......................................................June 5th, 2005September/October......................................August 5th, 2005November/December..................................October 5th, 2005Jan/Feb...................................................December 5th, 2005

Please forward all copy and photographs to:The Editor, 15 Timbarra Crescent, Jindalee, Qld 4075

Phone: 07 3376 5558 Email: rossjanstenhouse@hotmail.comElectronic copy RTF or MSWord 7.0 or earlier - Times New Roman

The Bromeliad Society of Queensland Inc. gives permission to all Bromeliad Societies to reprintarticles in their journals provided proper acknowledgement is given to the original author and the Brome-liaceae, and no contrary direction is published in Bromeliaceae. This permission does not apply to anyother person or organisation without the prior permission of the author.

Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the individual contributor and may not neces-sarily reflect the opinions of the Bromeliad Society of Queensland or of the Editor

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the information in their articles.

Contents

SOCIETY DIARY ............................................................................................ 4SCHEDULE OF 2005/06 MONTHLY MEETING TALKS ........................................... 5MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE VACANCY .............................................................. 5BEGINNERS CLASSES: 2005/06 ................................................................................ 6PHOTOGRAPHERS CODE ......................................................................................... 6THE EDITOR’S DESK ................................................................................................. 7BROMELIADS XIII CONFERENCE UPDATE........................................................... 8THE ANATOMY OF A FLOWER................................................................................. 9A FEW TIPS ON TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OF BROMELIADS ........................... 112004 SOCIETY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ............................................................ 14PETER PAROZ WONDERS “WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THESE?” .................. 15NEW MEMBERS ........................................................................................................ 15BEGINNER’S CORNER ............................................................................................ 17SPANISH MOSS ......................................................................................................... 18GROWING PITCAIRNIAS AND PEPINIAS ............................................................ 19WHY I GROW PITCAIRNIAS ................................................................................... 23THE UNRULY PITCAIRNIAS ................................................................................... 26VREASEAS ................................................................................................................ 29WEB SITES USED FOR MATERIAL IN THIS EDITION ......................................... 29AECHMEA LUEDDEMANNIANA & THE BEAUTIFUL CULTIVARS. ................. 30CALENDAR OF EVENTS: JULY – SEPTEMBER 2005 ........................................... 31

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Society DiaryNEWS REPORTS EVENTS

GENERAL MEETINGS are held on the third Thursday of each month exceptfor December, at the Uniting Hall, 52 Merthyr Road, NewFarm, Brisbane, commenc-ing 8 pm.. Classes for beginners commence at 7.30 pm.

FIELD DAYS are held regularly in the gardens of members as advised.MEMBERSHIP FEES: Family $20, Single $15 pa

The BSQ web page can be accessed at w.w.w.bsq.org.au

Competition Results: April Mini-show

AdvancedClass 1 N/EClass 2 First G.&N. Aizlewood Guzmania sanguinea

Second J. Higgins Guzmania sanguineaClass 3 N/EClass 4 First P. Paroz Tillandsia punctulata

Second D. Cutcliffe Hectia roseaIntermediateClass 1 N/EClass 2 First B.&A. Kable Gusmania ‘Neon’Class 3 N/EClass 4 First B.&A. Kable Vriesa ‘Cockatoo’NoviceClass 1 N/EClass 2 N/EClass 3 N/EClass 4 First L. Grubb Tillandsia capilata ‘Peach’

Second V.&J. Duncan Tillandsia ‘Tawny Yellow’

Photographic DisplayThe management committee is considering the inclusion of a small photographic

display in the Spring Bromeliad Show, the intention is to have a number of framed pho-tographics of Bromeliads on display. I have found out by recent personal experience thatgrowing broms and photographing their flowers is a hec of a lot of fun. I think a numberof other members also enjoy this niche of the bromeliad world.

Having a small display of good photographs adds to the interest of the show, If youare interested in exhibiting or want to be involved, contact me :Ross Stenhouse emailrossjanstenhouse@hotmail.com or phone (07) 3005 7723 (work)

5Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

At each of the Society’s monthly meetings there is a 45 minutes (approximately) pres-entation on a bromeliad-related topic’s. The schedule for 2005/06 is outlined below.Please note it is subject to change, depending upon the availability of speakers.• May 2005 Growing pitcairniais/pepinias. Please bring along any of these plants

you may have. Discussion leader: Bob Reilly.• June 2005 Bromeliads in the landscape (Illustration of the application of plant

ing design principles, so as to maximise the potential of bromeliads/companion plants). Presenter: Arno King.

• July 2005 Growing miniature neoregelias. Please bring along any of theseplants you may have. Discussion leader: Arnold James.

• August 2005 Question and answer session on any bromeliad issue you mayhave. Discussion leaders: Olive Trevor and Cheryl Basic.

• September 2005 Some neoregelia hybrids. Presenter: Arnold James.• October 2005 Growing nidulariums/canistropsis. Please bring along any

of these plants you may have. Discussion leader: Olive Trevor.• November 2005 A South American Trip. Presenter: Greg Aizlewood.• January 2006 Different forms of Tillandsia fasiculuta, T. jalisco-monticola

and their hybrids. Please bring along any of these plants you may have. Discussion leader: Nev Ryan.

• February 2006 After the Annual General Meeting, there will be a slide sessiontitled: The Year in Review. Presenter: Doug Upton.

• March 2006 Variegation in bromeliads. Please bring along any variegatedbromeliads you may have. Discussion leader: Bob Reilly.

If you would like to give a talk/presentation in 2006, then the meeting programmeco-ordinators, Olive Trevor and Bob Reilly, would like to hear from you.Our telephone numbers are: Olive Trevor (07) 3351 1203, Bob Reilly (07) 3870 8029.

SCHEDULE OF 2005/06 MONTHLY MEETING TALKS(compiled by Olive Trevor and Bob Reilly)

The office of President of the Bromeliad Society of Queensland Inc. is vacant.This position will be filled at the Society’s general meeting commencing at 8pmon 16 June 2005 in the Uniting Church Hall at 52 Merthyr Rd, New Farm.

Nomination forms are available on request from the Secretary. Nominationsclose with the Secretary at 5pm on 3 June 2005. Nominees for the position mustbe financial members of the Society. If no written nominations are received by theSecretary by 5 pm on 3 June 2005, nominations will be sought at the 16 June 2005general meeting.

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE VACANCY

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Photographers CodeRS : Ross StenhouseDU : Doug UptonKM : Ken Marks (BSI Web Site)BH - Bruce Holst (Marie Selby Botanical Gardens Web Site)

PN - Phil Nelson (Marie Selby Botanical Gardens Web Site)

The Bromeliad Society of Queensland conducts “beginners” classes of 30 minutesduration before its monthly meetings. They commence at 7.30 pm. The classes’topics, collectively, provide an introduction to growing bromeliads.

The schedule for April 2005 to March 2006 is shown below. It is subject tochange, depending on the availability of speakers.

TOPIC MONTHBromeliad clinic MayWhat is a bromeliad, where to buy them, books about them JuneGrowing green-leafed vrieseas JulyBasics of growing bromeliads, for example, watering, disease control AugustGrowing aechmeas SeptemberGrowing medium-sized neoregelias OctoberGrowing miniature neoregelias November2006Growing decorative foliage vrieseas JanuaryFertilising bromeliads FebruaryGrowing guzmanias March

Course presenters: April 2005 – Nev Ryan, May 2005 – Jenny Cakurs, June2005 – Greg Aizlewood, July/August 2005 – Narelle Aizlewood, September2005 – Dorothy Cutcliffe, October/November 2005 - Arnold James, January2005 – Olive Trevor, February 2005 – Peter Paroz, March 2005 – OliveTrevor.If you have any queries concerning these classes, please contact the co-ordinator,Bob Reilly. Contact details: phone (07) 3870 8029,

email bob.reilly@nrm.qld.gov.auIf you would like to give a beginners’ class in 2006, then please contact me.

BEGINNERS CLASSES: 2005/06compiled by Bob Reilly

KM - Ken Marks (Florida Council of Bromeliad Societies web site)

SM - Shigeko Matsuse (Florida Council of Bromeliad Societies

web site)

7Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

The Editor’s Desk

BROMELIACEAEEditor Ross StenhousePhotography Doug UptonMail Out R & B PughContributors Bob Reilly

Peter ParozLyn HudsonRobert SmytheBarbara PughRobert SmytheBernard StonorChet Blackburn

Well, the last edition turned out OK, butthere is plenty of room for improvement.It was an issue where I re-familiarized my-self with the technology and boy hasn’t itchanged. Heavy use was made of emailduring assembly, both in terms of gettingcopy from contributors and also in email-ing Portable Document Files (PDF) files tothe review panel for feedback. The panelhad members from as wide afield Lyn Hud-son in Cairns through to a number basedin Brisbane.

Even the technology used in the print-ing aspect has changed, gone are offsetprinters, separation negatives, printingplates and high set-up costs, instead wenow have large production printers basedon the laser technology used in the higherquality office printers.

It was very pleasing the way all partiesco-operated to get the publication to bed, Ihope this is a portense of things to come. Ilook forward to the remainder of my termas editor, these first two editions have beenvery satisfying to produce.

In this issue, we have presented Pitcair-nias as a feature genus. We have includeda lot of information and by doing so, feelthat one of the objects of the association,education on the subject of Bromeliads, isbeing filled. You might have noticed thatthe calendar of events is located at the rearof the publication, just ahead of the addssection. This will be a permanent location,at least during my term as editor.

The April general meeting was anothervery successful meeting for the association,a number of the plants mentioned duringthe presentation matched up with the plants

I have used as examples in the photo-graphic article I have written for this issue(Billbergia pyramidalis, Tillandsiacyanea). Nev Ryan’s beginners class ongrowing grey-leafed tillansias was very in-teresting as was Greg Ailzlewood’s mainfeature on growing billbergias. These pres-entations make the meetings very worth-while to attend. I commend the presenterson a job well done.

We have increased the number of col-our pages in this and future editions, so Ithought I might mention one of my edito-rial policies, the front and rear cover is re-served for bromeliads photographs withhigh artistic merit, only the plant name andthe photographer will be given. The sixpages of interior colour will be used for“technical” photographs. Normally, but notalways these will be supporting an article.We can use black and white photographsand line drawings, these would be on thenormal pages in the magazine, though forplants like bromeliads which have veryspectacular colour, so b&w photographshardly do them justice.

8Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

All of the proposed speakers have con-firmed their availability for the event andthe topics on which they will speak. Thebus trips have also been confirmed, sub-ject to sufficient registrants wishing to usethem.

Accommodation at the conferencevenue is filling fast. If you wish to use thisaccommodation option, I suggest you bookyour requirements quickly. (Bookings mustbe made direct with the accommodationowner, the Bardon Conference Centre:Contact details:

phone 61 7 3217 5333,Fax 6 17 3367 1350,email reception@thevenues.com.au)

. While the Conference Committee hasarranged for “overflow accommodation”with the conference venue’s owners, it islocated several miles away from the venue.

Strong interest in the conference is evi-dent from New Zealand and the easternAustralian states. People will also be at-tending from South Australia and WesternAustralia. Interest has also been expressedby potential registrants from the Philippinesand the United States. At this stage, it lookslike the number of registrants will be in therange of 150 to 250.

Additional registration forms can beobtained by “downloading” them from theSociety’s website (www.bsq.org.au) or bymail from Conference Registrations, POBox 565, Fortitude Valley, Qld 4006.

A number of additional issues havebeen raised with the Conference Commit-

tee. They cover matters such as: the avail-ability of “single day” registration tickets;whether children will be allowed to attendseminars and bus trips; and whether mem-bers of the public will be able to see thebromeliad displays and buy plants, with-out paying any registration fees.

Many of these issues are inter-related,and, in addition, the answers to some ofthem will depend upon how many peopleregister for the conference. Once “earlybird” registrations close on 30 June 2005,the conference committee should be ableto estimate the likely total number of regis-trations. In July, the committee will addressthe issues (and others) mentioned in the lastparagraph.

In the meantime, if you have any que-ries please either email them to:secretary@bsq.org.au or mail them to:Secretary, Bromeliad Society of Queens-land (Inc), PO Box 565, Fortitude ValleyQld 4006.

As well as being a lot of fun, the Auc-tion which will be held on Saturday (15October) evening helps meet the cost offunning the conference. The ConferenceCommittee would appreciate receiving do-nations of rarer bromeliad and bromeliad-related items. Please let the Secretary know(contact details are above) if you can makea donation.

Finally, the last fundraising activity forthe conference is underway. The raffle willbe drawn on 15 September 2005. The prizesare:

1st Jewels of the Jungle – The Brome-liaceae of Ecuador: Volume 2 – ThePitcairnioideae (this great book has justbeen published).

2nd Voucher for $100 worth of bromeli-ads from the Olive Branch

BROMELIADS XIIICONFERENCE UPDATE

(compiled by Bob Reilly)

9Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

The flower is a specialised reproduc-tive shoot consisting of an axis(receptacle)on which are inserted four setsof organs. The outermost are the sepals,usually green, leaf like, and in the bud stageenclosing and protecting the other flowerparts, collectively known as the calyx.Within the sepals are the petals, usuallyconspicuous brightly coloured parts, col-lectively known as the corolla. Calyx andcorolla constitute the perianth; they are notdirectly associated with reproduction andare often referred to as accessory flowerparts.

Within the flower petals are the sta-mens (microsporophylls), each consistingof a stalk bearing an anther, in which pol-len grains (microspores) are produced. Inthe centre of the flower is the gynoecium,comprising one or more carpels(megasporophylls), each consisting of anovary, a terminal elongation of the style,bearing the stigma, the receptive surface forthe pollen grains. The ovary contains avarying number of ovules which after ferti-lisation develop into seeds. Stamens andcarpels together are known as the essen-tial flower parts since these alone are con-cerned with reproduction.

In bromeliad flowers, the componentsare found in threes or multiples of three, afeature of all monocotyledons.

The Anatomy of a FlowerM. Abercrombie et al ‘A Dictionary

of Biology’

How about sending in an article orphotograph, we need help!It can be email to:rossjanstenhouse@hotmail.com

3rd Voucher for $50 worth of bromeli-ads from the Olive Branch

Raffle tickets can be obtained by con-tacting the Secretary as outlined above.

A COMBINED SHOW OFEXOTIC PLANTS

BROMELIADS,CACTI

AND OTHERSUCCULENTS

At the MT. COOTHA BOTANICGARDENS AUDITORIUM

Saturday 11th June 2005:8.00am - 4.30pm

Sunday 12th June 2005:9.00am - 3.00pm

ADMISSION:ADULTS AND CHILDREN 14 YEARS

AND OVER $3.00CHILDREN UNDER 14 YEARS FREE

IF ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT

PRESENTED BYTHE BROMELIAD SOCIETY OF

QUEENSLAND INC.AND

THE CACTUS AND SUCCULENTSOCIETY OF QUEENSLAND INC.

Displays of Bromeliads, Cacti and Succu-lents, decorative and colourful plants from

North and South America, Africa, andmany other regions of the World

PLANT SALES

10Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

Canistropsis billbergioides RS Tillandsia cyanea RS

Guzmania lingulata ‘Purple’ RSAechmea ‘Purple Gem’ RS

11Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

A few tips on takingphotographs of Bromeliads

Author: Ross Stenhouse

When I became the editor, I was toldby all and sundry, that the colour photo-graphs are an important aspect of Brome-liaceae and that the readers really look for-ward to seeing them. I had no problemswith that as in a past life, I had been a com-mercial photographer, and I still have a deepinterest in photography.

As editor, I am seeking to involve morepeople in contributing to the journal, andof course that includes more people sub-mitting photographs. It would be great forme as editor, to be able to pick and chooseamongst a lot of good photographs as towhich ones would grace the pages of Bro-meliaceae. I thought I would write a quickarticle for the journal and take a few quickphotos in the back yard to illustrate thepoint its not hard to get a good result.

As with many things, there is a techni-cal side and an artistic side, now I am notthe most artistic person in the world, but Ihave a reasonable eye for balance. Frommy training in photography all those yearsago, one facet that sticks in my mind is tomake sure there isn’t a lot of unnecessaryclutter in the background. This can ruin aphotograph, it serves as a distraction andusually adds nothing to the image.

The photographs on the opposite pagewere taken with just a minimum of equip-ment, a Nikon F2 Photomic 35mm camerafitted with a 50mm macro lens, a cable re-lease for the shutter, a tripod and a MetzCT60 flash unit hand held and a piece ofwhite cardboard to serve as the background.A tripod is an absolute necessity, you can-

not take consistently good close-up pho-tographs without using a tripod and a ca-ble release. Similarly if your 35mm camerahas a mirror up facility (as the F2 does),then that should also be used. The move-ment of the mirror causes camera shakewhich detracts from the sharpness of thephoto. The white cardboard (about 600 x900mm) was placed in the backgroundabout 400mm from the subject. Its purposeis to prevent any background clutter.

The photographs were taken in full sun-light using an old photographic trick called‘syncrosun’. That is a flash was used to fillin the shadows and the flash exposure wasadjusted to be about 1/2 to 1 a stop under-exposed. This sounds complicated, but us-ing a flash like the Metz CT60 on automatic,you just set it so that if your main expo-sure was at F11 then the flash is set to F8.It is possible to use the sun to fill in theshadows and use the flash for the high-lights. Both techniques have been used inthe photos supporting this article. The whitecard in the background was in shadow andhence has become quite dark. This was in-tended, if we wanted a white backgroundwe would use a second flash head to washout (light) the background.

Sharpness in the area of interest is whatwe are striving for, Therefore the point atwhich we focus is important, we may notnecessarily focus on the parts of the sub-ject closest to the camera, rather chose apoint a bit further back and rely on thedepth of field for the particular F stop wehave chosen to bring them back into focus.While we are striving to have our fore-ground in sharp focus, quite often we arelooking to have the background well out offocus to minimise its distraction upon theviewer.

12Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

Billbergia pyramidalis RS Billbergia pyramidalis RS

Pitcairnia smithiorum RS Pitcairnia smithiorum RS

13Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

By getting in closer, we can add dra-matic effect to our photograph and alsoshow parts of the flower that are normallyvery small and hard to see. The effect ofthe close-up is illustrated to good effect inthe second photograph of the Billbergiapyramidalis. When doing close-ups, itsimportant to remember to clean out thedetritus in the flower, the high degree ofmagnification means that things that arevirtually invisible to the naked eye becomevery obvious in a close-up.

On the page opposite are two photo-graphs of the inflorescence of the Billber-gia pyramidalis, You could almost be ex-cused for thinking they were two differentspecies of plant, however one is simply aclose up of the flower. Billbergia pyrami-dalis is a great subject for beginners be-cause the inflorescence is so large, yet it iscomposed of a mass of small flowers, thusgiving a lot of opportunities to get in close.The different varieties available for this spe-cies give added interest because the flow-ers vary significantly making close-up worka joy.

The Tillandsia flower was a completesurprise, the contrast between blue flowerand the pink inflorescence together with thesize of the flower make it an interestingsubject to photograph.

Two Pitcairnia smithiorum photo-graphs have been included one shows theside profile of the inflorescence showing itselongated form, the second is more of a 3/4 view from the top, showing how the flow-ers spread from the centre structure. Bycareful choice of angle, the photograph canbe made to be more than just a pretty pic-ture. One of the elements of design is ‘Fit-ness for Purpose’, so when taking yourphotographs, consider what is their end

purpose.Photographing whole plants can be a

difficult, mainly due to the fact that theyare not as visually spectacular as most flow-ers are. This means that you must concen-trate on looking at the form of the plant tochoose a pleasing angle. Its similar to pho-tographing a sculpture, there angles that aremore pleasing to the eye.

The best way is to set up the plant infront of a background and rotate the plantin a number of small increments, its amaz-ing how effective this is in revealing the bestangles. Once again, its vital that the back-ground is considered. The photograph onpage 25 of the Pepinia sanguinea is a goodexample. I have used a plain backgroundbecause I wanted to show the form of theplant, however that photograph could havebeen greatly improved by a better back-ground. I am endeavouring to come up withdappled green background that I can makeout of focus by careful choice of ‘F’ stopwhen taking the photograph.

Canistropsis billergioides RS

14Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

The Bromeliad Society of Queensland Inc

Income and Expenditure Year Ending 31.12.04IncomeTrading profit 72.58Advertising 210.00Bus trips 4,755.00Combined show – equity change 1,147.23Interest – bank 1.35Interest – term deposits 2,314.05Plant sales commission/auction 23,219.20Raffles receipts 2,649.20Subscriptions from members 3,685.00Profit on conference activities 1,029.48Door takings – Spring show 2,614.15Donation to Conference Committee 611.00Total income 42,308.24

ExpensesAudit fees 396.00Bank Fees and Charges 93.50Bus trip expenses 5,202.40Computer & Editor’s expenses 13.70Depreciation – plant 1,909.00Hire hall 767.00Incorporation expenses 34.20Insurance 1,228.70Journal expenses – printing 3,087.37Journal expenses – postage 692.97Postage 323.50Printing & stationery 690.75Raffle expenses 1,579.00Repairs & minor equipment 224.95Show expenses 3,145.07Social costs 582.35Subscriptions 30.00Sundry expenses 996.01Trophies 86.00Total expenses 21,182.47Excess of Income over Expenditure 21,125.77

2004 Society Financial Statements

An extract from the Society’s audited 2004 financial statements appears on below. If youwould like a copy of the complete audited financial statements, please contact the Secre-tary. While the Society’s financial position is excellent, it does raise the question of whetherwe should continue accumulating funds, or spend them on bromelaid-related projects...”

15Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

Balance Sheet Year Ending 31.12.04Non-Current Assets

Property, Plant and Equipment

Plant & equipment – at cost 1,462.93Plant & equipment – library 5,397.29Plant & equipment – computer 5,832.00Less: Accumulated depreciation (9,447.00)

3,245.22Other

Equity – combined show 2.971.09

Total Non-Current Assets 6,216.31Total Current Assets 95,223.10Total Assets 101,439.41

Current Liabilities

OtherSubscriptions in advance 360.00Deposits held on books ordered 850.00

Total Current Liabilities 1,210.00

Total Liabilities 1,210.00

Net Assets 100,229.41

Opening retained profit 31.12.03 79,103.64Net profit 21,125.77Closing Retained Profit 100,229.41

Peter Paroz wonders“Whatever Happened to

These?”In the very early days of the Bromeliad

Society of Australia, one of the membershas a batch of Ae. Lueddemanniana seedirradiated in the Lucas Heights atomic re-actor. I received some of the seed but theydid not germinate. There were no reportsof seedlings from other members of BSA;I can only presume that the seeds had beensterilised in the process. Looked like an in-teresting experiment at the time.

New Members

We would like to welcome the fol-lowing new members to the BromeliadSociety of Queensland.

Welcome toGraham Wemyss,

Judy Allen,Cleve Whitworth,Janet McEwan.

16Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

Aechmea fasciata RS Aechmea gamosepala KM

Vriesea guttata SM Neoregellia ampulllecea KM

17Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

A series of tips and comments for new-comers to bromeliad culture.

• The Society has probably the bestcollection of books and other publicationson bromeliad culture and related topics inQueensland. The lending library is an ex-cellent source of information for beginners.If you are not sure which book might an-swer a particular question, just ask our help-ful librarian. While the subject has beencanvassed by committees several timesover the years, books on loan are only avail-able to members who can attend monthlymeetings. Country members are invited tosend in questions to the editor to beansweres in future issues.

• The next best source of informationis the members !! Experienced membersare only too pleased to share information.Find out which member(s) are likely to beable to assist and approach them at anySociety function.

• A suitable initial collection for new-comers is :- Tillandsia cyanea, Tillandsiastricta, Aechmea fasciata, Aechmeaorlandiana, Aechmea gamosepala,Vriesea carinata, Vriesea guttata, Vrieseasplendens, Neoregelia ampullacea, Ne-oregelia carolinae ‘Tricolor’ , Billbergiavittata, Billbergia ‘Fantasia’, Guzmaniatricolor, Orthophytum vagans, Quesnelialiboniana, Nidularium fulgens, Pitcairneaflammea.

These are all species; oldies but goldies;should be readily available at a reasonableprice; and are known to grow easily in S.E. Queensland. A good ‘practice’ selectionwhile you become familiar with bromeliad

culture in your conditions.• Mid -winter is an ideal time to start

to acclimatise plants to a brighter situationin the garden or shade house. As the dayslengthen, and light intensity increases, theplants will adapt to the increased light with-out leaf damage. Remember, there are a lim-ited range of bromeliads that will tolerateQueenslands midday (10am-2pm) in mid-summer.

Look for bleaching of the leaf colour asan indication that the plant will not toleratethe light intensity.

• Treated Timber Alert. This warn-ing cannot be repeated too often. The com-mon wood preservative is chrome-copper-arsenate and is not completely ‘fixed’ intothe timber. Small amounts leach from thewood and are extremely toxic to bromeli-ads. Do not use treated timber for any over-head structure in a bush house; and treatedposts, if used, should be painted - prefer-ably two coats - with the paint coating wellmaintained.

• An old time nurseryman’s fungicidefor cut surfaces:-

One part powdered sulphurThree parts slaked lime (not agricul-

tural lime)Powder finely and mix thoroughly.

Store in an airtight container.• Worms in soil are good but worms

in pots are a problem. They digest the or-ganic matter; reducing the life of the mix-ture and the worm ‘casts’ are like fine silt;and clog up drainage holes. Pots on theground or on gravel are at risk. A piece ofold shadecloth or mosquito screen cut tothe shape of the inside bottom of the pot isan effective deterrent.

• Despite some bromeliad plants be-ing sold as suitable for indoor culture, there

Beginner’s CornerAuthor: Peter Paroz

18Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

are only a few plants - including bromeli-ads - which will thrive indoors. It’s a ques-tion of light intensity. Human eyes are nota reliable measure of light intensity. Plantsrequire a minimum light input (intensity andduration ) to maintain condition; with lessthan this amount of light, the plants willslowly deteriorate and die.

Enjoy your plants indoors when theyare at their best and return outdoors whenthe flowers are spent or the colours fade.

• Bromeliads are propagated by seedor by offsets. Offsets develop from dormant‘buds’ mostly in the axil of basal leaves buton some plants from the axils of bracts onthe flower stem. Bromeliad offsets developat the end of a stolon. In some plants, thestolon is long, tough and visible. In others,it is very short, almost non-existent. Rootsdo not develop from the stolon; cut backthe stolon to the base of the offset.

Some plants will set seed. If the seed isnot required for growing on, cut off theflower spike when the colour had faded asseed development drains a lot of energy andnutrients from the mother plant - at the ex-pense of offset numbers.

• Stolon A slender branch or shootwhich takes root at the tip and develops intoa new plant.

• Bromeliads benefit from a regularsupply of nutrients; either from the pottingmixture or from a foliar spray. Bromeliadplants are well adapted to absorb nutrientsfrom foliar application. The trichomes onleaf surfaces and at the base of leaves haveevolved to scavenge available nutrients.

A little and often - weakly and weekly!! Irregular nutrient availability leads tovariable growth which may show up as ir-regular leaf margins.

• Beware of the ‘decorator pots or

hanging baskets’ which have an attachedsaucer. This can lead to an anaerobic layerof potting mixture in the bottom of the con-tainer and possible root rot.

• I have never been enthused with sil-very leafed tillandsias glued on rocks andpromoted as indoor plants. If they weren’ta fresh batch, some of the plants lookedpositively depauperate before they had leftthe shop. The last gasp occurred last weekwhen I observed unmounted tillandsiasoffered for sale in plastic bags !! I had tolook twice to be sure.

Tillandsia usenoides, which growsfrom the southern USA down to Argentina,is also known as Spanish moss. Its Latinspecies name, meaning “looks like Usnea”,a lichen, was bestowed by CarolusLinnaeus (the developer of plant classifi-cation). It is most commonly an epiphyteof oaks or cypresses, although it is foundon other tree species. Its long filamentousmasses can hang down in lengths of up to7m and provide a home for wildlife, includ-ing birds, snakes and bats. Spanish mosswas once prized as a stuffing for mattressesand it padded the seats of the first Model TFord cars. Today the US Geological Sur-vey tests samples collected along mainroads to monitor levels of pollution ab-sorbed by the plant’s scales.

Acknowledgement: The above interest-ing article comes from the book “Plant” byJanet Marinelli; publisher - DorlingKindersley Ltd. London. Printed 2004.

This book is available from BrisbaneCity Council libraries.

SPANISH MOSSsubmitted by Barbara Pugh

19Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

The Pitcairnia genus is named after aLondon doctor, Pitcairn. The genus can befound from southern Mexico and the WestIndies down to northern Argentina andPeru. Most species are found in Brazil,Colombia and Peru. The only bromeliadspecies whose native habitat is outside ofthe Americas is a pitcarinia, namely, P.feliciana, which grows on cliff faces intropical West Africa.

Many botanists argue the genusPepinia should be included in the Pitcair-nia genus. However, in this article the dis-tinction has been maintained. There areover 250 species in there two genera.

Most pitcairnias and pepinias are grass-like plants that grow in the ground (terres-trials) or on rocks (lithophytes). A few areepiphytes. Most grow in moist, shady lo-cations. Typically, they form a clump thatdevelops through underground rhizomes.

The leaves of many pitcairnias andpepinias are spineless, while those plantswith spines generally have small ones.

These plants’ leaves are quite variablein length and shape. Some have severaltypes of leaves on the one plant. Perhapsthe most graphic example of this variationcan be found in “deciduous” species suchas Pitcairnia heterophylla. In that species,the “normal” leaves drop off at the start ofthe dry season to help the plant conservemoisture. The short brown “spikes” thatremain are a primitive type of leaf that con-tains no chloroypyll.

Pitcairnias and pepinias can be propa-gated easily either from seed or, for many

species, by detaching a piece of the under-ground rhizome (taking care to obtain apiece with roots attached). The under-ground rhizome can be severed by eitherusing a knife or, in some cases, a spade!Other pitcairnias and pepinias form bul-bous-like growths that can be broken apartto provide new plants.

These plants will thrive if grown in amixture similar to that used for most indoorplants. A mixture, which has given goodresults for myself, is comprised of 1 partCocopeat or peatmoss to 1 part of coarsesand. A continuous release fertiliser, suchas Osmocote, should be added to the pot-ting mixture in the concentrations recom-mended by the manufacturer for indoorplants.

Re-pot the plants once a year. They typi-cally like bigger pots for their size than otherbromeliads. For example, a single offshootof many species can often be grown into asmall clump that requires a 250 mm bucketwithin 30 months.

Plants should be watered until waterstarts to flow through the pot’s base, at leastthree times a week in summer. Twice a weekin winter should be adequate, except dur-ing periods of low humidity.

These plants’ leaves generally do notsuffer from insect attacks, although grass-hoppers can attack young leaves on rareoccasions. However, aphids can cause sig-nificant damage to flowers.

Pitcairnias and pepinias will grow wellunder 50% shadecloth in winter and 75%for the rest of the year. They also thrive inshaded (but well drained for virtually allspecies) areas in the garden, but are unlikelyto do well in situations that receive the fullafternoon sun (especially in summer).

When grown in the ground, pitcairnias

GROWING PITCAIRNIASAND PEPINIAS

by Bob Reilly

20Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

relatively tall (usually 50cm or more) green,grass-like foliage can form an effective“backdrop” to a planting, in front of them,comprised of their more colourful brome-liad brethren, for example, neoregelias.

The ancestors of many of the plantscurrently grown in Australia were obtainedby growing plants from seed obtained fromoverseas. While many interesting plantswere obtained, unfortunately it has becomeobvious that quite a few are incorrectlyidentified.

While there are few named pitcairniaand pepinias hybrids, it is possible manyof the “species” grown in Australia couldbe hybrids. Alternatively, some species aremuch more variable in appearance than iscommonly believed.

Pitcairnias and pepinias are not readilyavailable. However, you should be able tobuild up a collection of 10 or more species,over a period of several years, by search-ing for them at the Society’s field days,monthly meetings and shows, and askingbromeliad nurseries. If you are willing tosettle for a rhizome with a few leaves androots attached, rather than a well-estab-lished plant in a pot, then you are in thebest position to quickly build up your col-lection.

Eighteen species are described below.However, it is likely there are at least 30species and hybrids cultivated in Australia.

Pepinia sanguinea The plant’s arch-ing leaves are up to 60 cm long and 6 cmacross at their widest point. The leaves area “velvet green”, flushed with maroon, ontheir upper surfaces, and maroon under-neath. This plant is well worth growing.Several hybrids have been made with it asone of their parents.

Pitcairnia andreana This is one of the

smallest plants in the genus. The light greenleaves are 30 to 40 cm long and up to 4 cmwide. The inflorescence rises above theleaves on a stalk that is about 15 cm long.A cluster of around 10 flowers, each ofwhich is about 10 cm long, constitute theinflorescence. The flowers’ petals are or-ange at their base, and yellow for their re-maining length.

Pitcairnia burle-marxii This plant hasa “caulescent” growth habit, that is, it has adistinct stem. The semi-succulent leaves are3 cm wide and 15 cm long, olive-green ontop and maroon in colour underneath. It hasa “simple”, that is unbranched, spike ofabout 15 flowers.

Pitcairnia atrorubens The arching,green leaves are up to 100 cm long and 5cm wide at their widest point. The dark red,cylindrical spike, which is 40 to 60 cm long,arises from a 30 to 50 cm long stalk. The 3cm long flowers have yellow or red petals.

Pitcairnia carinata The dark greenleaves are about 60 cm long and up to 3 cmwide. The raceme (an elongated cluster ofstalked flowers) is bright red, and 20 to 30cm long. The flowers have red petals.

Pitcairnia flammea v. roezlii The arch-ing leaves are 60 to 80 cm long, and 3 cmwide at their widest point. Each leaf’s up-per surface is dark green, while the under-side is covered with a dense, silvery-grey“scurf”. The cylindrical infloresence isabout 40 cm long, and 5 cm wide. The topof the infloresence is about 60 cm abovethe tips of the plant’s leaves.

Pitcairnia funkiae The arching greenleaves are up to 100cm long and 8cm acrossat their widest point. A 20 cm long, cylin-drical, brown inflorescence does not reachthe top of the plants’ leaves.

Pitcairnia grafii The light green leaves

21Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

Pitcairnia smithiorum DU Pitcairnia rubrinigriflora KM

Pepinia holstii BH Pitcairnia altenstenii PN

22Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

are 30 cm long, 3 cm wide, and form a semi-erect rosette about 50 cm across. Theinfloresence rises well above the plant’sleaves, and consists of a red-orange pyrami-dal spike about 30 cm tall. Its flowers haveyellow petals.

Pitcairnia heterophylla This deciduousplant has 60 cm long light green leaves. Atthe start of autumn, these leaves are shedand the plant consists of a small clump ofbrown, spiny “leaves”. In spring, a clusterof flowers with pink to red or white petalsappears at the end of a short stalk. As theplant is basically dormant in winter, be care-ful not to over-water it.

Pitcairnia imbricata The light greenleaves are up to 60 cm long and 5 cm wide.The inflorescence is a light-red cylindricalspike about 50 cm long. The flowers areabout 5 cm long, while the petals arecreamy-yellow.

Pitcairnia integrifolia Leaves are 60 to80 cm long and up to 3 cm wide. The leaves’upper surface is a dull green, with the un-der surface being covered with dense, greyscales. The branched inflorescence is about50 cm long and 30 cm wide. The flowersare about 3 cm long, and have petals thatare yellow at their base and bright red attheir tips.

Pitcairnia maidifolia It has two typesof leaves. The inner, green leaves are about10 cm wide, 30 cm long, and occur at theend of long stalks, while the outer leavesare reduced to blackish “sheaths”. Its yel-low-green flower spike consists of a 20 cmlong elongated cluster of flowers, locatedon top of a 30 to 60 cm long stalk. The flow-ers have white petals.

Pitcairnia nigra The plant is about 80cm tall, with leaves up to 15 cm wide. Acylindrical spike, which is 10 to 50 cm long

and 5 to 7 cm wide, arises from a 20 cmlong stalk. The flowers have 10 cm longpetals that are yellowish-white at their base,and are black-purple at their tips.

Pitcairnia riparia Individual plantsoccur on the ends of numerous, above-ground, branching, rhizome-like growths.Each plant consists of a semi-erect “tight”cluster of 5 to 10 leaves. Each of the lightgreen leaves is about 40 cm long and 1 cmwide. The pendent infloresence consists ofa spike having around 10 red-petalled flow-ers. This plant can be grown in a hangingbasket.

Pitcairnia smithiorum The species wasbotanically described only in 1991, and isone of the most spectacular pitcairnias. Thearching, light green leaves are up to 80 cmlong and 5 cm wide. An egg-shaped, red-dish spike, which is about 10 cm long and7 cm wide, arises from a 30 to 50 cm longstalk. The spike is level with the top of theplant’s leaves. The flowers have orange-yellow petals. Several beautiful hybridshave been made using this plant.

Pitcairnia tabuliformis This plant hasa very different appearance to the otherpiticairnias described in this article. About20 green leaves, 15 cm long and 7 cm wide,form a flattened (table-like) rosette. About40 flowers form a 5 to 7 cm wide, “head-shaped” cluster in the plant’s centre. Theflowers’ petals are orange-red. This is a rareplant.

Pitcairnia undulata Its leaves are 15to 20 cm wide, 70 cm long, pale green ontop, and whitish-green on their lower sur-face. The red infloresence is about 30 to 45cm long, and consists of an elongated clus-ter of flowers that have red petals.

Pitcairnia xanthocalyx This plant read-ily forms a large clump. The 100 cm long

23Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

Editorial comment Reprinted, withpermission of the Bromeliad Society In-ternational, from the Journal of The Bro-meliad Society, 1974, volume XXIV(1),pp12-15. In this article, one of the WestAustralian pioneers of bromeliad growing,Bernard Stonor, discusses why he likdgrowing pitcairnas.

Well, why not grow them? This genus,for various reasons, has not attracted much

WHY I GROWPITCAIRNIAS

(by Bernard Stonor)

interest or publicity and might thereforeappeal to people who are looking for some-thing a little different from all those famil-iar aechmeas, billbergias, and so on. Surely,in such a large genus, it would not be un-reasonable to expect a number of fineplants and colourful flowers.

Information concerning the growingrequirements of these plants is not as plen-tiful as one might wish; and, as is so oftenthe case, the species which are describedin articles are not obtainable. So we arefaced with the interesting task of discover-ing their requirements for ourselves.

Nomenclature, too, is not always asaccurate as it might be, although this canadd interest to the culture of the genus; onenever knows what fascinating plant mayturn up, hiding under some pseudonym.Obviously, there is a lot to learn and someinteresting discoveries to be made.

The first plant I acquired was labelledPitcairnia flammea var. pallida. And bythe way, I can never understand why, ofsome six varieties of flammea, var. pallidaappears to be the only one grown in Aus-tralia. Maybe some of the others are here,but under different names. Anyway, theplant finally flowered and turned out to beP. undulata, an interesting if not exactlycolourful species. A seedling of undulataflowered at the same time, which enabledme to identify the first plant. These plantswere easy to grow and quite hardy, despitetheir somewhat soft leaves, needing onlyplenty of water and some feeding whengrowth was active to build up a floweringsized plant.

Another early arrival was Pitcairniaandreana, a small plant with attractivewaxy foliage and a very showy inflores-cence in yellow and orange. Here at any

leaves are up to 2.5 cm in width. The leaves’upper surface is light green, while the lowersurface is light grey. The many-floweredraceme, which is 50 to 70 cm long, arisesfrom a 60 cm long stalk. The 2 to 5 cm longpetals are yellow.

If you only have space for a fewpitcairnias, I suggest you try atrorubens,heterophylla, nigra, and smithiorum. Col-our photographs of over 50 pitcairnias, in-cluding many discussed in this article, ap-pear in Bromeliads by Francisco Oliva-Esteve. This book can be borrowed fromthe Society’s library. Colour photographsof pitcairnias, including the P. smithiorumhybrids mentioned previously, can also beseen on the Florida Council of BromeliadSocieties’ website: www.fcbs.org

The best Pepinia to grow is P.sanguinea.

I thank Mike Symmons for his help inpreparing this article, and Doug Upton fortaking some of the photographs.

Author Contact details: email:bob.reilly@nrm.qld.gov.au , phone (07)3870 8029

24Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

rate was one fine species. This varietyproved a little more difficult to grow; clearlyit is not as hardy as many of the others andalthough it is not deciduous, it does appearto have a dormant period during winter. Atthis stage watering may rot the plant. I amnot sure there are any active roots to ab-sorb the water in any case at this time ofthe year.

By now some of the characteristics ofthe genus were becoming evident, one ofthese being the long time taken for the pet-als to develop in the buds before the flowerfinally opens. The inflorescence seems togrow steadily at first with the buds appear-ing without any delay. Then there is a longspell during which nothing much seems tohappen until finally the petals emerge andopen. Fortunately, the sepals, sometimesthe entire inflorescence, are usually coloredas well as the petals, so the spike is attrac-tive for a long period before the floweropens. The petals last three or four daysbefore withering.

Pitcairnia flammea var. pallida finallyarrived, a nice hardy plant, easy to grow,which soon flowered. While the white flow-ers may not be particularly ornamental,they do have one interesting feature notoften found in bromeliads-they are scented.A further point of interest was that the scentclosely resembled that of the flowers of anolive tree which was flowering at the sametime, So this species, too, proved worth-while, for an unusual reason.

With so few plants available locally,there was only one way to increase my col-lection-grow them from seed. After a fewnot so successful attempts, the require-ments for growing from seed soon beganto sort themselves out. Fortunately, theseed, like most seed of the subfamily, re-

mained viable for a long time, and I don’tthink any seed I obtained failed to germi-nate. The seed is very small and may take along time to germinate, but sooner or laterit will do so.

The seed was sown on top of a com-post of coarse sand plus some leaf mold,and a clear plastic bag was placed over thepot. The seed was kept just moist until ger-mination commenced by spraying whennecessary. As soon as the leaves begin toappear it is better to remove the plastic bag,giving the seedlings plenty of air. Growthcan be very slow in the case of most spe-cies, and the seedlings generally do muchbetter if left in the original pot until theyare a fair size. Even if they are quite large, Istill prefer to leave transplanting until thespring and it is clear that growth is active.

As we might expect, not all the seedwhich we obtain is correctly named, andsome interesting plants may appear. I mustadmit that I have never heard of many ofthe species being offered, so that is anotherpoint of interest, waiting to see what theyare like. The first lot of seed I acquired in-cluded Pitcairnia carinata. This hasproved to be a hardy, easily grown specieswith an all red inflorescence up to one me-ter high, colorful for a long time before theflowers finally open. A similar plant is la-belled Pitcairnia roezlii, but this has yetto flower. Seeds labelled P. heterophyllahave yielded seedlings with extremely long,narrow leaves. This species is more or lessdeciduous, very slow growing, with a smallbulbous base; it is obviously notheterophylla. On the other hand, seed ofthe species angustifolia (?) has producedrobust plants with unusually broad leaves.One never knows just what is going to comeup. These seedlings have the usual grassy

25Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

Pitcairnia smithiorum DU Pepinia sanguinea RS

Pitcairnia grafii DU Pitcairnia atrorubens DU

26Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

leaves, but they are almost devoid of scales.Some of the other seedlings I am growingalso show this feature, while many otherspecies are densely covered with whitescales. It would be interesting to knowwhether these smooth-leaved plants areprimitive types just beginning to evolvescales.

One of the most interesting species Ihave grown so far is Pitcairnia mirablisvar. tucumana. The name was enough tomake me order seed; surely a plant with aname like that must be interesting, and var.tucumana suggests that it comes from theTucuman hills, which I believe are in north-ern Argentina, so it should be hardy. Un-like most other species, the seed germinatedquickly and the seedlings grew fast. Theplants finally grew into strange affairs quiteunlike any other pitcairnia I had seen. Thereis a large bulbous base with several tufts oftillandsia-like leaves sprouting from variouspoints on top. These leaves are providedwith small, innocent-looking thorns, butcareless handling of these plants soon re-vealed the purpose of these spines. Theyare very sharp and penetrate one’s fingerswith ease, becoming detached from the leafat the same time. This plant grows well inthe open, taking sun, wind, rain, hail, any-thing that comes. While my plants have notyet flowered, I am told the petals are green.

Some time ago, I was given a small plantlabelled “Dyckia velascana”. It is a smallspecies with rosettes of narrow, archingleaves about 8 cm in diameter. The leafblades are about the same width through-out their length, do not have a sharp thornat the tip, and bear rather soft spines, widelyspaced. The plant flowered in the summer,a 20 cm high stem with three yellow flow-ers. From the characteristics of the flowers

I am sure this plant is a pitcairnia. Thegrowth habit is very similar to that of P.mirabilis, tufts of narrow arching leaves ontop of a large bulbous base. It is an attrac-tive and interesting miniature plant, and Ihope I can eventually find out its identity.

These are some of the reasons why Ienjoy growing pitcairnias. They are full ofsurprises, there is a very large number ofspecies to choose from, and they certainlyadd variety to a collection of bromeliads.-Margaret River, Western Australia.

THE UNRULYPITCAIRNIAS

(by Chet Blackburn)

Editorial comment Reprinted, withpermission of the Bromeliad SocietyInternations, from the Journal of The Bro-meliad Society, 1997, volume 47(1), pp24-25. In this article, Chet Blackburn, whowas the Journal’s editor at the time, takesa light-hearted, but insightful, look atsome of the peculiarities of the Pitcair-nia/Pepinia genera.

Every family has a horse thief some-where in its past. In fact, for many familieshorse thieves make up one or morebranches of the family tree. In my family,they probably make up the whole damnedcanopy, but the point is that no family iswithout the occasional outsider who refusesto conform to the traditions held by the restof its members – an outlaw who refuses tobehave like every other member of the fam-ily and so it is with bromeliads. The recal-citrant member of this otherwise stable fam-ily is the genus Pitcairnia. Pitcairnia, andits unruly brother genus Pepinia, do notfollow the rules that “everyone knows”

27Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

Pitcairnia riparia DU Pitcairnia maidifolia DU

Pitcairnia maidifolia DU Pitcarinia atrorubens DU

28Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

apply to bromeliads. This in spite of the factthat Pitcairnia is one of the first brome-liad genera to evolve.

Prove it you say? Let’s just cite someexamples:

1. Maple trees are deciduous, grape-vines are deciduous, tulips are deciduous,but “everyone knows” that bromeliads arenot deciduous. Someone needs to explainthat to the small group of pitcairnias whichannually shed their leaves to get throughthe dry season.

2. “Everyone knows” that a bromeliadleaf consists of a blade and a sheath. Noone looks at a bromeliad expecting to see aleaf with a petiole. Yet some of thepitcairnias can’t even seem to get this sim-ple morphological adaptation right.

3. The family Bromeliaceae is re-stricted to the western hemisphere…everymember of the family but one species isfound there. Care to guess which genusincludes the solitary outcast?

4. “Everyone knows” that one of themain characteristics for sorting out the threesubfamilies of bromeliaceae are the pres-ence or absence of spines on the foliage.The subfamilies Bromelioideae andPitcairnioideae have them, Tillandsioideaedoes not. Leave it to Pitcairnia to disruptthis comfortable scheme by some of itsmembers having both types of leaves –spiny and spineless – on the same plant.Some even have spines at the bases of theleaf but none along the blades.

5. “Everyone knows” that bromeliadsdo not like to be overwatered or grow insoggy soil. Yet there are pitcairnias grow-ing in the wild in what can only be describedas sopping wet conditions.

6. Bromeliads, like orchids, are thesubjects of rampant if not random hybrid-

izing. Hybridizers can’t seem to pass a pairof blooming bromeliads without wonder-ing what the offspring between them wouldlook like. For example, there are only about40 species of Cryptanthus, but there areclose to a thousand hybrids and cultivarslisted, the differences between some ofthem so small that “subtle” would be toostrong a word to use in describing them.There are less then 100 Neoregelia speciesdescribed, but there are 100 pages of hy-brids and cultivars (about 21 plants perpage) listed in Don Beadle’s PreliminaryListing of All Known Cultivar and GrexNames for the Bromeliaceae. Therfore youwould expect a huge genus like Pitcairnia,second only to Tillandsia in the number ofspecies in the bromeliad family, to havebeen hybridized and cultivared to highheaven, wouldn’t you? Beadle lists elevenhybrids and no cultivars.

7. Another compulsion of hybridizersis the creation of bigenerics. There are a lotof horticultural Doctor Frankensteinsamong hybridizers who are bent on creat-ing new life forms, even if some of themdo turn out to be monsters. Navia is thegenus closest to Pitcairnia, hence it is themost likely candidate for bigeneric dally-ing, but have you ever heard of an XNavcairnia? If even the hybridizers ignorea genus, you know it must be a disreputa-ble one.

8. That bromeliad growers will collectalmost anything is apparent by the fact thatsome of those bigenerics remain in collec-tions, Why in the world would anyone wantto grow a X Neomea ‘Nebula’ for exam-ple? Still, as indiscriminate as we brome-liad collectors often are, do you know any-one who has as many as six of the 320 orso species of Pitcairnia in their collection?

29Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

Not only are pitcairnias and pepinias aprimitive bunch, but as shown above, theyare also an unruly one. For the sake of sim-plicity, in this discussion no distinction ismade between the genera Pepinia and Pit-cairnia. They both were formerly includedas subgenera of Pitcairnia, but recentlyPepinia has been elevated to the status ofgenus. However, I might add that in his in-troduction to the Alphabetical List of Bro-meliad Binominals, Harry Luther remarks,“Nomenclatural problems continue toplague the resurrected genus Pepinia. Anumber of taxa that appear to belong inPepinia have never been formally trans-ferred from Pitcairnia.”

Why doesn’t that surprise me?-oOo-

I think at last I have worked out whythe large Vrieseas topple over in Townsville.I have lost over 20 plants of Red Chestnutand hieroglyphica over the years. The onlysurvivors are epiphytically grown on trees.I have always been perplexed that theygrow well in the wet tropics but have beendisasters in the dry tropics. The only suc-cessfully grown plants, surviving for 5 yearsor more have been neglected plants in drypots with dead leaves stopping water get-ting to the roots. I had thought water wasthe problem. So why do they do so well inthe wet tropics? After visiting the wet trop-ics and seeing them grown in river sand orscoria I believe the problem is as follows.

In the dry tropics we mulch very heav-ily with organic materials like leaf litter, barkor hay, during the dry season. None of thisgoes on in the wet tropics. In the wet sea-

son this turns into humus which is a per-fect medium for the various beetle grubslike those of the scarab or elephant beetlesto grow in. Towards the end of the wet,humus is disappearing and grubs are ma-ture and they , I believe, get stuck into theVriesea stems leaving a healthy root stockwith a detached plant. By time it starts totopple rot has started and a knife has to beused if the plant is able to be saved. I havenoticed piles of faeces around the stock ofthe old plant suggesting grubs. Even in thewet tropics rarely the odd plant falls overso we must not forget root rot is also beingpossible from poor drainage. Crown rot andcollar rot can also occur due to anaerobicpathogens multiplying in rubbish left to rotin the well or plant axils.

This has perplexed me for years but atlast I believe I have a reasonable explana-tion so I might try these plants again. Thistime I will plant them in a pocket of sandor even use a course river sand mulch.

Reprinted with permission from“Brom Watch Townsville - May 2005”

VreaseasAuthor: Robert Smythe

Web Sites used for materialin this edition

Whilst we have a number of excellentphotographers contribution to this journal,on occasions we cannot source a photo-graph to illustrate an article. You will see inthe Photographers Code section whichphotographers work was used.

In this edition we have used the follow-ing sites:

Florida Council of Bromeliad Societieshttp://fcbs.org/pictures.htm

Marie Selby Botanical Gardenshttp://www.selby.org/

30Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

The name has a lovely ‘roll’ on the tongue.Many nursery people give their plantsnames to attract buyers and bromeliadhybridists are no exception - now we haveXAnagelias .‘Madam Lash’ and ‘Toy Boy’!Not so with lueddemanniana - it wasnamed after H. Lueddemann, plantcollector.Victoria Padilla described lueddemannianaas “a spread of 3 feet, arching leaves aremottled with a darker shade of green butmost of the plant will become bronzy roseif grown in sufficient light. The erectinflorescence, about 2 feet long, ends in apanicle of lavender petalled flowers thatturns into a dense head of white berries ...then become a startling purple. In var.rubra, the foliage is rich bronzy red at alltimes.” (“Bromeliads” 1978, page 22.)Aechmea lueddemanniana and the variouscultivars are plants that are easily loved asthey are attractive, hardy and freely producepups. They need to be grown in good lightto attain their lovely colours and I find theytend to pup profusely after flowering. Theinflorescence is identical in the species andthe cultivars.Some growers find the cultivar namesconfusing as the same colours of pink,green, white, creamy white and pink/orangeoccur in many them but the colours aredifferently arranged. In ‘The BromeliadCultivar Registry” of June 1998 I foundlisted these eight cultivars:‘Pinkie’ is a cultivar with pink tones, inCairns it glows pink.‘Alvarez’ is medio-picta, with a broad stripe

of pinkish orange up the centre of each leaf,green margins and centre lineations.‘Blanca Alvarez’ has variegated foliage butis not medio-picta.‘MEND’ is albo-marginated, becomesbright pink/red in good light. The name isderived from four people’s names, someof whom you have heard or read about. Mfor Mildred Merkel, E for Edward Ensignwho sowed the seed, N for Julian Nally whogave the seed to Ensign, and D in memoryof Ralph Davis.‘Aurora’ is a selfing of ‘MEND’, and isvariably variegated.‘Rodco’ is the opposite colouration to‘Alvarez’ but has wider margins and somepink lineations.‘Rodco Inverta’ has reversed variegationto ‘Rodco’, similar to ‘Alvarez’, but withgreener greens and brighter pinks.‘Ballerina’ is an F2 seedling of ‘RodcoInverta’ and is an upright small vase shapedrosette of pink 2” x 10” leaves, distinctlybrighter than lueddemanniana when grownin 50% light.Out with your labels and pens, give thesebeauties their right name.The words used and their descriptivemeanings.cultivar: a plant type within a cultivatedspecies that has recognisably differentcharacteristics.albo marginated: with white marginsflavo marginated: with cream/yellowmarginsvariegated: striped, can be with differentcolours.medio-picta: literally ‘with painted centre’,so medio-picta variegation is with colouredstripes in the centre of the leaf.

Aechmea lueddemanniana& the beautiful cultivars .

Author: Lynn Hudson, Cairns

31Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

21 July Society general meeting. Venue: Uniting Church Hall, 52Merthyr Rd New Farm.

• Beginners’ class topic: Growing green-leafed vrieseas.Discussion led by Narelle Aizlewood. Commences 7.30pm.

• Main meeting topic: Growing miniature neoregelias.Discussion led by Arnold James. Please bring along any ofthese plants you may have.

• Mini-show Class 1: Billbergia, Class 2: Tillandsioideae notlisted elsewhere in the schedule, Class 3: Neoregelia – up to200mm diameter when mature, Class 4: Any other mature(flowering) bromeliad. Species and hybrids are eligible forentry in all classes.

• Plant of the month: Species and hybrids from the followinggenera – Nidularium, Ochagavia, Orthophytum.

11-20 August Society Display at RNA Exhibition. Set up is on 10August. We need people to supply plants for, and help set up, thedisplay; and to staff it throughout the show. The Society providesfree entry tickets, or will refund the cost of a “single” entry ticket.Many of our members have joined the Society after seeing our exhibitat the RNA, so your support for this activity helps build theSociety of the future. Phone Bob Cross (07) 3265 4364 if you wishto help set up the display or would like to supply plants for it.Evelyn Rees (phone 07 3355 0432) is compiling the staffing register,so please contact her if you would like to assist in this activity.

18 August Society general meeting. Venue: Uniting Church Hall, 52Merthyr Rd New Farm.

• Beginners’ class topic: Basics of growing bromeliads.Discussion led by Narelle Aizlewood. Commences 7.30pm.

• Main meeting topic: Question and answer session on anybromeliad issue you may have. Discussion leaders: OliveTrevor and Cheryl Basic.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS: JULY – SEPTEMBER 2005(compiled by Bob Reilly)

32Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

• Popular vote: Species or hybrids from any genus.• Plant of the month: Species and hybrids from the following genera:

Pepinia, Pitcairnia, Portea, Pseudaechmea, Pseudananus, Puya.27 August Bus trip to Gold Coast/Mt Tamborine Botanic Gardens.` Leaves Uniting Church Hall, 52 Merthyr Rd New Farm at 7.30am,

Palmdale Shopping Centre, Logan Rd, Mt Gravatt 7.45am.Returns to Uniting Church Hall at 5.30pm. All bus seats must bepaid for in advance. Phone BSQ Field Day Co-ordinator, NancyKickbusch, for more details on (07) 3300 1704.

15 September Society general meeting. Venue: Uniting Church Hall52 Merthyr Rd New Farm.• Beginners’ class topic: Growing aechmeas. Discussion led by

Dorothy Cutcliffe. Commences 7.30pm.• Main meeting topic: Some neoregelia hybrids. Presenter: Arnold

James.• Popular vote: Any genus: species or hybrid.• Plant of the month: Species and gybrids from the following genera;

Quesnelia, Racinaea, Ronnbergia and Steyerbromelia.24 September Plant show and sale presented by the Gold CoastSucculent and Bromeliad Society (Inc). Timings: 10am-3pm. Venue:

Southport Community Centre, Lawson St, Southport. Admission:$2. More information: phone Pat Ross (President) on(07) 5576 1186.

2006 Field Days and Bus TripEach year the Society aims to hold two to three field days at members’

gardens and a bus trip (which can also be to members’ gardens).If you are interested in hosting a field day in 2006, or being included

on the bus trip itinerary, please telephone the Field Day Co-ordinator,Nancy Kickbusch (on (07) 3355 0432), by 15 August 2005.

While priority will be given to members who have not previously hostedfield days, everyone is invited to let Nancy know if you are interested.Nancy will be making recommendations to the Society’s ManagementCommittee in September 2005, and the 2006 field day and bus trip programwill then be advertised in Bromeliaceae.

33Bromeliaceae MAY/JUNE 2005

MIDHURST BROMELIAD NURSERY

SPECIALIST GROWERS OF TILLANDSIA SEEDLINGSHard grown to suit All Australian conditions

Wholesale and Mail Order OnlyWrite for a free price lists of Tillandsia and other genera to:

MIDHURST BROMELIAD NURSERYP. O. BOX 612 HURSTBRIDGE, 3099

PHONE (03) 9718 2887 FAX (03) 9718 2760EMAIL : mossy@melbpc.org.au

M. J. PATERSON212 SANDY CREEK ROAD, GYMPIE, Qld 4570

Large Range of Bromeliads For SaleEspecially our own Hybrid Tillandsias and Neoregelias

DO CALL IN IF YOU ARE UP THIS WAY BUT PLEASE PHONE FIRST

PHONE / FAX 9070 5482 3308EMAIL: paterson@spiderweb.com.au

PINEGROVE BROMELIADSSpecialising in Neoregelias, Aechmeas, Tillandsias, Vrieseas

Gusmanias, Rare Species and Hybrids

VISITORS WELCOME PHONE (02) 6683 4188 OPEN 7 DAYS

Opportunity to view over 8000 different species and hybrids

SEND LARGE STAMPED ADDRESSED ENVELOPE FOR MAIL LIST

JUNE and JOHN BUCHANANP. O. BOX 61 - PINE STREET - WARDELL, NSW, 2477

Len and Olive Trevor232 Canvey Road, Ferny Grove, Qld 4053

Specialising in hybrid Vrieseas, Aechmeas, VariegatedNeoregelias

Skotak Hybrids, Aussie Dream and varieties, and other qualityBromeliads

THE OLIVE BRANCH

FOREST DRIVE NURSERYLocated at REPTON, South of Coffs Harbour, NSW

Tillandsias to Titillate even the most discerning fanciersBeautiful Vrieseas (including Silver species), Guzmanias,

Aechmeas, Neoregelias, etc.

Visitors Welcome, Please Phone First (02) 6655 4130Mail Order List - Send SAE

Peter Tristram, PO Box 55, Repton, NSW, 2454

BRISBANE BROMELIAD CENTRE34 Hauton Road, Morayfield 4506

HUGE SELECTIONof

Aechmeas, Vrieseas, Guzmanias, NeoregeliasNidularium & Tillandsias

together with a variety of rarer species and hydridsBARBARA and LORRAINE

Phone (07) 5433 0303VISITORS by APPOINTMENT

SEND LARGE STAMPED ADDRESSED ENVELOPE FOR MAIL LIST

Phone (07) 3351 1203Visitors welcome by appointment - Please Phone First

Specialising in species and varieties from mostly imported stock

BROM-MADLarge range of Bromeliads

Neoregelias & other Varieties, Species and HybridsVisitors Welcome by Appointment

Linda and Graham Percival1 Purcell Road, Bells Bridge, via Gympie. Q.4570

Enquires Phone (07) 5483 1634Web Page http://www.brom-mad.netfirms.com

SHADE HOUSES

Manufacturers of Orchid, Fern and Shade Houses since 1976

Ph: (07) 3207 2793Fax: (07) 3822 2307

151 Railway Pde., Thornside, Q 4158www.petersglen.com.au

BROMAGIC BROMELIAD NURSERY

421 Hunchy Rd, Palmwoods 4555Open to the Public

Wednesday to Saturday 10:00 – 4:30

A wide range of Bromeliads including first release Neoregelia hybrids

Web Site www.ozemail.com.au/~bromagic/On-Site Sales: Bernd Ruta / Kirsty Kennedy 5478 8989

Wholesale: Keith Golinski - 54450441

Pitcairnia smithiorum