Aechmea aquilega

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Aechmea aquilega
Aechmea aquilegia, a funnel bromeliad with its decorative inflorescence

Aechmea aquilegia , a funnel bromeliad with its decorative inflorescence

Systematics
Commelinids
Order : Sweet grass (Poales)
Family : Bromeliads (Bromeliaceae)
Subfamily : Bromelioideae
Genre : Aechmea
Type : Aechmea aquilega
Scientific name
Aechmea aquilega
( Salisb. ) Griseb.

Aechmea aquilega is a species of the genus Aechmea in the subfamily Bromelioideae withinthe bromeliad family (Bromeliaceae). It iswidespreadin Costa Rica , Venezuela , the Guyanas, Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago .

description

Partial inflorescence after fertilization
Habit, leaves and inflorescence

Appearance and leaf

The funnel or cistern bromeliad Aechmea aquilega is an evergreen, perennial, herbaceous plant . It usually grows terrestrially or sometimes as an epiphyte and lithophyte . It has funnel diameters of up to 300 cm and heights of up to 100 cm. The light green, tough, 100 to 150 cm long leaves are reinforced on the edge (as with all representatives of the Bromelioideae). The 5 to 10 cm wide leaf blade is elongated and rounded at the top, but with a long spike tip. Large amounts of water often collect in the leaf funnels. The leaves have whitish suction scales ( trichomes ) on the top and bottom .

Inflorescence, flower and fruit

The upright, scaly, thick inflorescence stem has a length of 60 of up to 100 cm. The up to 40 cm long, handsome, long-lasting, branched, racemose total inflorescence (inflorescence) is composed of short-stalked, 15 to 20 cm long, annual partial inflorescences , each with several flowers clustered together. Sitting at the inflorescences noticeable reddish, oblong-lanceolate bracts (bracts) which have a smooth edge and a stachelspitziges upper end. The bare, yellow to greenish bracts are much larger than the ovaries and much shorter than the sepals, broadly ovate, keeled and end with spiny tips.

The sessile, hermaphrodite flowers are threefold with a double flower envelope . The three asymmetrical, 1.4 cm long sepals are fused into a short tube and the ovate-lanceolate calyx lobes are spiky at the top. The three spatula-shaped petals have grown together to form a short tube. Two small scales on the petals (ligulae) form a feature that botanists use to distinguish them from other genera of the subfamily. The color of the petals is yellow. There are two circles with three stamens each. Three carpels have become an under constant ovary grown.

The floral formula is: .

There are berries formed.

Occurrence

Aechmea aquilega is widespread in Costa Rica, Venezuela, the Guyanas, Brazil, and Trinidad and Tobago. It thrives at altitudes between 0 and 650 meters.

Systematics

It was first described in 1806 under the name ( Basionym ) Bromelia aquilega by Richard Anthony Salisbury in The Paradisus Londinensis , plate 40. The new combination to Aechmea aquilega (Salisb.) Griseb. was published in 1864 August Heinrich Rudolf Grisebach : Flora of the British West Indian Islands , p. 592. On the type material there is the note: " Type:" Jamaica ", D. Hurlock sn, no specimen preserved, typified by the original plate. “Further synonyms for Aechmea aquilega are: Aechmea hellae Weber , Gravisia aquilega (Salisb.) Mez .

Aechmea aquilega belongs to the subgenus Aechmea in the genus Aechmea .

There are two forms of Aechmea aquilega :

  • Aechmea aquilega var. Aquilega f. alba Oliva-Esteve : It is only native to Venezuela in the state of Carabobo .
  • Aechmea aquilega (Salisb.) Griseb. var. aquilega f. aquilega : It occurs in the entire range of this species.

Sometimes found in the literature is a variety aechmea aquilega var. Chrysocoma (Baker) LBSm. which, for example, in JAS Filho & Elton MC Leme: Fragments of the Atlantic Forest of Northeast Brazil - Biodiversity, Conservation and the Bromeliads , has the rank of a species Aechmea chrysocoma Baker in 2007 .

Aechmea aquilega is involved in several horticultural hybrids:

  • Aechmea 'Exotica Mystique': mother is Aechmea lueddemanniana
  • Aechmea 'Isabel D'Bellard': mother is Aechmea rubens
  • Aechmea 'Tropica': father is Aechmea rubens
  • × Portemea 'Phat Pat': This generic hybrid was bred in 1996. The mother is Portea leptantha and the father is Aechmea aquilega .

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literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Aechmea aquilega at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, accessed August 27, 2013.
  2. ↑ Bromeliad Cultivar Register Compiled and maintained by the Bromeliad Society International.

Web links

Commons : Aechmea aquilega  - collection of images, videos and audio files