The plant genus Bromelia belongs to the subfamily Bromelioideae within the Bromeliad family (Bromeliaceae). The approximately 65 species are widespread in the Neotropic . The genus name Bromelia is the basis for the name of the entire family of the Bromeliad family (Bromeliaceae).
Illustration from John Lindley : Collectanea botanica or, figures and botanical illustrations of rare and curious exotic plants , 1821, plate 1 by Bromelia pinguin
Bromelia are perennial herbaceous plants . Most of the species are mostly xerophytes . Most species grow terrestrially; a few species of Bromelia are epiphytes . With subterranean runners or rhizomes , some species form almost impenetrable stands.
The leaves stand together in basal leaf rosettes . Their sturdy leaves are up to 2 meters long and are very strongly reinforced with hook-shaped spines .
Inflorescences and flowers
The relatively short to long inflorescence shafts, depending on the species, have prickly bracts. The often tomentose, heady to cylindrical total inflorescences are mostly composed of spikey or racemose partial inflorescences . To the sometimes decorative inflorescences often prickly sit strikingly colored bracts (bracts). Mostly cover sheets are available.
The hermaphrodite, threefold flowers fade quickly. The three sepals are freely fused up to a large part of their length and are blunt to pointed, rarely spiky. The three petals are white to reddish or purple to bluish. There are two circles with three stamens each; they do not rise above the corolla. The stamens have grown together to form a tube that is more or less long, depending on the species. Three carpels have become an under constant ovary grown.
The relatively large berries often turn yellow when ripe and contain few or many seeds. The black seeds are round and flattened.
Systematics and distribution
The genus Bromelia was established by the French botanist Charles Plumier . The generic name Bromelia honors the Swedish botanist and doctor Olaf Bromel . Synonyms for Bromelia Plum. are: Karatas Plum. , Karatas (Plum.) Mill. , Pinguin Dillen , Pinguin (Dillen) Dillen ex Adans. , Psedomelia Necker , Agallostachys Beer , Distiacanthus Linden . The genus Bromelia belongs to the subfamily Bromelioideae .
The areas range from Mexico over the Caribbean to Paraguay and Argentina . They form an essential part of the typical undergrowth of deciduous thorn forests in warm, dry regions.
Detail of an inflorescence with three-fold blue flowers of Bromelia unaensis
Bromelia agavifolia Brongniart ex Houllet (Syn .: Bromelia karatas sensu Wildenow non L. , Bromelia agavoides Carrière ): It is only known from culture.
Bromelia alsodes H.St.John (Syn .: Bromelia sylvestris Willd. Ex Schlechtendal , Bromelia sylvestris Willd. Ex Link , Bromelia lanigera K. Koch ex Baker ): It thrives on dry plains, on the roadside and tropical deciduous forests at altitudes of about 100 meters in Central America .
Bromelia alta L.B.Sm. : It thrives terrestrially at altitudes around sea level only in Suriname .
Bromelia amplifolia Leme & W.Till : It wasfirst describedin 2014 from the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia . It thrives terrestrially in medium-sized stands. So far, it has only been found in partially shaded locations in a seasonally dry and semi-evergreen open forest called "Mata de Cipó" at an altitude of about 220 meters.
Bromelia antiacantha Bertoloni (Syn .: Bromelia acanga sensu Willd. , Bromelia commelina de Vriese , Bromelia commeliniana de Vriese , Bromelia fastuosa sensu rule , Bromelia pinguin sensu Carrière non L. , Bromelia sceptrum Fenzl ex hill ): It thrives in the Restinga (coastal shrubbery ) or in forests at altitudes of up to 1000 meters in Brazil and Uruguay .
Bromelia araujoi P.J.Braun, Esteves & Scharf : It wasfirst describedin 2008 from the north-eastern Brazilian state of Maranhão . It thrives terrestrially in full sun or between trees and bushes at altitudes of around 30 meters.
Bromelia arubaiensis P.L. Ibisch & R.Vásquez : It was first described in 2008 from Santa Cruz, Bolivia. It thrives terrestrially in the forest at altitudes of 400 to 450 meters.
Bromelia auriculata L.B.Sm. : It thrives in a sparse shrub formation only in the Brazilian state of Ceará .
Bromelia balansae forma balansae (Syn .: Bromelia argentina Baker , Bromelia guyanensis Mez , Bromelia laciniosa sensu Baker non Martius ex Schultes f. , Bromelia pinguin sensu Morong & Britton non L. , Bromelia serra sensu Mez non Griseb. ): It thrives in the thicket as well as open or dense woodland at altitudes of 60 to 1000 meters in Colombia , Bolivia , Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina .
Bromelia balansae var. Tricolor (MBFoster) LBSm. : Their origin is unknown.
Bromelia balansae forma tricolor hort. ex MBFoster : She is only known from culture.
Bromelia braunii Leme & E.Esteves : It thrives terrestrially and is only found in the Brazilian state of Tocantins .
Bromelia charlesii P.J. Braun, Esteves & Scharf : It was first described in 2009 in "The Bromeliad". It thrives terrestrially in dry locations between rocks only in the Brazilian state of Bahia.
Bromelia chrysantha Jacquin : It thrives terrestrially in the forest and in dry thickets as well as cactus sites and lithophytically on river banks at altitudes of 0 to 300 meters on the island of Trinidad , in Colombia and in Venezuela .
Bromelia dilatata Esteves, Hofacker & Scharf : It was first described in 2012 in “The Bromeliad”. So far it has only been found growing on rocks at an altitude of about 710 meters in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso.
Bromelia eitenorum L.B.Sm. : This endemic thrives on the edge of a mountain stream or in woodland in the "Ilha de Balsas" region, from the Rio Balsas to the Rio Parnaiba about 35 km south of Loreto at an altitude of about 300 meters only in the municipality of Loreto in the Brazilian state of Maranhão .
Bromelia epiphytica L.B.Sm. : This endemic thrives in terra firme forestsonly in the Brazilian state of Amazonas.
Bromelia estevesii Leme : It wasfirst describedin 1993 from the northeastern Brazilian state of Piauí .
Bromelia ferox Esteves : It was first described in 2014 in "The Bromeliad". It occurs in the drier region of northeastern Brazil, mainly in the states of Bahia and Pernambuco. It thrives in a mixture between Cerrado and Caatinga with the characteristic prickly vegetation, which is populated by several species from the families Bromeliaceae and Cactaceae. It grows in small groups on rocky formations as well as stony locations or on sandy soils of open locations.
Bromelia flemingii I. Ramírez & Carnevali : It was first described from Venezuela in 1996. This endemic occurs only southeast of Cuyagua in the state of Aragua in Venezuela. It thrives terrestrially in the dry semi-evergreen forest, on very steep slopes facing the sea at an altitude of about 400 meters.
Bromelia fosteriana L.B.Sm. : This endemic thrives terrestrially in a dense moist forest only in Paramaribo in Suriname .
Bromelia fragilis L.B.Sm. : This endemic thrives terrestrially at an altitude of about 960 meters only near Pueblo Bello in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Magdalena, Colombia.
Bromelia glaziovii Mez : It occurs in the Brazilian states of Goiás and Minas Gerais.
Bromelia goeldiana L.B.Sm. : It thrives terrestrially and lithophytically in woodland at an altitude of about 100 meters in Venezuela and Brazil.
Bromelia goyazensis Mez (Syn .: Bromelia balansae sensu LBSm. Non Mez ): It occurs only in the Brazilian state of Goiás.
Bromelia grandiflora Mez : The first description was based on a cultivated specimen whose origin is unknown.
Bromelia granvillei L.B.Sm. & Gouda : This endemic thrives terrestrially at an altitude of 200 to 300 meters only in the Kaw Mountains and a little south of it in the Savane Roche de Virginie in French Guiana .
Bromelia hieronymii Mez : It thrives in open dry forests and on sandy areas at altitudes of 400 to 700 meters in Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina.
Bromelia horstii Rauh : It thrives terrestrially on dry rocks in deciduous forests only in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso.
Bromelia humilis Jacq. (Syn .: Bromelia karatas sensu Humb. , Bromelia lasiantha Willd. Ex Schult. & Schult. F. ): It thrives in large groups in the bushes and in deciduous forests at an altitude of up to 100 meters in Venezuela and on the islands above the wind .
Bromelia ignaciana R.Vásquez & PLIbisch : It was first described in 2003 from Bolivia. It thrives terrestrially in open forests only in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
Bromelia interior L.B.Sm. : It thrives terrestrially and lithophytically in the Campo and Cerrado or epiphytically on palm trees at altitudes of 300 to 400 meters in Brazil.
Bromelia irwinii L.B.Sm. : It thrives on the edge of the stream between and on rocks in the Campo and Cerrado at altitudes of 1000 to 1250 meters only in the Brazilian state of Goiás.
Bromelia karatas L. (Syn .: Bromelia acaulis Stokes , Bromelia plumieri (E. Morren) LBSm. ): It is distributed from Mexico via Central America and the Caribbean islands to Brazil.
Bromelia laciniosa Martius ex Schultes f. (Syn .: Bromelia antiacantha sensu Antoine non Bertoloni ): It thrives in the Caatinga (in a deciduous thorn bush vegetation) at altitudes of up to 480 meters in Brazil.
Bromelia legrellae (E. Morren ) Mez : The first description was based on a cultivated specimen that comes from the Brazilian state of Pará.
Bromelia lindevaldae Leme & E.Esteves : It was first described in 2003 from the Brazilian state of Bahia. It thrives terrestrially and lithophytically.
Bromelia macedoi L.B.Sm. : It only occurs in the Brazilian state of Goiás.
Bromelia michaelii Esteves, Hofacker & Scharf : It was first described in 2012 in “The Bromeliad”. It thrives terrestrially on sandy soils or on rocks at altitudes of 700 to 1120 meters only in the Brazilian state of Goiás.
Bromelia minima Leme & E.Esteves : It was first described in 2003 from the Brazilian state of Goiás and thrives terrestrially.
Bromelia morreniana (Regel) Mez (Syn .: Bromelia moensis E. Morren ex Baker ): It thrives in the sandy Campo in the Brazilian states of Amazonas, Amapa and Pará.
Bromeliad neotenuifolia I.M.Turner (2014 new name for Syn .: Bromelia tenuifolia Esteves, Hofacker & Sharp . Nom illeg since it already. Bromelia tenuifolia Lesq. Is for a fossil): It grows terrestrially in the Cerrado in central Brazil.
Bromelia niduspuellae (André) André ex Mez : It thrives terrestrially on dry ground at altitudes of around 300 meters only in the Colombian Valle.
Bromelia oliveirae L.B.Sm. : It is only known from the type location in a high-lying rainforest at km 147 on the road from Belem to Brasilia in the Brazilian state of Pará .
Bromelia redoutei (Baker) LBSm. (Syn .: Bromelia karatas var. Caulescens Redouté , Bromelia caulescens Kuntze ): It is only known from the illustration of the first description.
Bromelia regnellii Mez (Syn .: Bromelia acanga Schult. & Schult. F. , Bromelia pinguin sensu Lindm. Non L. ): Brazil
Bromelia superficialis P.J. Braun & Esteves : It was first described in 2016 from the Campo Cerrado in the border triangle of the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso, Tocantins and Goiás.
Bromelia unaensis Leme & Scharf : It was first described in 2011 from the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. This endemic thrives terrestrially from the Restinga to the Mata Atlântica at altitudes of around 30 meters.
Habit and heavily reinforced leaves of Bromelia karatas , which is also used as a living fence
use
Due to their size, these species are rarely found in private collections in areas where they cannot be cared for outdoors due to frosts. But in some tropical parks and gardens and also in almost all botanical gardens you can find these relatively undemanding plants.
Because of the heavily reinforced, tough leaves, farmers often plant them as living fences. The fruits of Bromelia karatas are edible.
swell
literature
Werner Rauh : Bromeliads - Tillandsias and other bromeliads worthy of culture. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-8001-6371-3 .
Lyman Bradford Smith, Robert Jack Downs: Bromelioideae (Bromeliaceae). In: Flora Neotropica , Monograph 14, Part 3, Hafner Press, New York, 1979.
Bromelia on the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
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