The following original diagnosis by Baker in his Handbook of the Bromeliaceae, p.196 is very short;
Leafy stem produced to a length of 5-6 in. , densely beset with rigid, linear-subulate ascending leaves 1 1/2 in. long 1/12 in. broad above the dilated base, densely laxly lepidote all over Peduncle very short. Spike laxly 2-3 flowered; flower bracts oblonglancelate, bright red, 1/3rd in. long. Calyx as long as the flower-bract; sepals red, acute. Petals white, half as long again as the calyx. NOTE we cannot understand why Baker writes that petals are white, we found only red flowering plants.- Werner Rauh.
The following description is based on material collected in the dry valley of the Rio Chama, near the Puenta Real (southwest of Merida), Rauh 59051.
Distribution. T. funckiana grows mostly on dry rock walls in the valley of the Rio Chama, near Merida, exposed to full sun. Enrique Graf, Caracas, found only one specimen growing as an epiphyte on trees in the region of Barinas. It is characterized by thick stems and silver-gray, spreading to recurved leaves.
Tillandsia andreana and Tillandsia funckiana compared Text and illustrations by Werner Rauh in J. Brom. Soc. 39(3): 111-118. 1989
Two of the most beautiful and attractive small tillandsias, much favoured by amateurs and Tillandsia collectors, are Tillandsia andreana E. Morren ex Andre and T. funckiana Baker. The former was described by E. Morren and pictured in Andre's Bromeliaceae andreanae (Paris, 1889), plate XXIX B. The latter was published by J.G. Baker in his Handbook of the Bromeliaceae (London, 1889), page 196. In spite of these facts, L.B. Smith and R.J. Downs recognize only one species, namely T. andreana and regard T. funckiana as synonymous with it. Francisco Oliva follows with his beautiful book, Bromeliaceae of Venezuela (Caracas, 1987) and describes only T. andreana, but the accompanying photographs on page 214 and 215 show T. funckiana from Venezuela.
On the other hand, the well-known but prematurely deceased German tillandsia collector, Alfred Blass stated that Tillandsia andreana and T. funckiana are two different and distinct species. He published a note to that effect in the Journal of the Bromeliad Society 27(4): 160-2. 1977 but it seems that his note has been forgotten . Accordingly, we have decided to demonstrate once more the difference between the two species on the basis of material collected in Colombia in the type locality and in Venezuela in the dry valley of the Rio Chama near Merida and at Las Trincheras on the way to Puerto Cabello
Tillandsia andreana is self-fertile. Andre himself, who discovered this beautiful species, did not see these plants in flower but only when they were in fruit. He put the plant into the subgenus Pitrophyllum (Beer) Baker (= subgen. Tillandsia), but according to the flower structure, T. andreana would fit traditionally the subgenus Anoplophytum (Beer) Baker.
T. funckiana grows mostly on dry rock walls in the valley of the Rio Chama, near Merida, exposed to full sun. Enrique Graf, Caracas, found only one specimen growing as an epiphyte on trees in the region of Barinas. It is characterized by thick stems and silver-gray, spreading to recurved leaves.
Trincheras is a very isolated locality about 600 km by air from Merida on the way to Puerto Cabello, Prov. Carabobo, near the Caribbean Sea where it was first found in 1938 by Alston, no 5716. Enrique Graf re-collected the plant in the same locality and he reports that the locality, also dry rocks, is full of snakes. He has never seen so many snakes in Venezuela as in Las Trincheras.
In contrast with Tillandsia andreana, T. funckiana is self-sterile and when in cultivation produces fruits only with pollination by specimens of different clones. The flowers, typical hummingbird (colibri) flowers, last several days.
We conclude that Tillandsia funckiana and T. andreana are two different and distinct species belonging to two different subgenera: T. andreana to the subgenus Anoplophytum (stamens included with plicate filaments; style slender, longer than the ovary); T. funckiana to the subgenus Tillandsia (stamens and style long exserted, filaments straight.
While Tillandsia andreana is very uniform and not variable concerning its habit and its growth form, T. funckiana is a very variable species. In the Heidelberg Botanical Garden, we cultivate forms with long and short leaves, forms with silver-gray leaf blades (densely lepidote) and some with green blades (with fewer scales) with thin and thicker stems (fig. 12). But these are only forms and not worth being described as distinct varieties; they all grow on rocks in the provinces of Merida and Carabobo.
There is one form, of which the locality is not known, that differs from all the other forms of T. funckiana by the strongly recurved leaves. It was named "recurvifolia" by A. Blass
Tillandsia Andreana - Tillandsia Funckiana by ALFRED BLASS in J. Brom. Soc. 27(4): 160-2. 1977 (Translated by Walter Goddard)
Even the most competent taxonomist sometimes has a difficult time differentiating between two similar species. This is especially true when one is working exclusively with dry herbarium material, for the decision as to how to classify a "border case" depends more or less on the supposition of the nomenclator. Many species show forms of transmutation which make taxonomical decisions even more difficult, I have observed in my collection the following forms of transmutation:
Tillandsia caput-medusae and T. circinnata
T. purpurea, straminea, and cacticola
T. sphaerocephala, calocephala, and nana
T. incarnata and macbrideana
T. brachycaulos and capitata
T. concolor, acostae, and fasciculata
T. arequitae, boliviensis, and lorenziana
T. aurea, aureo-brunnea, and humilis
T. vernicosa and didisticha
Some of these plants, I believe, represent not separate species, but are just varieties. I would like to emphasize that the above mentioned transmutations are not hybrids nor are they artificial cross -pollinates. Serious collectors, who specialize in certain plant families, may be helpful to science by reporting their observations. I had the pleasure some years ago to show Dr. Lyman B. Smith the obvious differences between T. magnusiana and T. plumosa, which were originally registered as one single species.
With this article I would like to prove that T. andreana and T. funckiana are definitely two separate species.
For several years I have grown three different clones of T. funckiana, all of them coming from Venezuela. One of these plants is particularly beautiful, but regrettably is rather rare. This plant grows much larger than the standard form, and the leaves are strongly recurved. I would like to see this species named Tillandisa funckiana var. nov. recurvifolia.
I have two different clones of T. andreana under cultivation. One is distinguished by having leaves covered with silvery green scales. The other, being rather rare, has yellowish green leaves and shows fewer scales. T. andreana is found exclusively in Colombia, but the localities where the two different kinds come from are more than 1000 km apart. Mr. Thiken, an ardent plant collector, was the first one to discover these tillandsias and to introduce them to the European market.
All T. funckiana are strongly caulescent, whereas T. andreana never form stems. But the main difference between the two species becomes evident when one studies the stamens, which can be easily seen above the petals of T. funckiana, while they are completely recessed within the red petals of T. andreana.
As the differences in appearance are so obvious and no transmutations in nature have been discovered, I believe that we have here two separate species which might be somehow related.
In my estimation both plants represent some of the most beautiful of the miniature tillandsias. Their brilliant red bracts are extremely large for such small plants. At one time I had 36 flowers growing on a single branch of T. funckiana. Both species are prolific seed bearers, and seedlings grow well when protected from bright sun light.
I think that Mez was mistaken when he gave the habitat for T. funckiana as Merida in Colombia. Collectors who have worked in this area recently occasionally found T. andreana, but never T. funckiana. T. funckiana has been found at several locations in Venezuela, and, as mentioned above in different shapes and colors.
Both species are very much favored in Europe, as they are beautiful and elegant even when not in flower. As we who live in Europe have to grow our bromeliads exclusively in greenhouses, we greatly prefer those plants which are small in size. —SeeRauh 1989ap. 111-118
