Bromelia Contactgroep (BCG)
P/a Botanische Tuinen
Budapestlaan 17
3584 CD Utrecht

ABN-AMRO IBAN: NL66 ABNA0421855185 tel.030-253 9281

Newsletter 87 - February 2017

Coming meeting

We are happy to invite you to our Spring Meeting on Sunday, March 19 2017, which will as usual be in the Conservatory of the Utrecht Botanical Garden, back entrance on the Harvardlaan 10. The coffee will be ready from 10 am on and you can all greet one another and catch up on the news.

Bring along plants you want to show people and they will be discussed up during the plant showing. This also applies to plants you perhaps (still) find difficult to grow. Expert advice on how to have better results is free!

There will also be some interesting reading matter on the table. If you would like to take any item home to study, arrange it with our chairman.

We shall be holding a house-keeping meeting at 11 o'clock; the agenda is given below.

Fig. 1 & 2 Tillandsia heteranda (previously Vriesea), photos Eric Gouda

After this there will be a discussion of the plants that have been brought along and of plants from the collection of the Botanical Gardens. During lunch, provided by the Gouda family, there will be a raffle of, among other things, the special bromeliads given to our Group. Of course, plants brought by our members for the auction will be very welcome! The proceeds will go our Group's financial reserve.

The afternoon programme will be a journey through Brazil. Piet van Beest, who recently made the trip, will show us the bromeliads from different ecosystems: the Atlantic rainforest, caatinga (stony desert), cerrado (grassy savanna) and the Pantanal (wetlands). We shall certainly enjoy seeing all the lovely things Piet will treat us to!

We hope to greet you once more for an enjoyable day on March 19.

On behalf of the Board,

Eric Gouda, layout.
Roel Tomassen, report.

Figures 9 and 10 show one of the many forms of Tillandsia guatemalensis collected as seed by Reino Koopmans on a single hill in Honduras. They show a lot of variation, whereby some forms (possibly a different species) have remained almost completely green, in contrast to this amazingly coloured form. Figures 11 and 12 show a so-far undescribed variety of Tillandsia tenuifolia. The dark leaf colour and the colour gradient of the flower bracts are striking.

Fig. 3, 4 & 5 Racinaea venusta , previously Tillandsia, photos Eric Gouda

Agenda

1. Announcements and correspondence
2. Announcements from the Treasurer
3. Financial report over 2016 from the Audit Committee
4. Appointment of the 2017 Audit Committee
5. Appointment of the Secretary
6. Group activities
7. Status with regard to Facebook
8. Any other business

Notes about the agenda

Point 3: the audit committee consisted of Gerard van Heusden en Ed Gerritse
Point 4: According to the regulations, Gerard van Heusden is due to retire after serving for two years. A new member must be appointed for two years to replace him.
Point 5: Roel Tomassen's appointment was through 2016 and he is thus, by the rules, due to retire. He is standing for re-election in 2017.
Point 6: The Council would like another exchange of ideas about developing new activities outside the Spring and Autumn meetings. Previous discussions on this topic are in newsletter 81 (under BCG Excursions) and in newsletter 82. Another option might be to organize get-togethers at the invitation of the members themselves and perhaps, on a smaller scale, ones at member's own homes on the German model of Open Door Day (Tag der offene Tür).
Point 7: Jasper van den Driesche will explain the current status.

Translation: MaryRose Hoare

Fig. 6, 7 & 8 Tillandsia subteres , a large species from Honduras, photos Eric Gouda