Encyclopaedia of Bromeliads
Version 5

Foreword

Version 5 has been released January 2023. Below you can see the list of changes and additions between the different versions. New versions are planned every 4-5 years. Previous mayor versions (ver. 1, 2 and 3) were also published on CD/DVD, but this version is not available on CD/DVD, and it is not clear at this moment if it will be (will depend on the number of requests for it). You can subscribe to and support the project for one or 5 years, see How to subscribe last version for full online access.

The first initiative was developed by 3 members of the Bromelia Contact Group, but soon the project was widened to an international collaboration. Coauthors has changed from on version to an other. The online version is updated continuously and new species are normally added within a week from publication (depending on the language).
Development in the presentation of the data available online and on the CD/DVD are listed below for each version.

The species count is a very dynamic data set and a result of following the literature in a critical way (following or not following new synonymy or resurrection of names, depending on argumentation). It is possible that there may be a slight discrepancy between these numbers and those provided in the New Bromeliad Taxon List
We hope you enjoy this source of information and ask you to support the project by becoming a registered member. You find more information in the the menu at the left. Some numeric information can be found in Status Information

Version 6 (not released yet)

• User Session token recognition added for users that have an unstable IP address (June 2024)
• Taxon References TAB has been extended with all kind of Taxon comment from the literature, personal communication and my own. Literature references are included of course, including page numbers (May 2024)
• Selected Bromeliaceae Literature Author Pages (127) has been added (April 2024)
• A password reset button has been added in the login screen, with email confirmation (Dec. 2023)
• Habitat image link (camera icon) is added when habitat images are available, also when there is no other habitat information available (this was not the case before) (Aug. 2023)
• Literature listing has been improved for several subjects with many titles like: New Taxa, Taxonomy, Flora, etc. A jump start index has been added and titles are sorted and categorized by genus, country, etc. (Jul. 2023)
• More synonym information is available now, like Type information and if available, the original description (protologue) etc. (May. 2023)

Version 5 (January 2023)

• Image view in full size added (Jan. 2023)
• Plates of flower dissections by Ingeborg Niesler added (Jan. 2023)
• When a species index is longer than 60 names, a list of starting characters (eg. b - e - f - etc.) is given to jump directly to the first name (Dec, 2022)
• Taxonomy has been added to the main menu, which gives an hierarchical overview of the family (Sept. 2022)
• Literature list on category has been improved, sorted now by major content. From the Literature list a keyword search can be done (Mar. 2022)
• Habitat pictures are available now (camera in habitat text section). (Jan. 2022)
• New literature added recently can be found in the Literature option from the main menu. (Dec. 2021)
• Information about higher Taxa (above species and genus rank) is included now. It is not in the species index, but you can search for example for "Tillandsiae" or "Tillandsioideae" and you will get publication information about that Taxon and a list of included Taxa of the rank below. Also in the Genus information screen, all subgenera are listed. (Oct. 2021)
• Information on Literature pages is extended, especially for books and separate publications, size, illustrations and number of pages are added as well as an image of the front cover (Sept. 2021)
• Description is extended with an Protologue [Pr] icon button if an image of the protologue (original description) is available (Sept. 2021)
• Etymology and Phenology are added on the main page below Distribution & Habitat. (July 2021)
• Descriptions are more uniform now, with default headers: Plant, Inflorescence, Flower, Stamens, Pistil and Fruit. these headings are in bold small caps, followed by subheadings that are just bold (May 2018)
• The Description is extended with two icons, one for a comparison with closely related species and an other for showing a comparing table if available (May 2018)

Version 4 (March 2018)

• More images are possible to be shown. There is one image TAB now which will show thumbnails of all images available (Mar. 2018)
• References (link) to Tropicos, link will result in a search in the Tropicos database (including synonym names) (Jan. 2018)
• The image quality has been improved to show more detail especially in difficult contrast situations (Jan. 2018)
• Taxon references has been moved to its own TAB, so that more space is available for additional images at the bottom of the screen. There is one Pictures TAB and each image can be shown separately in larger size. (Aug. 2017)
• Orthographic errors are added to the main Taxon information screen (July 2017)
• Direct/permanent links to Taxon information has been added tot the website http://bromeliad.nl/species/Genus/species (July 2017)
• Literature List is given by Subject and within the subject 'New Taxa' listed by Genus (June 2017)
• Subgenus (classification) has been added to the Taxon pages (placed between parenthesis below the name). Taxon pages for the subgenera will be added soon, including a list of species belonging to it.
• Online version can be called with a ?find= option to access a taxon page directly from an external call
• Description Tab is linking back to the Literature page, from which it was edited and diagnose is added.
• The Literature Reference pages are extended with a linked list of Taxa (species) published in that publication, (including page numbers) and you can access each of them right away from that list with one click.
• In the Introduction menu the entry 'Species counts' is added to show the current state of species numbers known/recognized per Genus including infra specific counts.
• In the Features menu two entries 'New in [year]' are added to show the newly described species and varieties in the last two years.
• Larger Species indices will be preceded with a jump start ( a - b - c - etc.)
• In the Literature references, FCBS (Web) was listed, but in the new version you can click to open the image page at FCBS to see the pictures of that species right away.
• Taxonomic notes added to are added to the main and synonym records, to clarify Taxonomic changes.
• Parentage of Natural hybrids are added in the main screen as well as the status (if needed).
• At Login, the possibility to send the password by email has been added
• The Literature section has been revised and shows literature references by subject now.
• Of course all new described species are included and many new images are added.

Version 3 (October 2012)

A problem in former version was that for some species there was little information available and for others too much to show on one screen (which must fit on old screens with 1024 x 768 pixels). The solution in this version(3) is that TABS are added when more information is available. Much more valuable information has been added, e g.:

• Full Descriptions are given on a separate Tab including its source.
• Synonym names with its information (publication, type etc.) is given on a separate Tab, and accessible directly from the index.
• There are separate Tabs for picture information (including larger pictures), for both the one in portraid(X) and the additional pictures in landscape(Y). Much information about origin (country etc.) of the plants on the pictures has been added
• If an Old Chromolithograph image, for example from Belgique Hort. is available, it will show up in a separate Tab too.
• The online version is updated on a daily basis and can be accessed with a login if your IP address is not fixed.

Version 2 (October 2009)

This is a totally renewed version of the Encyclopedia, including much more photographs, data and a better interface. A lot has been changed since the first release, see also acknowledgment.
Indexes keeps always in sight in the left screen part, which makes it much easier to navigate. A new feature is to view all miniature images of all pictures included for a Genus, directly from the index, for a quick identification. For this, you can click on the next to a Genus name in the index. A literature index has been included, both presented by author and by title. There is a separate index to all species and varieties included with images. Check lists (indexes) of species by country are included and will be updated all the time.
If you access species information, you can easily go to next or previously related species, using the arrows at the taxon number in upper left corner.

Version 1 (October 2005)

Several years ago the idea was born to start a Bromeliad CD project, combining as much information as possible about all existing Bromeliad species and names. It had to include all Bromeliad names, correct ones as well as synonyms, publication information, other literature references, distribution & habitat information and even more important loads of pictures.
We did realize that this was a monster project and we can not do it on our own. Especially we need picture donors to get most of the species illustrated. Also data collecting and maintenance is a huge project and in the end we would like to add descriptions and keys too.
The project started with a collaboration of three persons: Hugo Claessen, Kees and Eric Gouda. For literature references Leo Dijkgraaf has been asked to share his affords in his search for Bromeliad literature and he was willing to do so.
This first version is a nice begin, but far from complete and we seek for collaboration with other Bromeliad enthusiasts and picture donors.

Eric J. Gouda