Pitcairnia grafii Rauh[as Pitcairnia grafii Rauh]

Diagnose: —Pitcairnia platypetala Mez similis, sed ab ea differt characteribus sequentibus: Laminae basi serratae, nec omnino itegrae, subtus albae, nec brunneo-lepidotae. Inflorescentia laxa multiflora, nec dense et pauciflora. Pedicelli usque ad 25 mm longi, nec breves. Sepala carinata, nec ecarinata. Petala non obtusa, sed breviter apiculata ligula distincte parva numquam magna. Patria Pitcairniae platypetala Brasilia (sine loca natali) esse dicitur. Patria et distributio: Venezuela. Estado Tachira: inter El Capacho et San Antonio, circa 1,000 m.s.m., iuxta cascaden. Holotypus: B.G.H. 64 680, leg. Enrique Graf, Caracas, Venezuela s.n. (27.2.1983), in herb. inst. bot. system. univ. heidelb. (HEID).

Observations: —Pitcairnia grafii Rauh, sp. nov. is related to P. platypetala Mez but differs from it in the following characteristics:
Leaf blades serrate at the base, not completely even; beneath white, not brown lepidote. Inflorescence laxly and richly flowering, not dense and few flowering.
Pedicels not short, up to 25 mm long.
Sepals carinate, not ecarinate.
Petals acute, not obtuse, with a small and not a great appendage.
The habitat of Pitcairnia platypetala is Brazil (without exact locality). It is unfortunate that the flowers are missing in the holotype (Peters, Brazil), deposited in Leningrad, USSR.

Edited from : Rauh 1988b. (protologue) Pitcairnia grafii, a New, Atractive Plant from Venezuela .