Vriesea freicanecana J A Siqueira & Leme[as Vriesea freicanecana J A Siqueira & Leme]

Diagnose: —Species nova a V limae L. B. Sm., cui affinis, sed rosulis foliorum anguste infundibuliformibus, foliis viridibus, floribus minoribus sed pedicellis subduplo majoribus, sepalis brevioribus et petalis obovato-spatulatis differt.

Observations: —Vriesea freicanecana is clearly related morphologically and ecologically to V limae.It is distinguished: however, by the many long, suberect to nearly erect, stolons responsible for vegetative reproduction (vs. fewer stolons arising more toward the center of the leaf rosette), plus the production of many filiform offsets at the base of the bare senescent part of the plant (vs. only rarely with this reproductive structure). The new species also differs in its green leaves (vs. dark purple to blackish, a trait that is maintained in cultivation), forming a narrow leaf rosette (vs. rosette broadly infundibuliform to nearly globose), flowers smaller (35-40 mm vs. 45 mm long), with pedicels distinctly longer (11-14 mm vs. 6-8 mm long), sepals broadly obovate (vs. ovate-elliptic), shorter (17-18 mm vs. 20-23 mm long) and petals obovate-spatulate, wider above the base (vs. broadly elliptic-ovate, wider near the middle)

Edited from : Siqueira & Leme 2007. (protologue) Fragments of the Atlantic Forest of Northeast Brazil - Biodiversity, Conservation and the Bromeliads .