Pontes et al. 2015 (Conference Paper) Brazil

New records in Tillandsia L. (Bromeliaceae, Tillandsioideae) in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Author(s):—R.C. Pontes, H.M. Büneker & L. Witeck-Neto in Benko-Iseppon, A.M.; Alves, M. & Louzada, R. (2015) An overview and abstracts of the First World Congress on Bromeliaceae Evolution. Rodriguésia 66(2): A1-A66.

Publication:— (2015).

Abstract:—The genus Tillandsia L. is the largest genus in Bromeliaceae, with about 700 species (Gouda et al. 2014). InBrazil 87 species of Tillandsia are cited, and of these 50 are endemic (Forzza et al. 2014). For the state ofRio Grande do Sul (southern Brazil) 28 species of Tillandsia are cited, corresponding to about 32% of the species of this genus in all of Brazil, being the Brazilian state with the highest species diversity in Tillandsia (Forzza et al 2014; Büneker et al 2014). Based on the field collections, literature review and specimens deposited in herbaria, two new records of Tillandsia for Rio Grande do Sul are presented, Tillandsia loliacea Mart. ex Schult.f. and Tillandsia pohliana Mez, cited previously only to other Brazilian states and other countries. Furthermore, the occurrence of Tillandsia bandensis Baker to Brazil is confirmed after 57 years of its exclusion from the flora by Smith (1956). T. bandensis occurs in Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and has been documented again in Brazil. This is restricted to the western region of Rio Grande do Sul state, in the Pampa Biome, where the species is saxicolous or rupicolous. T. bandensis can be recognized by itsconspicuous, fragrant flowers, blue petals and vinaceous floral bracts. T. loliacea occurs according to Smith & Downs (1977) in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay. In the list of species of Flora of Brazil (Forzza et al. 2014) its occurrence is recorded for the Federal District and the states of Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, Sergipe, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná. In Rio Grande do Sul it was found as an epiphyte in clumps of forest, in trees and open vegetation associated with cornices and hills in the western region of the state. T. loliacea can be easily recognizedas having densely cinereum-lepidote leaves and distichous flowers. T. pohliana occurs, according Tardivo (2002), in the Andes region of Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil. In Brazil it occurs in the Federal District and in the states of Ceará, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná (Forzza et al. 2014). In Rio Grande do Sul two populations were located: one as an epiphyte in clumps of forest, in trees and open vegetation associated with cornices and hills in the western region of the state; and the other, atypically as an epiphyte in riparian canopy in the central region of the state. T. pohliana can be easily recognized by its pink-orange to yellow-green floral bracts, broadly oval-elliptical
and inflated, white petals, and robust capsules.

Keywords:—Tillandsia bandensis; Tillandsia loliacea; Tillandsia pohliana.