Gouda & Wisnev 2016 (Article) Billbergia

Identity of Billbergia speciosa Thunberg vs. Billbergia elegans Mart. ex Schult. & Schult.f.

Author(s):—E.J. Gouda & M.A. Wisnev

Publication:—Journal of the Bromeliad Society 65(4): 239-245. (2016)

Abstract:—There has been considerable confusion about the identity of Billbergia speciosa Thunberg (1821) probably caused by the two different G.W. Freyreiss s.n. specimens held in different Swedish herbaria. Thunberg’s 1821 publication includes the first formal description of the genus Billbergia and the type species for that genus - B. speciosa.
includes an illustration of B speciosa in a plate (Fig. 1). Thunberg refers to a Freyreis collection in his description, but does not state where the type specimen was deposited. The collector’s name is correctly spelled Freyreiss or Freyreiß (Rodrigues et al, 2014), but Thunberg’s spelling - Freyreis - is still much more common in the literature.

Taxonomy:—Billbergia elegans Considered a synonym of Billbergia speciosa Thunberg (p.242).—Billbergia speciosa Considered conspecific with Billbergia elegans Mart. ex Schult. & Schult.f. (both from Villa Rica), but the name has priority over it. (p.242).