VRIESEA RUBRA, THE GAY DECEIVER by LYMAN B. SMITH in J. Brom. Soc. 24(1): 30-1. 1974
Among the many bromeliad species that have deceived and embarrassed me, Vriesea rubra is outstanding. I met it first in 1931 in preparing the Bromeliaceae for Macbride's Flora of Peru, where I called it Tillandsia rubra as had its original authors Ruiz and Pavon in their Flora of Peru in 1802, and on the basis of their illustration I equated it with Tillandsia fendleri. Years later in the Field Museum in Chicago I ran across a specimen from their original collection and realized that it was the same as what Ule had found in Brazilian Amazonia and correctly identified as a Vriesea, but named as a new species, albiflora, in 1907.
Usually, as one might expect, the common species are the first to be discovered and are collected frequently, but here was one that had a century between its first and second collection. Then in 1919 Mez described it from the then British Guiana as Tillandsia rhododactyla. To add to the confusion these collections were from hundreds of miles apart. Today Vriesea rubra is still one of our rarer bromeliads and at the same time one of the most widespread.
So when I received some beautiful fresh plants and colored photos from Clyde Harris it seemed so different from the dried and dull herbarium specimens that I compounded past errors and failed to recognize it. At his wish I was just about to name it as a new species in honor of Helmuth Schmidt-Mumm who had guided him and Jean Merkel to its discovery in Colombia about 120 kilometers from Bogota on the Villavicencio highway. As a matter of course I went through my key again to determine its nearest relative and this time I realized my error.
Clyde Harris sent me two color photos, one of the plant (with a small inflorescence) originally discovered in the forest and one of a plant grown from a small seedling collected. Since the only previous illustration is the very crude original black and white one, it seemed good to share this color with our readers. —SeeSmith & Downs 1977
Culture and use: This species is suitable for larger greenhouses only, it is easily grown and flowers regularly. —SeeGouda 1987
