The Macae de Cima Ecological Reserve, in the City of Nova Friburgo, State of Rio de Janeiro, is important as the place where a remnant of the Atlantic Forest is being preserved. Although this region in the Organ Mountains is near the City of Rio de Janeiro, its natural resources have been very poorly studied. The naturalists August Glaziou and E. Ule visited the area in 1861-1863 and 1898, respectively, and left behind their botanical collections. Since 1987, the Atlantic Forest Program of the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden has been studying the flora of the Macae de Cima region.
Various vegetation types are found in this area of approximately 7000 hectares including slope forests, cloud forests, and high grasslands ranging in altitude from 1400 to 1800 meters above sea level. There are also cut-over areas in various stages of regeneration.
Fifty bromeliad species have been found including 16 of the genus Vriesea (Programa Mata Atlantica, 1990). —SeeCosta 1994bp. 44(4): 159-162
This species shows a limited distribution, having been collected only in high-altitude forests between 1,200 and 1,400 m in the Reserva Ecológica de Macaé de Cima, state of Rio de Janeiro, and in the municipalities of Araponga and Carangola, state of Minas Gerais ( Fig. 2a ).
